Denver Sportbars organize Reality -TV watch parties to “Love Island”

Last Sunday, hundreds of people in Tom's Watch Bar near Coors Field in Denver packed up to cheer on their favorite team. But it wasn't the Colorado Rockies to support them to support them. It wasn't the Broncos, avalanche or nuggets either.

The bar extended the season finale of “Love Island USA”, a reality dating show in which attractive Americans spit the summer in a wasteful villa in the Fiji exchange, in the hope of finding a life partner. Fans play an important role in the result of the show by voting for their favorite couples throughout the season. The most popular duo wins a strong price of $ 100,000.

For a moment of anticipation, those in Tom's Watch Bar held their breath before they were cheers, such as – Spoiler Alarm – “Love Island” participant Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenal were crowned with the winners.

“There could have been louder cheers there when they selected the winners when Aaron Gordon reached the last three pointer of the last seconds to literally win a game,” said Dan Stillman, Operating Partner from Toms Watch-Bar, and compares the moment with an Nuggets highlight.

Reality television does not often see in a bar, but when passion in Love Island USA is overcome this summer, institutions that exercise sports used an opportunity to money. Due to the streaming of episodes live, just like a game, they not only enlarged the completion during the otherwise slow season, but also potentially these rooms for new demomapics that are as passionate as passionate as sports fans.

“It was really great to see so many new faces,” said Lyndsey Spano, owner of the DNVR Bar, 2239 E. Colfax Ave., who also showed the final on Sunday. “Everyone was very excited, they loved the atmosphere. They loved how many televisions we have.”

Admittedly, Spano had never seen “Love Island” that franchise companies in the United States, Great Britain and Australia. But her social media feed was full of other bars who organized large crowds for Watch parties. She decided to ask your audience on Facebook and Instagram to see if you would take part in a similar event. The answer was “overwhelming yes”.

The final watch party of the DNVR Bar packed the house and filled up to a capacity of around 152 person-a welcome sight in the absence of football, hockey and basketball.

“We bleed money in summer,” said Spano. “So it was incredible to have that, and it really helps the end result.”

The masses of the bar last Sunday were particularly different from a normal match day. Fans of the DNVR bar exchanged football jerseys and hockey liver for electrical clothing, said Spano. Where Toms Watch Bar usually attracts mostly men for sports, Stillman said that there are mostly women who appeared for the final “Love Island”.

However, the mood was very familiar.

“It was like a Broncos, Nuggets, AVS game, in which people, when they achieve a goal, cheer,” said Spano. “If couples kissed if they said something unexpected or even if it was a kitsch line, it was a lot of laughter, a lot of clapping, a lot of improvement.”

In a way, it makes sense that this type of programming aptly fits into a sports bar in which the atmosphere promotes the participation of the crowd and the collective celebration. In many television, DNVR Bar 33 of the HAT has every seat a good line of sight and the sound systems ensure that everyone can keep up with the play-by-play. Or in this case the famous one of the season winner Amaya Papaya, as she is lovingly known.

Nevertheless, there are unique aspects about “Love Island” that make it particularly great to see parties. In contrast to most dating competitions, in which the participants have control over who stays and who goes home, “Love Island” puts these decisions in the hands of the audience. The show leads the fans to see live by making their favorite couples vote in real time. Voting windows are open only a few hours after certain episodes, and the couples who receive the slightest number of voices are usually unloaded by the island.

From July 8th, more than 5.5 million people downloaded the Love Island USA app after the Network Peacock of the show. The voices of the fans are not only heard by their voices. The counter -reaction on social media directly influenced the decision of the producers to remove an actor this season.

The frequency and cadence of “Love Island” also contribute to the obsession. It is broadcast six days a week because it is turned and elements are effectively combined by live streaming models, which are made popular by platforms such as Twitch with the ability to binge-watch if they only miss a few days. A season usually consists of more than 30 individual, hours of follow, so that fans are invested in certain characters.