Throw the Ultimate Tailgate Party — at Home

This season, you can cheer your favorite pro or college football team with family and friends, without having to tote your portable grill, food, drinks and other tailgate gear to a stadium parking lot.

Here are some tips and tricks for throwing a successful tailgate:

Indoors, Outdoors — or Both

First step: Decide on whether your home tailgate will take place in the backyard, the living room — or both spots.

If you have an outdoor-mounted TV (or one you can roll out to the patio for the occasion), you can set up everything outdoors. Supplement the football with games like corn hole, horseshoes or beer pong.

Encourage guests to participate in a friendly competition by keeping score on their backyard game while watching the score on the big game. You can even give out small sports-themed prizes to up the ante.

Opting to throw your party in the living room? Consider staging the room like your favorite sports bar. Set up a corner with a bar cart or small card table, libations options and fun accessories (tiny umbrellas, anyone?).

You can even designate someone to play “bartender" for the night. (Or consider using Taskrabbit or Thumbtack to find a bartender to hire.)

If you can't decide between the different games happening that day, set up two TVs showing both games to really make guests feel like they're at their favorite sports bar.

Eat, Drink and Make Things Festive

Keep the tailgate theme going by replicating favorite foods and snacks, whether it's hot dogs on the grill, chili or chicken wings. You can also add easy-to-prep items like air fried snacks. For more inspiration, check out this list of sports-themed snacks.

And don't forget a signature drink. Have your party's bartender match your team's colors to a special “drink of the night." Or choose from this list for sports-themed drink recipes.

Crank Up the Tunes

If you're going to pretend like you're at the stadium, music is integral to the experience. Create a themed playlist for the day, or consider asking a friend to play DJ to take your party to the next level. Be sure to play the fight song when your team scores.

To pass time during commercials, karaoke can be a fun option, too. Get a wireless karaoke microphone, cue the themed YouTube playlists and get ready to belt out some sports-centric jams.

Tune In to the Big Game

Of course, making sure you have a reliable connection to watch the game is critical to your tailgate's success.

Remember, Cox makes it easy to watch live NFL and NCAA games (and many other sports). You can find your favorite teams by using the voice command on your remote. Have your mobile device handy and download the Contour TV app to get real-time game stats, team comparisons and more. (Don't forget to download your team's app, too.)

Party Like it's 2021

With the pandemic continuing, the health of your guests remains a top priority. Consult the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or your state or county health department websites for guidelines on hosting gatherings. Whether you're at the stadium or celebrating at home, you can have a fun time and stay safe.

Keep the Inspo Flowing

Check out this video to see how the Murphy family uses the devices and powerful wifi connection in the Cox Smart Home to make their game day setup smarter.