With LA playing host to FIFA World Cup matches in 2026, the city’s bars are bound to be packed. And LA’s soccer bars are rooted in the city’s history as a sports capital and entertainment powerhouse.
The city’s earliest bars, like Big Dean’s Oceanfront Café in Santa Monica, opened in 1902, welcomed beachgoers and sports fans long before flat screens and craft beer defined the modern scene. But the true blueprint for the American sports bar opened in Long Beach in 1979, when former LA Rams lineman Dennis Harrah opened Legends. The vision was to create a communal space filled with memorabilia where fans could watch games on giant screens and celebrate LA’s teams together. Legends quickly became a hub not just for sports fans, but also for business deals and local 90s power brokers, reflecting LA’s unique blend of commerce and celebrity.