Football Sundays St Pete: Where to Watch Every Game
Two of the football bars that show up in nearly every "where to watch the game in St. Pete" list are closed. Thirsty First shut its doors for good on July 26 after a decade downtown, and Who's on First, the bar that took over Thirsty First's original space, is now a nineties themed nightclub called Rewind St. Pete.
Both still have listings floating around that look completely current. Thirsty First's website is live right now, advertising hours, 69 TVs, and Football Sundays, for a bar that does not exist.
So before you plan a Football Sundays St Pete routine around a name you read somewhere, here is what is actually open, what each place is good for, and how to build a day around the game instead of just picking a bar.
Ferg's, when the game is the whole point
If football is the reason you are leaving the house, Ferg's is still the answer downtown.
Ferg's sits at 1320 Central Avenue, directly across from Tropicana Field, and it has been there since 1992. The place spans nearly two city blocks, which is less a bar than a small campus. Pinellas County's tourism office credits it with more than 90 TVs and notes USA Today named it the best sports bar in the country in 2025. Ferg's does not publish a TV count itself, so treat the number as roughly right rather than exact. The practical version: you will not be fighting anyone for a screen.
This is the right call when your group follows four different teams, because somebody is always going to find their game on. It is also the right call when you want to settle in for six hours and not move. Sunday hours run 11am to 10pm.
There is one more reason we send people here. Ferg's has its own dog park on site, which puts it on a very short list of places where the dog can come along without it being a whole negotiation.
Central Avenue at 13th Street is an easy hop from the downtown core by cart, and it is a genuinely annoying walk in September heat.
Engine No. 9, when you want a smaller room
Not every football Sunday needs a stadium sized bar.
Engine No. 9 sits in the Edge District at the corner of 1st Avenue North and 9th Street, and it describes itself as a small sports bar with a strong hockey lean. The hockey part is not a gimmick. Owner Jason Esposito comes from the family that helped establish the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The draw here is burgers and a room where you can actually hear the people you came with. Go here when you want the game on and the afternoon conversational, not when you need eight games at once. It is also the closest of these three to the downtown core, about five minutes from the Beach Drive hotels.
Mutts & Martinis, if the dog is coming
Mutts & Martinis is at 2900 Central Avenue, which is worth being honest about: that is the Grand Central District, a couple of miles west of Beach Drive, not the downtown core. It is a real ride, and it is the one stop on this list we would plan the day around rather than drop in on.
What you get for the trip is the full NFL package, TVs throughout the venue, sound on for select games, and an off-leash dog park and pool attached to the bar. Dogs stay leashed indoors near the entry. If your dog is under 30 pounds, the small dog window on Sundays is 9 to 11 AM, which lines up nicely with getting there before a 1pm kickoff.
If the dog is part of the plan more broadly, we wrote a whole guide to pet-friendly places to go in St. Pete by cart.
Call ahead if you care about one specific game
This is the advice that saves the most Sundays.
A bar can have ninety televisions and still make programming decisions based on whoever walks in that day. If you have flown in to watch one particular team, and it is not the Bucs, call before you leave the hotel and ask whether they plan to show it and whether it will have sound. Nobody minds the question.
For a high interest Buccaneers game, the move is simply to arrive earlier than feels necessary. The tables with good sightlines are gone well before kickoff, especially when the Bucs overlap with another marquee game.
The same applies on Saturdays. Florida, Florida State, Miami, UCF, and USF all pull crowds here, and rivalry weeks fill rooms the same way an NFL Sunday does.
Build the day around the game, not the other way around
The best version of a football Sunday downtown treats the game as the center of the day rather than the entire day.
For a 1pm kickoff: coffee or breakfast downtown, get to the bar half an hour before kickoff, watch the early window, then head toward Beach Drive or the waterfront for dinner once the afternoon games wind down. If anyone still has energy, the Sunday night game is a second location, not a marathon in the first one.
For a 4pm kickoff: brunch first, an hour at the Pier or along the waterfront while everyone is still upright, then the bar early enough to claim a table. Finish on Central Avenue.
Either version involves four or five short hops around downtown, which is exactly the kind of day where parking a full size car repeatedly stops being worth it. If the game is part of a bigger sports weekend, our Rays game day guide covers the Tropicana Field side of the same downtown.
Getting around on football Sunday
The obvious thing first. If everyone in your group is drinking, use rideshare or transit, or settle on a designated driver before the first beer. A golf cart does not change that math even slightly.
With a sober driver, though, a street legal cart is a good fit for this particular kind of day. Our six passenger cart runs $99 for eight hours or per consecutive day, with free delivery and pickup, and it is street legal on roads posted 35 mph or lower, which covers almost everything between Beach Drive and Ferg's. The value is not the novelty. It is that brunch, the bar, the waterfront, and dinner stop being four separate parking problems.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I watch NFL games in downtown St. Pete?
Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill at 1320 Central Avenue is the largest and most sports focused option. Engine No. 9 in the Edge District is the smaller, more conversational alternative, and Mutts & Martinis on Central Avenue carries the full NFL package if you want to bring the dog.
Is Thirsty First still open?
No. Thirsty First closed permanently on July 26, 2026, after ten years downtown. Its website and several event listings are still live, which is why it keeps appearing in current looking guides.
What happened to Who's on First?
It closed, and Rewind St. Pete, a nineties and two thousands themed bar, opened in that space at 119 1st Avenue North on August 1, 2026.
Where can I watch the Buccaneers in St. Pete?
Most downtown sports bars carry Bucs games, and Ferg's is the safest bet for atmosphere. Arrive early for any game with real stakes, and call ahead if you need sound on a specific broadcast.
Can I watch football with my dog in St. Pete?
Yes. Mutts & Martinis at 2900 Central Avenue is built around it, with an off-leash park and pool, and Ferg's has a dog park on site.
Can I rent a golf cart for a football weekend in St. Pete?
Yes. Boo's rents a six passenger street legal cart for downtown St. Pete at $99 for eight hours or per consecutive day. The driver follows normal road rules and should never drive after drinking.
BOOK YOUR ST. PETE GOLF CART RENTAL AND MAKE FOOTBALL SUNDAY EASY.
