Phoenix – When you enter the title 9 Sports Grill in the district of Melrose in Phoenix, its mission of being a shelter to see women’s sport permeates every corner and crack. From the more than the dozen televisions mounted on pink and orange walls to the “Play as a girl!” Neon sign against a giant image of WNBA star Diana Tauurasi.
It is an impressive change for co -owners Audrey Corley and Kat Moore. Just before Christmas, the space was still the Hot Dog Hot Dog restaurant in Moore and her husband. But last summer they sold the business and the new owners did not want to stay on the property. It was then that Corley, owner of a popular lesbian pop in the next block, proposed to associate in the first sports bar in the sport centered. She had been considering the idea since she read about The sports bra in Portland, Oregonwhich opened in 2022, and then seeing that half a dozen similar bars arise in the last year.
“Then I see, you know, another appeared here and another. And then I thought, it’s the time. It has to be,” Corley said before the great inauguration of title 9 earlier this month.
Several new bars dedicated to women’s sports have made the crazy race open on time to capitalize Mature of MarchNow in full apogee. From San Francisco to Cleveland, there will be more than a dozen throughout the country before the end of the year. The woman -centered bar scene has advanced huge for three years when the sports bra was the only one. Comes for an exciting First year during which the women’s group teams will finally be paid for playing in the NCAA tournament. Many credit stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for increasing the commercialization of the players.
Last season, Reese and Clark teams never saw a dollar. Now, women’s teams will finally win Individual income, known as “units.” A unit is money paid to conferences when one of its teams appears in the NCAA tournament. The teams win another with each game played.
The most perfect part of transforming its old restaurant into title 9 has been the anticipation of the incorporated community of having a place to see women’s sports, Moore said.
“The only question I have received from many men, especially when we started telling people, was:” Are men allowed? ” Yeah!” Moore said, with a laugh.
Call by the historical law of 1972 that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education, including athletics, title 9 is full of tributes to female athletes, from photos framed with QR codes to a list of cocktails with drinks such as the tail path summitt sour and taurasi. However, the owners emphasize a family environment where young women can come to celebrate after a school game.
“Even some of the girls could come here and dream about being on television someday and that they are really paid for it,” said Corley.
Debra Hallum and Marlene du Plessis were also inspired by the sports bra. They made their objective opening in Austin last week of 1972 Atx Women’s Sports Pub in front of the Campus of the University of Texas. The day included a cut of rainbow and officials of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Austin.
While they are in a conservative state, women have emphasized the friendly LGBTQ of the bar.
“We want to be very clear that we will be a very cozy and inclusive space for all women’s fans,” Hallum said. “We want to invite everyone to increase interest and audience, because that is the only way we are going to fix that gap for women, including the salary gap.”
None of the women has experience in hospitality. Hallum has corporate history and Du Plessis is in education. But, they investigated to manage a business like this and hired a talented chef and personal. It is clear that both are passionate.
“It is very difficult to find a bar or a pub that shows female sports,” said Du Plessis. “You always have to call, ask to find where they will show it. And then most of the time you know they won’t have the sound on. And we will.”
They have been touched by the reactions of the residents, even the parents of children.
“We had a mother and a dad, two daughters and her son appeared and (the mother) it was” this is exactly what we need “,” Hallum said. “We want our son to be raised knowing that this is as good and as wonderful as the sports of men.”
In Denver, Annie Weaver and Miranda Spencer were playing in opposite flag soccer teams. A month later, they began to write a business plan for a similar concept, also inspired by the sports bra. Open since December, 99ers Sports Bar now organizes its first March crowd.
First they were reflecting a name that would play with Mia Hamm, the football icon of the 1990s that inspired Weaver Halloween costume for years. They decided on a name that honors the 1999 United States Women’s Women’s Cup soccer team, full of names and faces that did not receive as much attention as Hamm.
On a recent Sunday, the bar was standing alone while televisions issued a NWSL game, unparalleled semifinal games and Sunday team selection announcing the supports for the NCAA tournament.
The city does not even have female teams in the main national leagues, but recently the 16th NWSL expansion team was granted to start playing in 2026.
A triumph covered a table, and an improvised friendship bracelet station occupied another.
“I wish I had this space growing,” Spencer said.
These new bar operators agree that this is not a trend, but an indicator of a market that has not been served. But hopefully, anyone looking to open a female sports bar does not “just to be fashionable,” said Moore, of title 9.
Corley’s most important advice for any Barkeep aspiring: “In the same way that you practice sports for love, it opens this for love.”
___ Peterson informed from Denver.
