By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
EAST VILLAGE — For the past five years, Bar None on Third Avenue has been one watering hole shared by fans of two NFL teams.
When both sides played on Sundays during the season, the Who Dats and the Purple Faithful were forced to duke it out for cold beers and a stake to the space.
Until now.
When the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings clash in the season's opener Thursday night, the bar will come to resemble two private clubs — complete with security, separate entrances and a VIP guest list.
While fans have long converged in different sections of the bar, anytime both teams play at the same time — and especially when squaring off against each other — the space has to be divided for the rival factions.
The change, some say, is a far cry from the dive nature the bar is known for.
“It’s almost like a mini-gameday within the bar itself,” Bar None manager Cyrus Koosha, 33, said about the days both teams play. “I feel a little bit like a politician, making sure both teams get equal treatment.”
When both teams met during last year’s NFC Championship playoff game, Saints organizer Ted Castator proposed a bet: Win the game, and take exclusive rights to the bar. For good.
Ultimately, he claimed, Vikings fans turned down the offer. So, to accommodate a growing fan base on both sides, the bar set up separate entrances. Saints fans enter through a side door leading to the back, and Vikings fans enter through the front.
On Thursday, those not on the exclusive VIP list could be turned away, a fate that befell some fans during last year's playoff game because of fire code regulations. The bar, the manager noted, was simply too packed.
In preparation for the new season, the fans are kicking it up a notch.
Castator has painted the back room in black and gold — the Saints official colors. It’s important for supporters to have their own “Saints room,” fans say, where homemade jambalaya is served, and New Orleans musicians blast over speakers set up for the post-game dance party.
“If you’re a Saints fan, you grew up with a losing team, but we really made it about the party. Especially at Bar None, it’s more about the party than the win,” said Saints fan Jessica Marasco, 28, a Williamsburg resident and New Orleans native.
“But this Thursday we definitely want to beat the Vikings.”
In the front of the bar, the Vikings fans are getting pumped, too. Their brand-new banner hangs proudly next to the Saints on the days they play.
Moreover, some purple-clad enthusiasts are trying to up the ante by re-organizing the fans' online presence and creating parties of their own.
Minnesota fans, who have reportedly been at the bar since 1996, say that they have rights to Bar None because of their ties to the place.
“I’ve seen business deals go down, and couples get together and break up here,” said NYC Vikings fan club leader Marcus Grundahl, 37. The Minnesota native now lives on Wall Street and manages a nightclub.
But some Saints fans were willing to challenge that logic.
“We tried to bet them on the it, but it seems that the Vikings fans didn’t believe enough in their team to accept the bet,” said Castator, known as the captain of the "Krewe of Bar None."
Others just want to have a good time, and say it's fine that the two teams co-exist.
“I don’t think this battle should even exist,” said Vikings fan and Upper East Side resident Niccole Gingras, 31.
Saints fan Marasco agreed. “It’s nice to share the bar,” she said.
Some bar employees aren’t so sure, though.
“I’m making the waitresses wear referee shirts,” manager Koosha said. He spent the end of the last Saints-Vikings matchup in the bathroom, breaking up a fight that broke out between opposing fans.
“They'll also have yellow flags. In case things get out of hand.”
The game will be played Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
