They hope to open by June 1 and try to Raise $ 60,000 In the meantime, noting on their crowdfunding page that not reaching their goal could delay the opening of the bar. They also organize pop-up events since June, selling t-shirts and other goods promoting the bar.
“Surprisingly, banks do not want to grant loans to bars owners for the first time – I say that the language in the cheek – in particular the owners of queer women,” said Brady. “It was an obstacle to obtaining a commercial loan, and I know that we are not alone.
Annie Weaver and Miranda Spencer, who opened the Sports Bar of 99ers in Denver in December, are the only employees of the bar. To reimburse their loans as soon as possible, said Spencer, they both work on day jobs, weaves in insurance subscription And Spencer in sales engineering, then one or two work until the bar is closed at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends. Weaver said they had trouble finding a space to rent because none of the companies or houses that could be used as a guarantee. Their motto throughout the process has become “the figure of everything that has been”.
“Five days before signing our lease, I went to Miranda and I said to myself:” I’m finished, I can’t do that anymore. We were told that so many times “, said Weaver. “And then five days later, we signed our lease. And now, looking back, I would have been so angry with myself that I fell. It is the most incredible experience, and I can’t imagine that it is not part of my life.”
Friday, Huyck, who will open the bar in Omaha, retired a year and a half ago after working for 21 years at Paypal and invested $ 250,000 on his own money to start the business. It collected an additional $ 850,000 with investors, she said, and shared its investment model structure with other owners of women’s sports bars. She always planned to use investors, she said, and chose to use her own money due to the additional obstacles that a banking loan would have presented. She will open the bar without debt.
‘Where everyone knows your name’
Many bar owners wanted not only to avoid the macho attitudes they encountered in traditional sports bars, but they also wanted to create more inclusive experiences for customers by offering, for example, by offering cocktails, local beers, craft cocktails and wine. Some of them have said that they have intentionally created spaces with more light, because traditional sports bars can be dark, and Huyck said that the bar of the bar also has bright plants and colors.
Spencer said that people cross the door, she and Annie – and then, therefore, other customers – begin to applaud and sometimes “howl”. Spencer said that she liked to read the Google critics of the bar, and a recent described it as “the bar where everyone knows your name”.
All the owners of the bar said they wanted to make sure everyone feels welcome, in particular the LGBTQ community, most of which are a part.
“We are a married couple, and people can connect the points and see that it is belonging to the lesbians, and we are proud of it, but we do not lead,” said Diener, adding that the bar is open to everyone, including families with children. “We direct with that – celebrating female sports – and that’s what separates us from the other queer bars there.”
Weaver said that it did not think it was an accident that many owners of female sports bars were part of the LGBTQ community.
“We had no spaces where we felt safe or as we could be growing ourselves,” said Weaver. “I don’t think it’s random. I think it makes sense to me why it’s like that, but we always want to be inclusive for everyone. ”
The moments that many bars have said they were looking forward to the case when their bars are only standing during the important matches. In January, just a month after the opening of the 99ers sports bar, the professional female hockey league played a match in Denver, with more than 14,000 fans in the arena, Establish a record for the highest attendance In a professional women’s hockey match in the United States. Weaver said that people of the crowd held signs that said “after the 99ers party”. The customers filled the bar, then a line formed outside despite the cold.
“We need more,” said Weaver about bars. “We need them everywhere in the United States. They must exist everywhere. Everyone deserves a space like this. “