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Frequently Asked Questions


Where Do You Meet to Watch Steelers Games?

Since the beginning of the 2008 season, we meet at Patrick McGovern's Pub (or simply "McGovern's" to us) in St Paul to watch all Steelers games. It is located at 225 West 7th Street (near the Xcel Energy Center). We have our own room upstairs with a private entrance just for Steelers fans, that fits over 200 - if necessary we can spill over into other areas of the bar and they will put the game on in those areas as well (this was needed for all of the 08-09 playoff games).

How Can I Keep Up with What’s Going on with SFOM?

There are several ways:

  • Our Website - Can be found at http://sfominn.com/ It has lots of good info including:
    • Directions & a map to McGovern's
    • Weekly Trivia Questions - Print out the page & bring it to McGovern’s with your answer & you can win a free appetizer or samich platter
    • Voting Links - Any time we can help the Steelers by voting for something, there will be a link from our home page. Examples include Coach of the week, Campbell’s “Click for Cans etc.
    • Articles about SFOM - In the past we have had articles published about our fan club, including on in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Links to these articles can be found on the website
    • Message Board - A place to chat about the Steelers, SFOM, McGovern’s, whatever, with other SFOM members
    • Pictures - The home page has a picture of the 200+ people that came to opening day 2008, which was our first day at McGovern’s. In addition, the “pictures” tab on the left side of the page has pics from other SFOM gatherings.
    • Merchant Links - Occasionally we put links to merchant websites that can directly benefit our fans in “Steelers” related ways. Examples include Pro Image at the Mall of America, who gives special deals on Steelers merchandise to SFOM members and Sports Vacations Inc who sells vacation packages that can include Steelers tickets.
    • Other Steelers Related “Stuff” Check out the various tabs for info we hope you’ll find valuable
  • E-Mails - We try to send out e-mails one a week during the season to make sure you know what’s going on each week & to encourage folks to come watch the game as a group. We also send out a few offseason e-mails if the situation warrants it.
  • Announcements during the game.
What happens each week at McGovern’s during Steelers Games?
  • Watching the Steelers - Of course it all starts with watching the Steelers. We have our own room with a private entrance and it has more than 20 flat screen, HD TVs ranging in size from 36” to 60”
  • Free Giveaway Drawing - Each week everyone that comes to watch the game get one ticket into the halftime drawing just for coming to watch the game with us at McGovern’s. Typical prizes include the ever-popular shot glass filled by Mayor Paul, bumper stickers, key chains and other Steelers items. In addition, McGovern’s food & beverage vendors sometimes provide things like T-shirts & glasses.
  • “Jimmy the Spoons” Trivia Contest - Don’t miss out on your chance for free food. The only way to play & win is to visit our website before the game. Print out the page with the question, write the correct answer on it, bring it with you to McGovern’s when you come to watch the game & place your entry in the drawing bin. All correct answers will be put into a drawing with the winner selected at the end of the first quarter.
  • Raffles - During the games we sometimes raffle off “big ticket” items like jerseys & helmets for the following reasons:
    • Food Drive - During the food drive (see below) we generally conduct raffles each week to help raise money for the food shelf.
    • General SFOM Fund Raising Raffles - These help supplement our ability to give away weekly prizes and other special items like the commemorative bandanas we gave to everyone that came to McGovern’s to watch Super Bowl XLIII.
Are there any dues?

NO!! Our only goal is to have a place where Steelers fans can get together to watch their favorite team.

HOW SFOM Gets Giveaway, Raffle & Auction Items
  • Donations - Many times SFOM members donate items either from personal collections or things they see & buy when they are on a trip back to the Burgh. We will gladly accept almost any Steelers or Pittsburgh related items. In some cases we may hold on to them for a while, (possibly even the following season) to make sure we have an even distribution of items or to maximize the benefit by putting them in the silent auction, but rest assured they will be put to good use. In 2008 we also got a hUGE donation of more than $2,000 worth of Super Bowl XL stuff from Pro Image.
  • Purchases
    • By SFOM Leadership - We carefully shop to get the best deals on items that work well for our giveaways, raffles & auctions. As most of you know, Pro Image at the Mall of America is our major supplier in the Twin Cities and they always give us significant discounts on anything we get for the club (anywhere from 20% to 80% off + sometimes they just give us stuff). In addition, when any of us go back to PIT, we discuss our needs and shop at discount stores back there to get great deals on fun stuff - for example when Laura & Glenn were in PIT for the Nov08 Chargers games, we paid under $600 for more than $1,600 worth of stuff for next year. Note that we rarely if ever pay full retail and we work hard to be good stewards of the club’s money.
    • By SFOM Members - Sometimes club members come to us and ask if we need anything when they travel back to PIT. While we usually are set, occasionally we’ll ask them to look for something specific. When we do that, we will give them a budget and reimburse them up to that amount. Note that to be fair to everyone, we will not reimburse anything not approved in advance.
How do you pay for things like the weekly drawing?

Most of the money comes from our annual picnic. The cost includes food, beer & pop for approx. 3 hours. We also have a cash-prize raffle, as well as silent & live auctions. In addition, a few times during the regular season & at most playoff games we have special raffles for higher end Steelers items like authentic jerseys & helmets. The idea is to pay for things by letting participate to whatever level they are comfortable. In addition, our friends at Pro Image at the Mall of America donated over $2,000 worth of Steelers items to the fan club in January 2008, which was included in drawing & the silent auction. Please support them by visiting them and considering them first for your Steelers merchandise purchases in Minnesota.

What else does SFOM do?

To be honest, not much that isn’t related to the Steelers. However, occasionally there is something else that seems to fit the theme of our fans & our fan club - examples include:

  • Pittsburgh Penguins Games
    • Games in MN -  People with the money to pay will be given priority and we only accept full payment, not depsotis.
    • Stanley Cup Finals - If the Pens are fortunate enough to make the Stanley Cup Finals, we gather to watch the games at our “small event home” which is Bennett’s Chop & Rail House in St Paul (http://bennettschopandrailhouse.com/). Similar to our Steelers game parties, prizes are given away between periods. Over the past 2 seasons our total attendance at Bennett’s has been more than 500 and we had 65+ people there in Jun09 for the Pens Cup Clinching Victory over the Redwings in Game 7.
  • Annual Food Drive - An example of something we do that is both fun & good for the community is a food drive where we compete against other MN fan club bars (Browns, Bears, etc.). Since beginning this tradition in 2007, we have crushed all other fan clubs with donations totaling more than $5,000 and 2,500 pounds of food. We proudly display a trophy commemorating our victories at McGovern’s throughout season.