Phoenix (AP) – When you enter the title 9 Sports Grill in the Melrose district of Phoenix, its mission to be a paradise to watch female sport permeates all corners and corners. In addition to the dozen televisions mounted on pink and orange walls at “Play like a girl!” neon sign against a giant image of The retired WNBA star Diana Taurasi.
It is an impressive turnaround for co -owners Audrey Corley and Kat Moore. Just before Christmas, the space was still Moore and her husband Brad’s hot dog restaurant. But last summer, they sold the business and the new owners did not want to stay on the property. It was at this point that Corley, who has a popular lesbian bar on the following block, offered a partnership on the first bar for women’s sports. She was thinking about the idea since reading The sports bra in Portland, Oregonwhich opened its doors in 2022, then seeing half a dozen similar bars emerging in the past year.
“Then, I see, you know, another appeared here and another. And then I said to myself, it’s just time. It must be,” said Corley before the big opening of title 9 earlier this month.
Several new bars dedicated to female sports have opened the crazy race in time to capitalize on Mars madnessNow in full swing. From San Francisco to Cleveland, there will be more than a dozen across the country before the end of the year. The woman’s scene focused on women made huge progress three years ago when the sports bra was the only one. It comes for an exciting first year during which teams in the female support will finally be paid For having played in the NCAA tournament. Many credit stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for having increased the marketing of players.
Last season, the Reese and Clark teams have never seen a dollar. Now, women’s teams will finally win Individual income, called “units”. A unit is money paid to conferences when one of its teams appears in the NCAA tournament. The teams win another in every game played.
The most transparent part of the transformation of its former restaurant in title 9 was the integrated community anticipation of having a place to see female sports, said Moore.
“The only question I asked a lot of men, especially when we started to say, were:” Are men allowed? ” Yeah! “Said Moore, with a little laugh.
Named for the 1972 Landmark law which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education, including athletics, title 9 is filled with homage to female athletes, photos framed with QR codes to a list of cocktails with drinks such as the Summitt Sour and Taurasi Goat-Tail. However, the owners emphasize a family atmosphere where young girls can come and celebrate after a school game.
“Even some of the little girls, they could come here and dream of being on television one day and getting paid,” said Corley.
Debra Hallum and Marlene du Plessis were also inspired by the sports bra. They made their targeted opening in Austin last week from 1972 Atx Women’s Sports Pub in front of the University of Texas campus. The day included a rainbow cup and civil servants from the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
Although they are in a conservative state, women underlined the lgbtq conviviality of the bar.
“We want to be very clear that we will be a very welcoming and inclusive space for all sports women,” said Hallum. “We want to invite everyone to arouse interest and audience, because it is the only way to resolve this gap for women, including the remuneration gap.”
None of the women has hospitality experience. Hallum has a training in business and Plessis is in education. But, they did research on the management of a business like this and hired a talented chief and staff. It is clear that the two are passionate.
“It is so difficult to find a bar or advertising that will show female sports,” said Plessis. “You must always call, ask around the discovery of their watch. And then most of the time, you know they will not have the sound. And we will do it. “
They were affected by the reactions of residents, even parents of boys.
“We had a mother and a father, two daughters and their son presenting himself and (the mother) was all about,” that’s exactly what we need “,” said Hallum. “We want our son to be raised knowing that it is just as brilliant and as wonderful as sports for men.”
In Denver, Annie Weaver and Miranda Spencer met by playing in opposing flag football teams. A month later, they started writing a business plan for a similar concept, also inspired by the sports bra. Open since December, the Sports Bar of the 99ers now hosts its first crowd of madness in March.
They first thought about a name that would play Mia Hamm, the 1990s’ football icon that inspired Weaver’s Halloween costume for years. They settled on a name that honors the 1999 American Women’s World Cup football team, filled with names and faces that have not attracted as much attention as Hamm.
A recent Sunday, the bar was only standing when the televisions broadcast an NWSL match, unrivaled semi-final matches and the broadcast of the Sunday selection announcing the NCAA tournament supports.
The city does not even have female teams in the major national leagues, but it was recently awarded the 16th NWSL expansion team to start the game in 2026.
A triple support covered a table and an impromptu friendship manufacturing station occupied another.
“I want me to have this space growing up,” said Spencer.
These new bar operators agree that this is not a trend but an indicator of a market that has not been served. But I hope that 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 potential bar-garde: “In the same way as you play sports for love, open this for love.”
___ Peterson reported to Denver.