In what has been a roller coaster season so far for Detroit Lions fans, they couldn’t have picked a better game to have a watch party with a few hundred supporters. Members of the ‘One Pride’ community packed the Canadian Brewhouse in north London, Ont. for the third annual stop on the Detroit Lions’ Raise the Roar Canadian Bar tour. “As a Lions fan I love this,” said Aaron Bayer from London. “Pulling up and seeing all the blue and white all that Honolulu Blue, it’s as close to being at a tailgate in Detroit as we get here right now.” The past two years, the party was held on Dundas Place and the watch party inside Canada Life Place. This time, the Lions switched to a bar tour. “I’m from Windsor, and me and my dad were season ticket holders back home, so it is awesome to see stuff like this,” said Lions fan Ryan Walker. “It still seems like a decent enough crowd here. Obviously when it was downtown they had a bigger venue, different experience and they were able to put more stuff on. But I mean, I think they’ve done a good job here with what they’ve had.” Outside in the parking lot, they had games and photo opportunities with a giant helmet and signs. Inside they had a DJ, the Lions cheerleaders, more games and a photo booth. After an up and down 2-2 start to the year, this date couldn’t have been better to watch a game. Detroit blew out Arizona 45-17. The Lions were granted marketing rights in Canada in April 2024 and hosted its first Canadian watch party later that year. There are two more area stops to come in Kitchener on Nov. 15 for the US Thanksgiving game, and in Windsor on Nov. 26. “It’s nice seeing that Canada is getting stuff like this now,” added Walker. “It’s nice that they finally saw that there’s a lot of fans in Ontario and to put something like this together is awesome, especially for the city.”
