For those who prefer audio see the recording at the bottom of the page.
Watching the Leeds, Aston Villa match in San Juan was an interesting experience. I watched the match at Eco’s Sport Park, which is a sports complex that has a couple of bars and food kiosks.
Eco’s is pretty close to San Juan city center, so if you’re on holiday in the city, you can get to it quite easily. Service was good, it’s relatively cost effective, and most people speak English, which makes it easier for tourists.
Finding a place for the match
If you do a quick google search for “pubs” or “sports bars” in San Juan, you get mostly results for smaller bars that don’t seem to show much sport. Most places don’t have websites and calling to ask if they’d show the match can be a bit difficult if you don’t speak Spanish.
But, there’s a massive area near downtown called Distrito T-Mobile. It has a number of venues with TV’s that show sporting events. Puerto Rico is a part of the United States, so cable and satellite have access to American channels showing football matches. I called Distrito T-Mobile to see if they were showing the match, and was able to confirm which venue would be able to. I spoke in English on the phone call, and didn’t have any issues there.
I had also known of Eco’s before, and gave them a ring to see if they’d show the game. I was able to confirm that they were showing it, and decided to watch it there.
Eco’s is pretty close to Condado, which is where most tourists stay. Honestly, if you’re in the San Juan area, it’s easy to get there via car or Uber. If you drive, you’ll need three dollars for parking.
Watching the match
We arrived to Eco’s roughly 30 minutes before the match. There was an event in the main bar, so we weren’t able to watch it there, but there are two other areas with TVs. I told the staff I had called the day before, and they showed us to where we’d watch the game.
I had to work with the staff to find the channel for the game, and the satellite was temporarily unavailable due to a rainstorm, but aside from that, it was a pretty standard process. We got a bucket of six Miller Lites for $18 as we had eaten before, but most people can get a few drinks, plus food, for $25-40 a person (depending on how much you drink).
If you get food, I always recommend getting a sampler with Puerto Rican appetizers. Bad for your health, but good for the soul. If you’re drinking, I recommend Medalla, a Puerto Rican light beer, or a “Tito’s con parcha”, which is Tito’s Vodka mixed with passionfruit juice. I also recommend taking a few shots of Pama, a pomegranate liqueur.
Unless it’s a massive event, like a Champion’s League final, you might not get to listen to the commentary for the match. Eco’s usually has a few events going on at once, so they have music on in the background.
Also, they’re only able to show games that are on the cable or satellite channels (NBC, NBC Sports or USA). If the game is being streamed via a streaming service, your best bet is likely watching the game at a hotel bar on a tablet or laptop. I don’t believe most places have public Wifi.
Overall experience
Finding a place to watch the match was a bit difficult, and if I hadn’t been familiar with Puerto Rico, I imagine it would’ve been frustrating.
But, Eco’s is a decent spot, with a unique vibe, so the experience was a good one. Service was decent, most people speak fluent English, and it’s a fair price. You can pay with cash or card.
The environment is very neat as well. There’s a lot of sport going on around you, which was a nice change of pace from a typical sports bar.
So yeah, I enjoyed it even though the result was a bit shit! For a deeper dive into the experience, check out the audio recording below.