Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
BURLINGTON — Ahead of Vermont Green FC’s sold-out league championship match, the team sent out a statewide call: If your venue planned to play the game live Aug. 2, let us know.
The resulting compilation of 43 locations across Vermont included 10 restaurants, bars and breweries in Burlington. Here’s what gameday looked like beyond Virtue Field in a historic year for Vermont soccer.
Compared to the single digits T. Rugg’s Tavern typically draws on early Saturday evenings, the game had already brought in about 50 people for the 7 p.m. kickoff. The owner of the Old North End bar, Mike Dunn, expected the final to bring in an extra $1,000 for the day.
As a bar in a city without professional sports teams, T. Rugg’s usually puts on game casts from out of state for fans following from a distance. But the Green’s rapid ascent to the top of United Soccer League 2 provided Dunn one of the biggest local games of the year to play in his neighborhood hangout.
“To watch them grow to this level in four years is incredible,” said Izzy Cruz, a T. Rugg’s patron and Green fan since the club’s start. “We couldn’t ask for a better team.”
Other viewings clustered around downtown’s Church Street, including at Rogue Rabbit — a Euro-style restaurant serving a rotating lineup of focaccia-like pizza — that opened in April 2024. The eatery plays sports inside on special occasions. The Green’s final showing was one of them.
“We thought it would be a great way to get people in here. We’re known for our lunches, but we wanted to show people what we do at night,” said co-owner Jacob Shane. Down Rogue Rabbit’s hallway to the dining area, fans filled a couch and plush chairs facing a projector installed for the game.
Minutes after a scoreless first half, Vermont forward Ian Abbey broke Ballard FC’s backline before being clipped from behind by a chasing defender and drawing an immediate penalty call. In the 50th minute, forward Julien Le Bourdoulous tucked the ball inside the left post as Ballard’s goalkeeper committed to the wrong side of his net.
“We’re getting people sitting for longer because normally people come in, get a glass of wine, a snack, and they’ll pop off to something else. But to have people come in and be like, ‘No, we’re going to sit here for two hours’ … It’s great,” Shane said.
When the time comes, he said, Rogue Rabbit plans to show the men’s 2026 World Cup and the Olympics.
Of the bars on Green’s watch party list, Church Street’s Rí Rá Irish Pub gathered the most impressive crowd. With almost two times the usual turnout for that time on a Saturday, game night was one of Rí Rá’s best this summer.
“Every table being filled, bar being filled is pretty busy for us,” said manager Louie Russo.
After a brief Green lead, Ballard sent a cross to a near-post runner and tied the game with a header past goalkeeper Nic Herceg with time to spare in regulation.
Gold Restaurant, an Old North End spot serving dinner and drinks to a small dining room, had never played a live sports game before Green’s final. Opting to host fans proved a success.
“About half the people in here right now came in for that reason,” said manager Steph Volkari.
The head chef of Gold is an avid supporter of Green, Volkari said, and could be seen ducking in and out of the kitchen in the club’s kit to keep tabs on the scoreline. One couple, Christina Daudelin and Eric Senecal, chose to watch the matchup there because it was a setting they knew would be quieter than others.
South End breweries Zero Gravity and Switchback appeared to be the city’s most popular watch parties of the 10, with Zero Gravity welcoming at least 300 people for the match. That’s about 100 more than usual at one time, manager Mike Depaolo said. Switchback too, drew 10 times the traffic for the final as usual.
“We were packed, there wasn’t a seat in the place,” said Josh Weber, managing partner there.
Within the game’s five minutes of added time, forward Zachary Zengue collected a long corner by Le Bourdoulous, sending it back into a crowd of teammates in Ballard’s box. Forward Max Kissel, winner of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament last December, passed the ball in for an easy close to the USL 2 season.
At Zero Gravity, fans threw their hands up for the last whistle during a dominant moment for soccer in the Green Mountain State.