NFL

Minnesota Vikings

American football cannot lay claim to the act of tailgating. Community gatherings around competitive events date as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman times. The history of American football tailgating, however, tends to trace its roots back to the Civil War. Locals packed a picnic during the summer of 1861, not to watch a game of catch, but to witness the First Battle of Bull Run (the first major land battle of the War). So what exactly is a modern-day tailgate in the United States? According to Tonya Williams Bradford, associate professor at the University of California, Irvine Paul Merage School of Business, it’s a ritual filled with feasting, drinking, and socialising. Ms Bradford has co-authored numerous publications about American tailgating as it relates to culture and consumerism. Her research has been published in both the Journal of Consumer Culture and the Journal of Consumer Research; she’s also presented “The Great American Tailgate” at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. She says that American society’s approach to tailgating, specifically for a select team, is very similar to expressing loyalty for any preferred brand. “The more that the brand is emplaced within the tailgate, the better it is for the brand, and likely for the consumers who are excited to demonstrate their loyalty by curating and hosting a superb experience for their guests,” Ms Bradford says. These loyalties create a form of attachment to the brand community, she adds, and brands (teams) that extend this relationship will strengthen the lifetime of that attachment.

The six NFL teams with impressive tailgating culture

Few sports leagues in the United States captivate the masses quite like the National Football League. While baseball may be America’s favourite pastime, football is the country’s heart. The Super Bowl, the climax of every season, has transcended the sport itself, becoming a quasi holiday for both diehard fanatics and those who rarely follow the regular season. And if the game on the gridiron is the beating heart, then tailgating culture encompasses the sport’s enduring soul.

“What’s quite telling is that many devout fans are willing to travel great distances to show support for their team,” Ms Bradford continues. “For games held abroad, we find that fans travel and the sports organisations identify local partners who can support a unique tailgate experience away from home – that’s how important that tailgate ritual is.” While many friends and family members share a fandom that stretches back for generations, tailgating is an inherently inclusive space that allows long-time fans, bandwagon jumpers, and the altogether indifferent to strengthen their ties to their home team and their community. No matter which team colours fill the asphalt, expect camaraderie falling somewhere between the intimacy of a family reunion and the debauchery of a college frat party. Competitive games such as beer pong and light ribbing at the visiting fans are all in good fun, and you’ll certainly find all involved in the best spirits. The beauty of a tailgate party, as opposed to a pub party or house party, is that there’s no expectation to contribute. Common courtesy states that bringing beer, snacks, or some social currency such as a grill or ice chest is an appropriate gesture. However, the neighbour-like kindness found throughout each stadium’s tailgate means that a generous invite to eat, drink and be merry, despite coming empty-handed, is not a rare occurrence. As six NFL teams bring the pigskin to London this season, diehard fans will don their lucky jerseys for a trip across the pond. Should you want to experience a true NFL tailgate in the States, know that you’ll be welcomed with open arms for a day of revelry, rivalries, and really good food in the following football cities...

'With other sports – particularly those in Britain – fans likely have favourite pubs they visit with other fans prior to events,” Ms Bradford explains. “In those commercial spaces, fans may gather to sing or chant with other fans – the work is left to the pub workers.'

In contrast, American tailgating fans take the “labor” upon themselves by cooking meals, setting up decorations, and creating a communal atmosphere for fellow fans. It’s not uncommon to see big-screen TVs, surpluses of alcohol, and a hearty spread of food that you’d otherwise think was reserved for major holidays or milestone celebrations.

A version of “tailgating” occurs on both sides of the Atlantic, though American football tailgates and British pre-match parties are more like cousins than siblings. The gatherings that precede Royal Ascot may be closest in comparison, although you’d be hard-pressed to find Bentleys, Cornish pasties and tweed jackets at a Cleveland Browns tailgate. Twickenham’s car park picnics, meanwhile, are a rugby facsimile, but pre-match culture is markedly different throughout the UK as a whole.

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Nick Dauk explores the enduring appeal of the tailgating party in the United States and takes a whistle-stop tour of six cities across the USA.

A tailgate party is summed up in that single word: community.

Historically, tailgating has been limited due to a lack of parking lots surrounding U.S. Bank Stadium. The team has three official lots near the stadium, but fans often like to meet away from the car parks. The Vikings Tailgate Garden in The Commons offers a unique alternative. This 1.7-hectare park adjacent to the uprights swaps trunk-style tailgating for a family-friendly experience that includes food trucks, entertainment, photo ops and interactive games.

While some tailgaters have the luxury of space, hometown fans of the Minnesota Vikings have had to make do with urban tailgating in one half of the Twin Cities.

A fantastically walkable city made even more convenient by the light rail that runs straight from the airport terminal to the stadium, any visitor can navigate Minneapolis. Near the stadium, the Bloody Marys at Hell’s Kitchen are a perfect pre-game brunch beverage while a drink at Day Block Brewing will offer suitable condolences to any tailgating fan who’s left without a ticket.

Take in the beauty of the city from multiple serene spots on both sides of the Mississippi River or take a short trip to Saint Paul and explore the state’s capital. When winter blows in a reminder of subzero temperatures, a visit to the Mall of America is always available for indoor fun.

With public transportation and walking/biking trails galore, there’s virtually no wrong place to stay in Minneapolis. Aloft Minneapolis beside Gold Medal Park and Emery, Autograph Collection downtown are options with suites near sightseeing hotspots such as the Stone Arch Bridge, Target Field, and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

Visiting Minneapolis

Invoke the Viking spirit

LOCAL LANDMARKS A stunning sunrise across the arches of the Central Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and (below) the popular Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Bourbon Street. Cafe du Monde. Mother’s. Commander’s Palace. It’s not difficult to fill an itinerary with a greatest hits playlist of the amazing cuisine, culture, and community New Orleans has to offer. The French Quarter is well worth a visit, but one should follow the Mississippi in either direction to find that there’s much more to Crescent City than Rue Bourbon. For game days, Finn McCool’s Irish Pub has every sports game imaginable on its TVs and the Walk-On’s sports bar on Poydras Street is so close to the Superdome that its TV hardly needs a volume button. As a city with no shortage of places to celebrate Dem Saints, the best advice is to follow one’s nose or appetite and there’ll likely be a screen showing the game, along with the city’s best eats.

The Cambria Hotel in the Central Business District is an excellent place to start and end a day in the Big Easy. It’s a short walk to not only the Superdome, but also to the St Charles Avenue Streetcar Line. This cheap ride flows west all the way to Tulane University, Audubon Park’s sprawling green space, and Uptown. Hop on and off to effortlessly visit the Anne Rice House, dance to live music at Tipitina’s warehouse venue, and marvel at the hauntingly beautiful 19th-century Lafayette Cemetery No.1.

Between the Champions Square and the surrounding parking lots, tailgating in the Big Easy is, well, easy. One big difference, though, is the involvement of the entire community. Caesars Superdome is planted right in the heart of the city, an area where Saints fans congregate. While it’s routine to see cooks gladly serving up their gumbo, jambalaya, or boils to fellow fans, there are groups that also distribute food to displaced citizens. The #TailgateTogether initiative is a grassroots effort that never forgets that football tailgating is first and foremost about the local community.

If there’s one NFL city that knows the value and importance of community, it’s New Orleans. Their tailgating scene isn’t dissimilar to other team’s scenes in the NFC South: thousands of folks donning their game-day best and cooking up a storm of Southern favourites.

Community of Saints

Visiting New Orleans

Home to both the New York Football Giants and the New York Jets, MetLife Stadium is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey (the Buffalo Bills are the only New York NFL team with a home stadium in New York). But a zip code alone does not define the team tailgate. With fans converging on East Rutherford from throughout New Jersey, New York, and even from neighbouring Pennsylvania, New York Giants tailgates are as diverse as the tri-state area. What anyone would assume would be an awkward moment when the Giants have to play the Jets as the visiting team is rather anti-climatic, at least, when it comes to tailgating. John Vingara, who’s operated a tailgating experience called Big Blue BBQ for a quarter of a century, says that the two teams and their tailgaters share the stadium, parking lot and even pleasantries when meeting on the gridiron. The Giants fans, especially those who pay for a ticket to the Big Blue BBQ, surely have the advantage. Vingara says that his events have seen everything from proposals to former Giants players stopping by unannounced. He mentioned that the energy and excitement exuded by nearly 200 fellow Giants fans leaves visiting attendees from abroad absolutely in awe.

Visiting fans would be forgiven for doing a double-take at the address for the MetLife Stadium.

Giants of tailgating

MetLife Stadium is just one element of the 750-acre Meadowlands Sports Complex which also hosts the Meadowlands Racetrack and the American Dream entertainment, shopping, and dining district that includes Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park, LEGOLAND Discovery Center, and DreamWorks Water Park. Stay at the Hilton adjacent to the Meadowlands to check off all of the boxes for a comfortable, convenient stay. Save parking money for more drinks by visiting Redds Restaurant & Bar on game days. This watering hole is just five-minutes from MetLife and lets patrons catch a shuttle from the outdoor biergarten to the stadium. Element New York Wood-Ridge is also close to MetLife and has a rooftop bar called the Concourse Club that pours fine spirits and lets diners take in the intoxicating views.

Fervent sports fans need only travel a few kilometres south to Newark to see the New Jersey Devils take to the ice. And it goes without saying that sightseers can make it over to Manhattan’s iconic skyscrapers in a New York minute (or hour, depending on traffic).

Visiting East Rutherford

In the minds of many fans, tailgating and the Green Bay Packers are eternally linked. Rumours have circulated for years claiming that the first true tailgating traditions arrived when the Packers joined the NFL; others insist the term itself was coined in Green Bay. Either way, there’s no denying that the Green Bay Packers are a legendary part of NFL lore and history. Set on Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay’s Titletown District, Lambeau Field is one of the most storied stadiums in the league. Tailgating is different in Green Bay, for nowhere else in the NFL will you rub elbows with hundreds of thousands of official team shareholders. Each unique share certificate is just one literal example of the figurative team ownership that this community holds deep in its heart. Pre-game partying is best at the Johnsonville Tailgate Village in the east parking lot. The Cheeseheads find refuge from the weather in this 300sq m indoor facility full of live music, food, beverages and other game-day festivities. The surrounding tailgating lots may be in the open-air, but there’s never a shortage of Packers fans pregaming. Even when the temperature is -11C.

Founders of tailgating culture?

An equally great time to visit Lambeau Field is when there’s not a game on the gridiron. Tours of the stadium are available year-round and its gastropub, 1919 Kitchen & Tap, serves up elevated pub fare seven days a week. A stay in Green Bay hardly gets better than at Lodge Kohler, which has views of the stadium and a warm spa with temperatures at the other end of the scale from the infamous Ice Bowl of ‘67, which concluded with a Green Bay Packers victory. The Green Bay Botanical Garden is breathtaking no matter the season, but particularly when the leaves show their autumnal colours. In the dead of winter, this green space turns into a white wonderland lit by the Garden of Lights show. One unique way to combine Packers fandom and a general tour of the city is to follow The Packers Heritage Trail. Walk, bike or drive to two dozen plaques commemorating sites that have significance to the team and community, including the Milwaukee Road Depot, Neville Museum, and the gravesite of Vince Lombardi, widely regarded as the greatest coach in NFL history and the man after whom the Super Bowl trophy is named since his death in 1970.

Visiting Green Bay

Empower Field at Mile High overlooks downtown Denver at 1,609m above sea level. With the closest overnight options at least a mile or farther from the horseshoe-shaped stadium, Kasa Sloan’s Lake Denver apartments are an easy mile-long stroll away.

One of the best things to do when visiting Denver? Getting away from the city and heading into Colorado’s spectacular landscape. Venturing away from city limits means instant access to The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, spying elk in the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and hiking the picturesque Garden of the Gods. Rocky Mountain National Park, as little as 90 minutes from downtown Denver, is an unforgettable sight.

A safe bet for any stay during the Broncos season is, oddly enough, near Coors Field. Union Station area hotels like The Rally Hotel and The Maven Hotel at Dairy Block are close to the boar, rattlesnake, and other exotic meats at Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs. The Blake Street Tavern, which has held the title of Best Broncos Bar in town, is right around the corner with top-ranked green chilli.

Visiting Denver

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It’s far from surprising that the Mile High City offers a higher standard of tailgating for its fans. Traditional tailgating is permitted outside of Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, but during the regular season, there’s also a VIP Tailgate. A single ticket grants access to all food and beverages.

Where to join The sons of Mile High

This premium pregame buffet is no thrown-together affair, either; Food Network Celebrity chef Aaron May had a hand in creating the menu. “We try to curate an elevated tailgate experience by elevating familiar foods into something bigger than the sum of its parts,” chef May says. “American Wagyu for the cheeseburgers, local 505 Green Chile, and slow-smoked meats for our carving station.” The VIP Tailgate is a tempting paddock in which to find yourself, but roaming around with a herd of Broncos fans won’t leave you alone in the wild. Even a fan of the visiting team can trot through the meadow of orange jerseys and find an invitation to share a drink with the Broncos’ beloved. The Sons of Mile High is one of the unofficial welcoming committees of the Denver Broncos tailgate. Their three canopies are open to the public, hosting games like Tipsy Ships, Flip Cup, and Bucketball. Anyone can spot their Ol’ Blue trailer, pop a squat down on their Bud Light recliner and sip on a beer while watching intense games of beer pong.

Now experience america's tailgating culture for yourself

Downtown proper and Southbank are two ideal locations to stay, no matter if the Jaguars are playing at home, away, or are in the off-season. Both the rooftop pool at Hyatt Regency and Southbank Hotel offer sensational skyline or river views. Seafood is on the menu throughout the Bold New City of the South, specifically Jacksonville-style garlic crabs and Mayport shrimp. Peel your own at Beach Road Fish House in Empire Point or swim farther east of the city for the eponymous eats at The Juicy Crab.

No visit to Florida is complete without a trip to the beach, and J-Ville’s got plenty within a short drive. Neptune Beach is a local favourite for sunrises and sunsets while Jacksonville Beach has a pier that’ll lure in anglers. Amelia Island, with its 19th-century fort and oak tree canopies, is well-worth the hour-drive north.

If you feel inspired by what you see and want to get to know more about NFL and the phenomenon that is tailgating in the United States, then get yourself on a plane out there this season!

The Jacksonville Jaguars is one of the youngest NFL teams in the league. They might not have a Super Bowl victory like their big brother, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or a perfect season in the books like the Miami Dolphins, but this Florida team has something its southern siblings don’t:

New to the party, but Jacksonville rocks

Swimming pools in their stadium. These coveted seats with pool access leave a lot of folks high and dry in Big Cat Country, so it is up to tailgating groups like the Bold City Brigade and the Teal Street Hooligans to cool the crowds down. Though membership is required to join their event, this potluck-style party is the ultimate tailgating experience for Jags fans. Home-opener traditions feature outrageous happenings each year, such as belly-flop competitions into kiddie pools filled with mayonnaise.

Visiting Jacksonville

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Telegraph Media Group Creative Director: Jonathan Clayton-Jones, Picture Editor: Alex Kelly, Commissioning Editor: Jim Bruce-Ball, Words: Nick Dauk, Sub Editor: Tim Cumming, Project Manager: Jason Desir, Web Editor: Caroline Stacey Image credits: Getty

For more information on all these cities, go to visittheusa.co.uk

Minnesota Vikings

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

NEW YORK GIANTS

GREEN BAY PACKERS

DENVER BRONCOS

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

FLORIDA FAVOURITE Jacksonville Beach at sunset and (below) an array of the seafood on offer in J-ville

CITY LIGHTS A panoramic view of the Denver skyline and (below) the beautiful lobby at The Maven Hotel

SPORTING ICONS A night-time shot of Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers and (below) the Green Bay Botanical Garden

NYC SIGHTS An aerial view of downtown Manhattan, just a 'New York minute' away from the Giants home in East Rutherford

HISTORIC 'HOODS The vibrant pubs and bars of the French Quarter lit up at night and (below) a New Orleans paddle steamer on the Mississippi river

TEAM TAILGATE Book ahead for your chance to join the fans in their pre-game parties

After all, until the first coin toss, neither team is yet the loser.