Use Sports Memorabilia to Decorate Your Sports Bar

There are two things that differentiate a sports bar from the typical neighborhood watering hole – a great television system so patrons can watch the game, and the décor. Owners of sports bars often go overboard with the sports memorabilia, covering every available inch of wall space with sports posters, sports photos and mounted sporting equipment in an effort to hammer home the fact that yes, this is indeed, a sports bar. If you’re working on the décor for a bar dedicated to sports fans, there’s a better way to use memorabilia in your decorating. These hints and tips will help you create the proper ambiance for your bar without tipping overboard into kitsch.

Choose Sports Memorabilia for Your Customers

Before you choose a single item of décor, decide who you’re catering to and what you want the atmosphere to be. The décor for a sports bar catering to college students and twenty-something rowdies will be far different than the bar situated in the middle of a solidly working-class neighborhood with an older demographic. Once you’ve figured out who your customers are, you can aim your purchases of sports memorabilia, wall art and décor at making them comfortable.

For the younger crowd, for example, you might highlight a collection of autographed sports jerseys worn by today’s greats. Whether you choose one or two hometown favorites or a selection of greats from one sport, you can hang each jersey individually in a beautifully crafted frame that highlights the jersey as well as protecting it from damage.

Highlight a Few Specially Chosen Items of Sports Memorabilia

Instead of slapping up a wild assortment of sports-themed posters and other wall art, choose a selection of authentic sports memorabilia and build your décor around them. Unless the atmosphere you’re trying to evoke is college frat hall, you’re better off choosing a few quality items and accenting them in your design.

Build a Wall of Fame above a row of booths opposite the bar, for instance. Select autographed photos of famous players or news photos of spectacular moments in sports history that you can hang over each booth. Add accent lighting to illuminate each photo without detracting from the ambient light in the room.

Take Your Collection Off the Wall

Many items of sports memorabilia aren’t designed to hang on the wall. Intersperse autographed balls, bats, helmets and the like with the liquor bottles in your display or frame the ends of the bar in a pair of display cases filled with memorabilia commemorating local and national sports heroes.

Taking care to accent your memorabilia collection can add a great deal to the atmosphere in your sports bar. Choose your items carefully and display them artfully so that they’ll be an asset that immerses your customers in the sports experience.