The 1st sports bar in this metro Phoenix city has closed after 44 years. What we know

Bahar Anooshahr, Arizona Republic
·2 min read
Max's Sports Bar in Glendale had a huge collection of football helmets and other sports memorabilia. The bar closed in October 2023 after a 44-year run. This picture was taken in 2000.
Max's Sports Bar in Glendale had a huge collection of football helmets and other sports memorabilia. The bar closed in October 2023 after a 44-year run. This picture was taken in 2000.

A beloved neighborhood bar known for its huge collection of sports memorabilia has closed after 44 years in Glendale.

Max's Sports Bar opened at the corner of Ocotillo Road and 47th Avenue in 1979. It was Glendale's first sports bar. Owner Max Beyer operated it until he died in 1991.

The bar hosted off-track betting and other activities, but Max's Sports Bar was chiefly famous for Beyer's huge collection of football helmets, about 850 of them at one point, according to an article in The Arizona Republic in 1989. The collection was pared down to 250 over the years.

And there was more. Autographed Phoenix Suns jerseys and photos of Arizona notables such as NBA player Manute Bol and former Arizona Gov. Rose Mofford adorned the walls. Two giant golf balls on yellow tees held the console that housed multiple screens above the bar.

The Max's Sports Bar mascot was an eagle carrying or wearing paraphernalia from just about every sport imaginable. It stood in the lobby of the longtime Glendale sports bar, which closed in October 2023 after 44 years.
The Max's Sports Bar mascot was an eagle carrying or wearing paraphernalia from just about every sport imaginable. It stood in the lobby of the longtime Glendale sports bar, which closed in October 2023 after 44 years.

And don't forget the bizarre human-size bird mascot in the lobby, which looked like a cross between an angry duck, a potbellied parrot and an evil eagle, carrying symbols of every sport.

During Beyer's tenure, Cable News Network lauded Max's as one of the best sports and dining establishments in the U.S., as did USA TODAY and Sports Magazine.

Patrons watched games on one of the 100 flat-screen televisions and noshed on pub fare and comfort foods like rib-eye steak and half-pound burgers.

Why Max's Sports Bar closed

Max's changed hands until in 2002, Delaware North, a global hospitality and entertainment company, took ownership of Max's as part of the Off-Track Betting network that it operated in the area.

According to Glen White, Delaware North's director of corporate communications, the company operated Max's until 2023 when it "sold the building housing Max’s to a company that was planning to use it for another purpose."

"We have been proud to operate Max’s," White said.

The bar shuttered in the last quarter of 2023.

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Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why Max's Sports Bar closed after 44 years in Glendale, Arizona