Unlock the Hidden Gems: The Ultimate Guide to America’s Most Underrated Women’s Sports Bars You Didn’t Know Existed
Ever walked into a bar and felt like you just stepped into a clubhouse for champions? Now, picture this: a scoreboard lit up, buzzing with women’s sports action, while iconic tennis legend Billie Jean King’s cardboard cutout keeps a watchful eye from the entrance. Sounds like a scene from a dream, right? But this isn’t just any dream. It’s the reality that Jillian Hiscock, owner of A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis, lives every day. From juggling calls to secure streaming rights to collaborating on new ventures in cities like Des Moines, these women’s sports bars aren’t just watering holes — they’re hubs of community, empowerment, and a celebration of female athletes smashing records and stereotypes alike. Curious about how this booming movement is transforming the sports bar scene from coast to coast — even in unexpected places like Nebraska and Texas? Pull up a chair, grab your favorite drink, and dive into the vibrant world where women’s sports take center stage and the cheers are as loud as the spirit. LEARN MORE
14 min readThe cardboard cutout of tennis legend and equal rights trailblazer Billie Jean King is looking right at A Bar of Their Own owner Jillian Hiscock. The life-size model at the front door of the Minneapolis watering hole is a seamless part of the two-room space’s decor—a relic among the women’s sports memorabilia throughout.
Hiscock has been on the phone the last several minutes trying to get permission to stream an event. Once she is finished with a reporter, she has another call to make—to talk with people from a company that is helping a women’s sports bar get off the ground in Des Moines, Iowa about audio-video setups.
A Bar of Their Own
A Bar of Their Own owner Jillian Hiscock
“I think it’s part of my job, honestly, to help continue to grow this movement and help make other women successful,” Hiscock says. “I know it’s challenging, but I had a lot of help, and insight and support … from Jenny Nguyen and Jen Barnes, and I want to continue to pay that forward in this process.”
Nguyen and Barnes, from Portland and Seattle, respectively, are two of the nation’s first owners of bars that almost exclusively televise women’s sports. The Sports Bra in Portland became the first when it opened its doors in April 2022. Rough & Tumble followed suit eight months later, just 180 miles to the north, and has since opened a second location south of downtown.
Today, there are two dozen bars that exclusively or nearly exclusively showcase women’s sports, with several more set to open over the next year.
The bars have expanded beyond traditional women’s sports hotbeds and LGBTQ-friendly areas and into areas that might surprise, such as Texas, Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio.
In 2025, the Sports Bra announced it will be the first to franchise, opening four new locations in partnership with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, in Boston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, St. Louis, and Portland, Maine. Nguyen also took another leap of faith in July 2026 when she launched a public equity crowdfunding campaign entitled “Own A Piece of the Bra.” Using a Simple Agreement for Future Equity model that offered shares as low as $250, the campaign raised $1.2 million to expand its brand infrastructure and open a second, larger location in Portland.
The audience for women’s sports has exploded since Nguyen, the unofficial oracle of bars for women’s sports, opened the original Bra.
Jenny Nguyen
The Sports Bra
TV ratings records and game attendance benchmarks seem to be smashed with each new season. For example, the first nationally televised game of the 2025 WNBA season—a preseason contest featuring Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and the Brazilian National Team—averaged 1.3 million viewers. Opening weekend in 2025 gave ESPN its most-watched game ever to the tune of 2.7 million viewers when the Fever hosted the Chicago Sky, and in July 2026, NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball showdown between the Fever and defending champion Las Vegas Aces peaked at 3.1 million viewers.
And the excitement isn’t limited to the hardwood.
Last season, the NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series final between Texas and Oklahoma drew 2 million viewers, delivering the then-most-watched WCWS Finals on record. Despite the final matchup of 2026 being an in-state clash, Game 2 of the Texas-Texas Tech championship was the most-watched college softball game on record with 2.5 million, giving ESPN a 28 percent year-over-year boost for the softball tournament.
But the very thing that made women’s sports bars possible—coverage—remains its biggest challenge, owners say.
“We are having the hardest time [getting] all the games. There is still not enough women’s sports on TV,” says Kat Moore, co-owner of Title 9 in Phoenix.
It’s a universal problem as the owners look for content to fill their screens.
Hiscock said A Bar of Their Own regularly subscribes to 18 streaming platforms, but also has several individual event subscriptions—for example, to show last year’s NCAA Division III women’s ultimate frisbee championships, in which local programs Carleton College and St. Olaf College competed.
“For so many of these services, you can buy the event package, but they are intended for personal use, so we have to contact the service to make sure we have permission to show their content in a commercial setting. That’s another aspect men’s sports bars don’t have to deal with,” she says.
Not all of the bars show only women’s sports. At Chicago’s Whiskey Girl Tavern, for example, men’s sports can be seen. The priority of the LGBTQ-friendly space in the Edgewater neighborhood is to air women’s sports, however.
“We always wanted a spot to watch sports and have a nice cocktail and could never really find it,” co-owner Heather Roberts told Block Club Chicago when Whiskey Girl opened in 2022. “We built a place we would want to go.”
Whiskey Girl Tavern during the Olympics
The bars each have their own feel and mission, as well.
Watch Me! Sports Bar in Long Beach, California has become an event space where former U.S. Women’s National Team soccer stars Tobin Heath and Christen Press recorded an episode of their podcast, The Re—Cap Show. The real Billie Jean King made a visit in April, too.
Drawdown Brewing in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston is a woman-owned brewery with a focus, naturally, on beer. However, it is also a venue where one can find all of Boston’s professional women’s sports teams—including the PWHL’s Fleet and Women’s Elite Rugby Banshees—on the screens.
Amy Cooper has been staging watch parties and fine-tuning the concept for Raise the Bar in Columbus, Ohio, which will be the site of the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2027. Cooper says advice from Hiscock has led her to be patient in her approach to securing a building lease so that her bar has ample room to grow and to connect to the community.
“Even though we don’t yet have a WNBA or NWSL team, the city is committed to making itself a women’s sports hub and, with that growing momentum, I don’t doubt that there will be a team here, and Raise the Bar will be here ahead of time,” Cooper says.
Athena Keke’s opened in Brooklyn in Fall 2025 under long-time service industry employees Claudia Capriles and Alexandra Murray, who have also leaned on the women’s sports bar veterans.
“We are a part of a couple Slack groups and group chats [and] are talking to all of the women’s sports bar owners across the country,” Capriles says. “It’s great because we’ve built this community around women’s sports bars.”
Every Women’s Sports Bar, State by State
ARIZONA
Title 9 Sports Grill
4221 N 7th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85013
title9sportsgrill.com | @title9sportsgrill
Long-time Boycott Bar owner Audrey Corley teamed up with Kat and Brad Moore of Short Leash Hot Dogs + Taproom to create a well lit, festive joint with plenty of screens in Short Leash’s former home. Corley focuses on the bar operations and sports, while Kat’s jam is the food and events. Committed to the community of the Melrose neighborhood, Title 9 has hosted “happy hours” for kids, book signings, and special guests. Phoenix Mercury legend Diana Taurasi told WH in April that she’s stopped by to see the life-sized image of herself leaping for a layup on the wall. “The city has changed and embraced not only women’s basketball, but women’s sports in general,” Taurasi says.
CALIFORNIA
One of Us
3085 University Ave., San Diego, CA 92104
oneofusbar.com | @oneofusbar
Having cut the ribbon in August 2026, One of Us had to completely restock its inventory after a bustling opening weekend in the North Park neighborhood. The bar’s three owners met as season-ticketholders during the San Diego Wave’s inaugural NWSL season and put their marketing, wealth management, and law expertise to work. On their website, they hold themselves and their staff to a high bar, too: “We want a bar that doesn’t have sticky floors.”
Rikki’s
2223 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94114
rikkisbarsf.com | @rikkisbarsf
The women’s sports scene in the Bay Area is bustling as the aura around Ballhalla—the downtown Chase Center where the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries play—has become downright mystical. Located just a couple blocks south of the historic corner of Castro & Market, San Francisco’s women’s sport bar is named after Rikki Streicher, who operated lesbian bars in the city from the 1960s to ‘90s. Its ribbon-cutting was in June 2025 and, before summer’s end, the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed it “one of the most special spots in the city.”
Untamed Spirits
3715 Evans St. W., Los Angeles, CA 90027
untamedspiritsla.com | @untamedspiritsla
Located in the bustling and hip Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, Untamed Spirits opened during Pride month in 2025 by former college and pro golfer Stephanie Ellingwood and her high school friend Janie Trinh, a designer who repurposed an old neighborhood into the sleek space Spirits occupies. It boasts a chic outdoor patio with palm trees and hosts weekend brunch, comedy nights, Ted Lasso watch parties, a book club, and more.
Watch Me! Sports Bar
6527 E Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach, CA 90803
@watchme_sportsbar
Long Beach has a raucous queer community, and this bar is for the sports-loving queers. The spot apparently crushed Long Beach Pride this May. It has a dog-friendly patio, a festive, semi-circular bar and lots and lots of TVs. It is big enough for screenings, podcast tapings (LA Sparks Weekly, The Re—Cap Show, etc.) and some amazing guests. There is a lot going on at the sleek, bright Watch Me! Sports Bar and it all looks good.
COLORADO
The 99ers Sports Bar
909 E Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80218
the99erssportsbar.com | @the99erssportsbar
An ode to the 1999 USWNT team, The 99ers Sports Bar is a traditional bar in a narrow space with some booths, high-tops tables, a few TVs and framed jerseys. Like several of its sister bars, 99ers started a year before opening with a Kickstarter campaign and a dream. Denver welcomed an NWSL team in 2026, and celebrates the Bandits of the WNFC pro football league and University of Denver athletics.
GEORGIA
Jolene Jolene
1963 Hosea L. Williams Dr. NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30317
jolenejoleneatl.com | @jolenejoleneatl
Jolene Jolene founder Chelsea Fishman says the inspiration to open the South’s lone women’s sport bar hit while she was at the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Sydney, Australia, surrounded by thousands of fans of women’s sports. The joint is named after Fishman’s cat, who is named after the late Dolly Parton’s hit song, naturally, so there is a bit of brand confusion as Dolly-meets-women’s sports. However, with a brick facade and high ceilings, it’s a great space. The menu goes a bit beyond the bar food norm—we will have the “Mia Hamm & Cheese” and a “Triple Espresso martini,” please.
ILLINOIS
Babe’s Sports Bar
3017 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60647
babeschicago.com | @babesinchicago
Chicago, it turns out, is big enough for three women’s sports bars—and Babe’s, located in Logan Square, is the only one to show exclusively women’s sports on its screens. (“Please don’t ask us to make an exception,” the website clearly states.) The 21-and-up scene does not have a kitchen, but it does have a Paige Bueckers look-a-like contest! Founded by college rugby co-captains and besties Nora McConnell-Johnson and Torra Spillane, it is not a surprise that this bar feels like a Chicago bar.
Level Sporting Club
3343 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60657
@levelsportingclub
Founded by former Northwestern University and Puerto Rican National Team basketball player Clarissa Flores, the Wrigleyville spot also has an all-women investment team that includes Jennifer King, the first Black female assistant coach in the NFL. Flores, who embarked upon a career in hospitality after her playing days, also tabbed Bib Gourmand-recognized chef Amanda Barnes, who has focused on “elevated bar food”—hello, crab rangoon mozzarella sticks! The Club also has a cocktail lounge, The Key Club, on its lower floor.
Whiskey Girl Tavern
6318 N Clark St., Chicago, IL 60660
whiskeygirltavern.com | @whiskeygirltavern
Named after the owners’ dog, Whiskey, WGT doesn’t exclusively air women’s sports. It is more of a traditional sports bar that showcases women athletes. That doesn’t mean it skimps. Last spring, for example, the place was abuzz over the start of women’s 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled and aired every contest. It hosts live music, comedy shows and touts a not-surprisingly solid whiskey list.
MASSACHUSETTS
Drawdown Brewing
3204 Washington St., Boston, MA 02130
drawdownbrewing.com | @drawdownbrewing
At Drawdown Brewing in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, you might not even realize it is a women’s sports bar. Its primary focus is on its beer. But it also happens to be one of the only places in the Northeast where one can watch all of New England’s professional women’s sports teams and local women’s college sports. Also, Fridays are for RuPaul’s Drag Race.
MINNESOTA
A Bar of Their Own
2207 E Franklin Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404
abaroftheirown.com | @abaroftheirown
With a huge dining room and separate bar area, A Bar of Their Own is a bustling, loud, festive joint. Solid bar food and local drafts dot the menu, which is nothing special. What is special is the camaraderie. Minnesota nice, right?! Absolutely. The staff is pleasant and inviting, and the regulars are used to winning. Get ready to talk about the Gophers, the Lynx, the Frost, broomball, even dancing! These are smart local sports fans.
MISSOURI
The Dub
105 W. 9th St., Kansas City, MO 64105
thedubkc.com | @thedubkc
The Dub’s Instagram account said this about its August 2026 events: “A month full of soccer (and TV shows about soccer 😉), baseball, basketball, some men’s football, and a whole lot of parties.” That kind of us tells us everything we need to know about this joint, which opened in summer 2025. It’s a simple place that loves its soccer and its parties. Like the space itself, the menu is small and sufficient—six sandos, three salads and some shareables. It loves its Kansas City Current, its drag brunch, and did we mention its parties?
NEBRASKA
Set The Bar
6121 Maple St., Suite 2, Omaha, NE 68104
set-thebar.com | @setthebaromaha
Nebraska might not be the first place you think of when thinking “women’s sports bars,” but if you know how passionate the state is about women’s volleyball, it makes total sense. On Instagram, it says you may see some men’s sports on its screens, but “our priority is and always will be women’s sports.” A family-friendly space, Set The Bar has a simple menu, but one that is cognizant of vegans, vegetarians and those sensitive to gluten. The Banh Mi Fries look heavenly, too.
NEW YORK
Athena Keke’s
222 Greene Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238
athenakekesnyc.com | @athenakekesnyc
According to its website, Athena Keke’s is “reimagining what a sports bar can be. Come watch women’s sports while you enjoy Bolivian-inspired food, peruse the art as you sip a martini, or take a selfie in the disco bathrooms! We’re here for good times, celebratory wins and hard losses.” It’s a perfect description. In the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn and named after the co-owners’ tabby cat, Athena Keke’s is not just sporty, but queer-centered, politically-active and devoted—particularly to NYC’s women’s sports teams.
Blazer’s Sports Bar
308 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11249
blazerssportsbar.com | @blazerssportsbar
In the heart of Williamsburg, Blazer’s—which is owned by a trio of friends who met online and bonded over the WNBA’s New York Liberty—is a small, tight-knit community of local women’s sports fans. The space has sketches of famous female athletes, lots of Liberty and New York team memorabilia and genuinely feels as homey as the neighborhood in which it lives.
Wilka’s
241 Bowery, New York, NY 10006
wilkasnyc.com | @wilkasnyc
New York’s first women’s sports bar is located in Manhattan, has a sleek bar, spicy bartenders and a steep staircase heading down to the toilets—check out the impressive collection of memorabilia lining the wall on your way up. (Seriously, the Lauren Jackson jersey and photos will be there. Trust us on this one.) Wilka’s is committed to showing only women’s sports, the community is awesome, and it gets pretty wild!
OHIO
The W Sports Bar
5428 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, OH 44102
thewsportsbarcleveland.com | @thewsportsbar
Located in the Gordon Square Arts District, The W is owned by three women’s sports fans—Cassy Kopp and Ally Eclarin of streetwear brand State Champs, and Shelley Pippin of Brewnuts (donuts and beer!). The menu features typical bar-food fare and includes Brewnuts Baller Bread Pudding and root beer floats. While prioritizing women’s sports, the owners plan to embrace the Cleveland sports scene, as well. “A huge portion of the women’s sports fanbase is male. This space is for everyone,” Eclarin told TheLand.
OREGON
The Sports Bra
2512 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232
thesportsbrapdx.com | @thesportsbrapdx
The OG of women’s sports bars truly centers women. It serves spirits from a women-owned distillery and prioritizes beer and wine from women-owned establishments. Owner Jenny Nguyen is a chef, so the menu is top notch featuring delicious vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. With a huge and thriving community, the space is special. It has just one downfall, though—it’s tiny. Get there early or prepare to wait. But, really… wait; the place is legendary.
PENNSYLVANIA
Marsha’s
430 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
marshassouthstreet.com | @marshassouthstreet
Philly’s first queer-owned women’s bar is a throwback to the lesbian bars of the ’90s, but add sports—all sports, but this crew loves pro baseball player Mo’ne Davis and South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley most. Karaoke Tuesday is a hit, as well. The menu is simple: Hot dogs, smashburgers, grilled cheese, tater tots, and popcorn are the highlights. Having opened in September 2025, it ran into some drama in its first months over alleged employment disputes, but the place is packed during games and events. Named after LGBT activist Marsha P. Johnson, the bar is the place to be for Philly sapphics—and, wow, just wait until the city gets its WNBA team.
TENNESSEE
Chapstick
1400 Woodland St., Nashville, TN 37206
@chapstick37206
Launching in September 2025, Chapstick is a lesbian-owned women’s sports bar and… let’s admit it… it might just have a perfect name for the genre. The bar was a long time coming with contractors breaking ground in spring 2024 and supported by its sister bar, The Lipstick Lounge, which lives just downstairs. This second-floor haunt has an impressive 39 TVs and, while you will catch men’s sports on some of them, the focus is on women’s sports—and the women who come to watch and play. Pool, darts, reality TV, trivia, and the perfect slogan to go with the perfect name: “Sportsball for all.”
TEXAS
Side Peace Sports Bar
4218 Washington Ave., Houston, TX 77007
@sidepeacesportsbar
Co-owned by Julie Mabry, who owns Houston’s lesbian establishment Pearl Bar, Side Peace is right next door. It boasts a festive patio, large comfy couches, high tables, and a big screen. It has a nightclub feel, and there will be dancing at night. It isn’t a place that exclusively shows women’s sports—you can expect to see the Astros, Texans, or Rockets, too—but it is one that focuses on its female clientele.
WASHINGTON
Pitch the Baby
600 19th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112
pitchthebabybar.com | @pitchthebabybar
On the east slope of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood lives the nation’s first Latine-owned women’s sports bar. Co-founder Monica Dimas, who was born in Mexico, launched Pitch the Baby with Anais Custer and Kimfer Flanery-Rye in July 2025. The menu consists of Mexican fare and specialty cocktails. It also boasts an impressive list of mocktails, as well. As for the name? It refers to a 1990 song by the Scottish rock band Cocteau Twins.
Rough & Tumble
5309 22nd Ave. NW, Seattle, WA 98107
roughandtumblepub.com | @roughandtumblepub
Seattle is a solid women’s sports town thanks to a variety of pro and college teams, plus a USL-W soccer franchise, which is co-owned by Rough & Tumble. On the menu, two of its most popular dishes are named after Seattle sports icons: The Bird, a fried chicken sandwich in honor of basketball legend Sue Bird, and The Pinoe, a salmon cake sandwich for soccer star Megan Rapinoe. The bar’s flagship location in Ballard boasts more than 4,000 square feet of space with pool tables, 30-foot ceilings and a view of Salmon Bay. It also opened a second, smaller location in the Columbia City neighborhood.
On Deck
The Sports Bra (Fall 2026)
15 E. Maryland Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204
thesportsbraofficial.com | @thesportsbraindy
The Sports Bra (Fall 2026)
7344 Manchester Road, Maplewood, MO 63143
thesportsbraofficial.com | @thesportsbrastlouis
The Sports Bra (2027)
4080 Paradise Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89169
thesportsbraofficial.com | @thesportsbravegas
In the Hole
Bar IX
Detroit, MI
bar9detroit.com | @bar9detroit
Raise the Bar
Columbus, OH
raisethebarcbus.com | @raisethebarcbus
The Sports Bra
Boston, MA
thesportsbraofficial.com | @thesportsbraboston
Tomboys
Des Moines, IA
@tomboyssportsbar
Molly Yanity is a professor and the director of the Sports Media and Communication program at the University of Rhode Island. She earned a Ph.D. from Ohio University in 2013 after a 15-year career as a sports writer in Seattle and Southern California. Prior to coming to Rhode Island, Yanity taught journalism and sports journalism at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. Her research typically deals with media coverage and fandom of women’s sports, as well as the roles and routines of sports journalists. Yanity lives in West Haven, Connecticut, with her wife, journalist Lindsay Boyle, and their rescue dog Rigatoni.
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