Brisbane only has two gay bars to choose from (try not to get overwhelmed), and for me the more-fun and less-nonsense one with more of a mature aged crowd is Sporties.

You can read more about its competition – The Wickham – which is better located, yet past its hey-day, in my general post about Brisbane by clicking here. But otherwise, without further ado, let me tell you about Sporties.

Officially known as The Sportsman hotel, this is the better bar to go to if you want to meet more mature-aged men. There is still a bit of a mix in ages, but I find there to be more oldies here than in other places. This bar is not huge, but big enough for three pool tables in it in a bar area on one side, and a restaurant with another bar on the other side, where they sometimes perform drag shows if that’s your thing.

The outdoor/smoking area is also nice, as it looks onto the main road and provides a certain type of nice ambience (it’s not quite the sound of the sea – but it’s the inner-city’s best answer to that).

Downstairs there is a men-only room. That may sound a bit raunchy, and perhaps it is when they host events (e.g. bears night), but on the sole occasion I went down there was just karaoke with tacky decorations and minimal spectators, which in its own funny way was likeable.

Sporties is best accessible with a taxi/car ride app. Located in the suburb of Spring Hill, it is not far by car from the city centre or The Valley, and therefore shouldn’t cost much. When I last took a taxi from The Wickham to Sporties for example, on a Saturday night, it cost $10. For economic context: that was roughly a decade ago. Sporties is open every day except Mondays, from 1pm till late. The busiest time is unsurprisingly the weekend, but you can see a few nice faces (and bodies) throughout the week there also. It is my favourite gay bar to go to in Brisbane and certainly my top recommendation in that regard. Do let me know about your experiences there in the comments below.