Miami pubs prepared for a surge of Scotland supporters before the team’s final Group C World Cup match against Brazil at 1:00. After Boston bars reportedly ran out of beer during Scotland’s earlier stop, Miami venues went into emergency mode anticipating the same kind of fan takeover.
On Tuesday, the “Tartan Army” filled Little Havana, with about 8,000 Scots taking to the streets and chanting, “No Scotland, No Party.” Another procession gathered in Miami Beach with the same songs and slogans. Two days earlier, Scottish fans had turned a Miami Marlins baseball game into a party, singing, playing bagpipes and celebrating for the entire evening, continuing a pattern that included similar takeovers at Fenway Park in Boston and Yankee Stadium in New York during MLB games.
Bar owners said they drastically increased supplies. The manager of McSorley’s Beach Pub said she ordered four times the usual amount of beer, more than for St. Patrick’s Day, and still had to arrange emergency deliveries. She said daily sales jumped by 1,000 percent. One fan told Axios Miami, “I don’t think you can prepare for this. We’re going to drink every beer in every bar down to the last drop, that’s basically the story.”
The article noted that Scotland is one of the countries whose fans have complained most loudly about the costs of travel, hotels and match tickets. Many supporters have said they dream of following the national team at its first World Cup since 1998, but cannot afford it. Even so, estimates put about 20,000 Scots in Miami and the surrounding area, and not all have tickets, though all are celebrating in the streets.
