Looking to connect with other local fans as the World Cup continues to roll out over North America? While the competition whittles its way down from 48 national teams to the final match on July 19, SFMTA is showcasing its latest rider initiative, creatively titled Goal Rush.
Through MUNI, the Goal Rush program is meant to highlight San Francisco as an international soccer destination. The last time the city was selected as a host region for the biggest sporting tournament on the planet was 1994. A lot has changed since then (something called the Internet happened, for instance), but getting together with like-minded folks and rooting for teams like Senegal, Cape Verde, Norway, or Mexico remains a singular experience.
So what’s the deal? Goal Rush connects fan zones and watch parties that are spread out across the city, while promoting local businesses in each area and offering prizes to fans who are able to reach the most goals, as it were. The program kicks the term “bandwagoning” to a whole new level, as fans can legitimately ride their way from televised game to game, for a fully immersed soccer experience in a city that has been deemed one of the best to watch the World Cup.
To win prizes, Goal Rush includes a game card that is available at participating venues that allows you to track where you’ve visited. A rider map funnels riders into fan zones in different parts of San Francisco. Getting your game card stamped by at least six businesses in a minimum of two different zones allows for entry for weekly prizes, which include an international roundtrip flight on Southwest Airlines, a group of VIP tickets for Bay FC (the Bay Area’s professional women’s soccer team located in San Jose), gift cards to local businesses, limited edition Goal Rush merch, and more.
One Goal Rush spot that’s opening up people to a unique spin on the World Cup? The straight-friendly Lookout bar in the Castro, where you can cheer along inside or take a break with a beer on the venue’s famous balcony at 16th Street and Market, overlooking the entrance to the city’s hopping LGBTQ neighborhood.
“Lookout was thrilled to be asked to be a part of the Gold Rush program,” said owner Chris Hastings. “The World Cup is such a celebratory and unifying event for people around the globe; it was a no-brainer to play our small part in contributing to that energy locally. We support anything that brings people to San Francisco and especially to the Castro, and are appreciative of MUNI and the Chamber of Commerce for putting it together.”
In total, the program formally includes 102 small businesses, from Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown to the Mission and Excelsior. Highlights include “Soccer with the Sea Lions,” a free, ongoing watch party at PIER 39; a stop at Kezar Pub, one of the city’s oldest soccer pubs, near Golden Gate Park; and an officially FIFA licensed watch party center at Mission Rock, with nearly every game showing around the clock.
SFMTA Marketing Events Lead Nashelly Chavez told 48 Hills, “We were inspired to channel the excitement of the FIFA World Cup into a uniquely San Francisco game that builds community, connects soccer fans, supports local businesses and encourages people to ride Muni. Whether they’re collecting stamps across the city or cheering on their favorite team, Muni will be the easiest and most affordable way for locals and tourists alike to experience San Francisco during the tournament. Moving San Francisco is what we do every day.”
According to RotoGrinders, a digital media hub dedicated to analytics centered on trends in fantasy football and sportsbetting, San Francisco ranked highest in a survey of 343 cities with populations above 100,000 throughout the US on where to experience the World Cup. The study analyzed where fans could access the most ideal mix of sports bars, soccer fandom, watch parties, and convenience.
Ahead of other host regions like ahead of New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Dallas, San Francisco boasted more venues per capita and a higher concentration of soccer bars, with six American Outlaws sites (the largest supporter group in the nation for the US soccer team) and an official fan fest zone. Other factors, including roughly 14 watch party events per 100,000 residents and nearly 40% of group-stage matches kicking off locally between 5pm and 10pm, aided in boosting San Francisco’s score as the best place to watch the World Cup in the U.S. this year.
Add to that MUNI’s network of transit options—in a city that is famously squeezed into a seven-miles by seven-miles radius —and it’s not hard to see why running around San Francisco to catch daily World Cup action doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend your July. For anyone who has lived in the Bay Area outside of San Francisco proper (where public transit isn’t as extensive, well-connected or easily accessible), this seems like a solid score plan from SFMTA.
