It's hard to come up with a new idea for a sports bar in this day and age. You can only serve so many beers and have so many drink specials before people stop caring. People go to such bars to share the joy or misery of their team's performances, and you don't need to get too far beyond nicely sized flat-screens with crisp pictures to satisfy most needs.
A entrepreneur in Maplewood, a suburb of St. Louis, is testing that notion. Adrian Glass is opening The Post, a sports bar that's designed to cater to the needs of fantasy sports enthusiasts.
The Post will feature a draft room with a 60-inch TV where leagues can hold drafts and meetings. There will be two computers for public use and $900 worth of high-end wireless routers to make sure any number of players can jump on their laptops to make last-second changes to their lineups during games. The bar will even feature a fantasy guru to talk patrons through trades and other draft issues.
Hopefully they'll also feature a fantasy guru bodyguard to protect him when he tells you to start a quarterback who throws four interceptions. The proximity to alcohol added to the money on the line in many of your serious fantasy leagues could offer a quick reminder why most of your fantasy gurus stay behind a computer screen.
The biggest question is how the bar will capitalize on this fantasy focus Monday-Saturday and during the football offseason. While fantasy games are popular in many sports, football is king. It's also the only one that lends itself to hunkering down with a laptop for several hours while consuming wings, beers and other staples of any good sports bar.
If it succeeds in clearing that hurdle, though, you can bet that similar establishments will pop up around the country. And, slowly but surely, secure and fast wi-fi will replace good-looking women as the thing that gets men in the door of their local saloon.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
