Love Island watch parties are boosting sports bars – and giving Gen Z a reason to go out

Globe and Mail

2 days ago

Shouts of amusement and shock, roaring applause and the occasional 'aww' could be heard from inside the Fox & Fiddle pub's location in Toronto's east end. These aren't the sounds of fans watching a Blue Jays game. This is a crowd gathered for the Season 7 finale of the reality dating show Love Island USA.
The bar was decked out in pink balloons, plastic tropical flowers and other beach-like decorations evoking the vibe of the famous villa where the islanders lived during the course of the show. Fans at the bar were all rooting for a specific couple to win Love Island USA's US$100,000 cash prize and, of course, true love.
During the summer months, professional hockey, basketball and football games that normally pack bars tend to cool down for the off-season. The general manager of Fox & Fiddle's Danforth Avenue location, Nishan Ram, says holding watch parties for Love Island USA boosted revenue for the bar by 28 per cent compared with the week before. It plans to play host to more gatherings for other reality shows, such as The Bachelor and Real Housewives, in the future.
Not only are these watch parties good for business – they're also helping to foster community among Gen Z.
The cohort born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s has been called the loneliest generation, and in an effort to get away from the screens and back out into the world after COVID lockdowns, turning something seemingly mundane – like watching TV – into an opportunity for face-to-face connection is something many young people value these days.
'For me, it's a social outing during the week that I can tick off that I want to do with my friends,' Jasmine Houston said, snacking on nachos while waiting for the episode to start. 'I'm excited to relate to the reactions from other people because me and my friends don't have the same opinions, so I'm ready to hear my backup cheerleaders supporting me.'
Much like a televised professional sports game, these reality shows – especially finale episodes – are too important to miss for fans. 'I think it's a great way to create a community just the same way that sports bars do when they have games on,' says Fi Pasion, who attended the event alone and is visiting from California. 'This is something that girls get to bond over, like I just met these girls,' she says, gesturing to her new friends.
This Love Island USA viewing party in Toronto's east end is among many that took place across Canada, including Central Social Hall in Edmonton and Greta Bar in Vancouver. Fox and John, in Toronto's Liberty Village neighbourhood, was one of several bars in the Greater Toronto Area that hosted watch parties for the show.
'For us, it was something we were new to, because we are kind of a sports bar, so when we did take it on, we didn't really expect much,' says Pira Sivanathan, Fox and John's regional manager at the Liberty Village location, which started screening Love Island USA episodes in the middle of the season.
The first time the bar hosted a watch party, they filled up 150 seats out of their capacity of 300 seats, and during the finale, Mr. Sivanathan says the venue was 90-per-cent full. 'We've done viewing parties before. It was kind of one and done, but we were able to see that there was more traction and demand for it. Absolutely, we do think it's a good opportunity for us to generate additional revenue.'
But nights like these are not just about Love Island USA. For some, this experience is redefining the meaning of a homebody's night out.
'After episodes, we'd call each other and give a quick debrief, and we thought it'd be fun to come to a bar with other people and have live reactions to what's going on in one of our favourite shows,' said Oyinda Oke, who was in attendance at Fox & Fiddle.
On the other side of the country, one Vancouver-based content creator plans to open a bar dedicated to nights like this, where people who enjoy pop-culture moments like red carpets, awards shows and reality TV can congregate over shared interests.
'Me and my sister and my friends would watch Taylor Swift's The Era's Tour or reality shows or award shows at home, and I've always thought, 'Why don't we have something where we could go to the bars to watch this like the men with sports bars?'' says 26-year-old Kelsey Exley.
Ms. Exley is in the process of finding a location for her new bar, Basic Public House, but, in the meantime, she says she will host pop-up events for the remainder of the summer, including an MTV Video Music Awards watch party.