Bo Nix, the Broncos and Avs preseason games are sharing screentime with “Love is Blind” and other reality shows at more and more bars in Denver.
Hosting reality TV watch parties, especially for dating shows, is becoming more popular in Denver, bringing in a new kind of clientele and boosting sales during sports offseasons (or just bad seasons).
Some were getting in on the game even before the Denver season of “Love is Blind” arrived.
The Colfax sports bar DNVR started hosting dating show watch parties over the summer, as “Love Island USA” blew up, said owner Lyndsey Spano.
“‘Love Island’ was going on this summer, and we hosted the finale for that and the reunion, and those packed the place,” Spano said. “That just started people asking about other reality shows, particularly ‘Love Is Blind.’ We said, ‘let's do it.’ It doesn't conflict with any of the major teams.”
Spano said these kinds of events help broaden their reach.
“More and more people are finding out that (DNVR) it is woman-owned, and they really want to support that. And they know that I play tons of women's sports, anything that people request, we have over 30 TVs,” Spano said. “So yes, it's definitely gotten the diversity factor out of our typical patrons and has excited them to come back for other things outside of the reality shows.”
The addition can also help bring in flighty customers who otherwise would only have the option of watching the Rockies.
“Notoriously, bars and the restaurant biz in Denver are tough, because for us, we only have Rockies going on (over the summer), and that was a rough go this year,” Spano said. “And then Coloradans just love being outdoors and hiking and camping and whatnot, so they don't want to sit inside. So we're always kind of looking for ways to drum up business.”
'I've never seen more girls here'
Stephanie Tran and Ryan Webster, a married couple, are DNVR regulars. Tran said she already loved the bar, but seeing it packed full of women made her especially happy.
“I kind of just love the idea that a place like a sports bar that I already love going to, (being) so girly pop,” Tran said. “I’ve never seen more girls here.”
Her husband tagged along, but not solely for his wife’s enjoyment of the show.
“I am actually here because my wife asked me to come, and it turned out to be a nice coincidence that the Avalanche have a preseason game tonight,” Webster said. “So most of my attention will probably be towards that preseason game, but I will also be watching ‘Love Is Blind’ when that is on. Since that is (taking up) about half of the TVs as well.”
“I've never been to a watch party that's not sports-related before,” Tran said. “I know a couple of weeks ago, DNVR did a watch party for ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ and now tonight they're doing a watch party for ‘Love Is Blind.’”
'There was excitement that Denver was on the map in a silly reality TV sort of way'
For Lady Justice Brewing, the foray into reality TV has been concurrent with offering sports for the first time.
The women- and queer-owned brewery has been open in Colorado since 2016, but moved to a larger space with plenty of TVs and a dropdown projector in Englewood in March 2023 — something that was “not a vibe we’ve had before,” said co-founder and owner Betsy Lay.
At first, they decided to focus on women's sports. Lay said it was the year of Caitlin Clark, and even though she doesn’t follow basketball, she understood that there was a new wave of eyes on the WNBA — and a lot of them.
“Our opening day was the first day of the NCAA tournament women's basketball tournament, and we had a line from the bar to the door for three hours straight. It was absolutely packed,” Lay said.
Then Hien Kim, a regular at Lady J’s, pitched the idea to have Bravo TV trivia once a month, with questions all about “Real Housewives” and other reality TV staples.
“This was just a great opportunity to listen to what our crowd was asking for and just to try it out,” Lay said. “It was a no-cost, pretty low-risk thing to try out, and people responded to it and had fun with it.”
Then, they heard about “Love is Blind” Denver.
“(Kim) reached out to us again and was like, what if we did a watch party night? I think it could be fun. And then I want to do bingo and brackets and do regular watch parties,” Lay said. “And we're like, yeah, go for it. We showed it last week, we were full, every seat in the house was full.”
While these parties are of interest to Lady Justice’s regular demographic, which is predominantly queer people and women, Lay said for their first watch party, she didn’t recognize over half the crowd.
“I think there was this idea of the local crowd trying to understand why people from Denver would possibly want to put themselves on this TV show. And then just being, seeing what Denver has to offer in terms of this television show,” Lay said. “I think there was excitement that Denver was on the map in a silly reality TV sort of way.”
‘Love is Blind’ watch parties in Denver:
“Love is Blind” season nine is airing on Netflix. The first six episodes premiered on Oct. 1. Episodes 7-9 will drop this Wednesday, followed by 10 and 11 on Oct. 15, and the finale on Oct. 22. There will also be a reunion episode at a yet-unannounced date.
Lady Justice (3242 S. Acoma St., Englewood) will host free watch parties with bingo and brackets every Thursday at 6 p.m. through the month.
DNVR (2239 E. Colfax Ave., Denver) is also continuing to host free watch parties on Wednesdays starting at 7 p.m.
Number 38 (3560 Chestnut Place, Denver) is hosting another free watch party this Wednesday, starting at 6 p.m. According to their website, there will be cast member appearances.
Recess (2715 17th St., Denver) is hosting free watch parties every Wednesday at 6 p.m.. They keep hinting that they might be featured this season.
