Where to Watch Football in Dar es Salaam

Football in Dar es Salaam comes in two versions, and most of the city follows both. There is the European game, watched with enormous commitment every weekend, and there is the local one, which is dominated by the rivalry between Simba SC and Young Africans (Yanga) and is one of the most intense derbies on the continent.

This guide covers where to watch each, who broadcasts what, and the part visitors always get wrong: what time the matches actually start here.

Kick-off times in Dar

Time Zone

East Africa Time, UTC+3

Daylight Saving

None

Clock Change

Europe, 25 October 2026

Dar does not change its clocks. Europe does. So every European kick-off moves an hour later in Dar when the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026, and an hour earlier again in late March.

The practical result is that the Saturday 3pm game lands at sunset and dinner time in Dar, which is about as good as timing gets. Champions League nights are a different proposition, particularly in winter.

Who shows what

Premier League

SuperSport on DStv

Champions League

SuperSport on DStv

Tanzanian League

Azam TV

SuperSport, on DStv, shows the Premier League — all 380 matches on its dedicated channel — and the Champions League. Azam TV holds the rights to Tanzania's own Premier League under a ten-year deal signed in 2021, and also shows some other European competitions.

So a bar with only DStv will show you Arsenal but not Simba, and the reverse for a bar with only Azam. The good football venues have both. If a specific match matters to you, phone ahead and ask.

Where to watch

George & Dragon

Area

Masaki / Oyster Bay

Type

British pub

Screens

Sports room, big screen plus smaller ones

Best

Big matches with a crowd

The default answer. A long-running British pub with a separate sports room, one big screen and several smaller ones, and a menu of burgers and fish and chips. It is where the loudest Premier League crowd on the peninsula ends up, and it gets full for derbies, title deciders and anything involving the bigger English clubs. Arrive early for a Saturday 5pm game.

The Slow Leopard

Area

Masaki

Type

Sports bar and grill

Screens

Large HD screen and several monitors

Best

Relaxed watching, groups

Open since 2014, with a large HD screen, several smaller monitors, gourmet burgers and reasonably priced beer, plus a garden. The better choice if you want to watch properly without being in the middle of a scrum.

Samaki Samaki

Area

Masaki

Type

Seafood bar and grill

Best

Dinner with the match on

The Masaki seafood standby, with an outdoor bar, a grill built around the day's catch and live music on some nights. Good for a match with a proper dinner, but check what is on the screens before you go, because music nights take priority.

Level 8, city centre

Area

City centre

Type

Hotel rooftop bar

Floor

8th

Best

If you are staying downtown

The eighth-floor rooftop bar of a city-centre hotel, and the most convenient option for anyone based downtown. Call ahead to check what is being shown.

Midtown, Masaki

Area

Masaki

Type

Rooftop restaurant and lounge

Kitchen

Jamaican and Swahili

Happy Hour

Mon–Thu, 3–7pm

Full disclosure, this is us. Midtown is a rooftop in Masaki, open on all four sides, with a Jamaican and Swahili kitchen and a rum-led bar. Happy hour runs Monday to Thursday, 3:00 to 7:00pm, with signature cocktails at TSH 10,000.

We show football, so the Saturday 5pm kick-off lands with the sunset and dinner on the same table. For a derby or a big European night, message ahead to book and to check the match is on the screens.

The local way: football halls

Across the city, fans who do not have a decoder at home watch in small neighbourhood screening rooms, vibanda vya mpira, for a small entry fee. The atmosphere at a big Simba or Yanga match, or a Premier League game involving one of the clubs Tanzanians follow most closely, is extraordinary. They are neighbourhood places rather than visitor venues, so go with a local friend rather than on your own.

The Kariakoo Derby

Next

Saturday 10 October 2026, 7pm

Venue

Uhuru Stadium

Home

Simba SC

Capacity

23,000

Simba against Yanga — the Kariakoo Derby, named for the downtown district where both clubs were born — is the biggest fixture in Tanzanian football, and among the biggest in Africa. The city splits in red and yellow-green, and the result is argued about for weeks.

The last season's two league derbies both ended level: 0–0 at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar on 1 March 2026, and 2–2 at the Meja Jenerali Isamuhyo Stadium on 3 May 2026. Both were moved away from Dar's national stadium because it is being renovated for AFCON 2027.

The first league derby of the 2026/27 season is scheduled for Saturday 10 October 2026 at 7pm at Uhuru Stadium, with Simba as the home side. Uhuru sits right beside the national stadium on Taifa Road in Temeke, holds around 23,000 people, and is the ground where Tanganyika celebrated its independence in 1961.

Going to the ground

A derby at the ground is worth doing once, and doing sensibly:

• Buy tickets through official club and league channels, not from touts outside.
• Go with someone who knows the stadium. It makes everything easier, from the gate to the seat.
• Arrive very early. Temeke is about 15km from Masaki, and on derby day the roads are packed.
• Wear neutral colours unless you have genuinely chosen a side and are sitting with its fans.
• Leave valuables at home. Take your phone, some cash and nothing you would miss.
• Book your ride home before the final whistle, and do not walk around Temeke late at night.
• Crowds are huge. Keep to the edges, know where the exits are, and leave with the flow rather than against it.

And in 2027

Dar es Salaam is co-hosting the Africa Cup of Nations from 19 June to 17 July 2027, and the whole city will be watching. We have covered what is confirmed, and where to watch it, in where to watch AFCON 2027 in Dar es Salaam.