Super Bowl LVII: Chiefs bar Big Charlie's Saloon closed Sunday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A famous Kansas City Chiefs bar in Philadelphia will be quiet on Super Bowl Sunday. Big Charlie's Saloon in South Philly said Monday on social media the bar will not be hosting a party this year.
We're in the heart of South Philadelphia, less than two miles from Lincoln Financial Field, and on Sunday night Eagles cheers and Go Birds will reverberate throughout the streets.
But not at the corner of 11th and McKean Streets because Big Charlie's Saloon is a Chiefs bar.
Naturally, the first questions that come to mind are how and why? It all dates back to the bar's owner Paul Staico.
"His father is making a bet," manager Laura Sessa said. "And he said, pick a team and if they win, you get a bike."
That little boy fell in love with the team responsible for his new bike.
"They won the Super Bowl," Sessa said. "He got his bike the next day."
Staico took over the bar in 1983.
A few years later he got a satellite dish and word spread about Big Charlie's and Staico's favorite team and here we are today.
it's the city's pre-eminent bar for Chiefs fans.
Days ahead of a Super Bowl in which the Chiefs will play the team that plays its home games 1.9 miles away.
"We respect Philadelphia," Sessa said. "We're Philadelphians all our lives. We're born and raised here. So we understand what it means to this city."
Sadly, come Sunday, the Super Bowl party scheduled to be held here had to be canceled.
It saddens me to say we will not be hosting the Super Bowl this year, we sold tickets very fast and had to turn our patrons away. So we don’t want to do that, we can’t accommodate everyone so we will just close for the night. I’m sorry again. Go Chiefs!
— Big Charlie's Saloon (@bigcharlies) February 6, 2023
"We were at capacity," Sessa said, "within an hour. And people are calling, 'I can't get in, I come every week.' He'll go, let her in, let him in, let this one in. I'm like, we've got too many people so we had to cancel it."
Why not set a limit?
"We didn't want to turn people away," Sessa said, "especially people who patronize the bar every single year or every single game."
And so, this storied bar, with loyal and dedicated fans all their own, will not be the customary meeting place it's been all season long for the biggest game of the season.