Portland — A racerback bra is the centerpiece of a hanging billboard on a busy street in northeast Portland. Surrounding the image is the words “The Sports Bra,” a combination that will appeal to sports fans.
A collage of athletic action shots and celebrations, a smiling photo of now-iconic youth basketball player Gigi Bryant adds a welcoming touch to the door.
But the “R” in sports bras is a clever riff on restaurant chains Hooters and Twin Peaks. The inverted position of the letters in the word “bar” subverts long-accepted expectations that people want to eat, drink, and watch games in restaurants. In many cases, the “games” involve men, and if the pub maintains a channel on his ESPN filler, nearly 95% of his programming revolves around male leagues and players.
But not here.
Sports Bra opened in April and claims to be the first U.S. pub to air exclusively women’s sports. This winter, the movement will grow in Seattle at the Sports He Bar and Restaurant, Rough & Tumble, which is planned for Old Ballard, which will prioritize television coverage of women’s athletics.
“The whole idea, the whole premise behind this is that in many ways it’s very traditional and all you’re doing is tweaking the smallest things,” says Chef “Among these small changes, there is a big difference,” said Jenny Nguyen, owner of what is now called The Bra.
“When you walk into the space, it feels like a sports bar, but when you look closer, we changed the channel. We changed Jordan’s jersey to Sue Bird’s jersey.We took the flag of Trail Blazers and put up the flag of Storm.It’s these little changes that make all the difference.”
“Things that stood in my way”
This revolution began when Rough & Tumble owners Nguyen and Jen Barnes wanted to see something as basic as a playoff game.
For Nguyen, it was the 2018 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Game between Notre Dame and Mississippi. Former Clark, a basketball player at her college, had to ask one of her small TVs in a popular Portland sports bar to show the game. Nguyen and her friends crowd around the screen, fighting her Irish guard, Arike Ogunbowale, with her 1.8 seconds left on the clock and her unbalanced 3 to win the game. I turned off the sound and watched when I decided the pointer.
Barnes didn’t quite get to see the OL Reign semifinal match against the Washington Spirit in November 2021 on CBS Sports Network. Only one of six famous football pubs in Seattle that Burns called was willing to start a Lainge game, but canceled it when the Seahawks began airing.
Having worked as a chef for 15 years, Nguyen started spreading the idea of an all-female sports bar and was encouraged to make it a reality in the 2020 fight for equality. She started laying the groundwork that November afternoon and had her website domain and her name secured by December.
“I was shocked that it hadn’t happened yet,” said Nguyen. “And when I started to open it up, I realized all the hurdles and all the things that had stood in my way for so long. I don’t think even five years ago, let alone before or 15 years ago, something like a sports bra wouldn’t have been successful.”
Desire was not among the obstacles. According to her 2018 survey conducted in her eight countries by Nielsen, she found that 84% of sports fans are interested in watching female sports, regardless of gender. The survey also showed that 49% of viewers identified her as female.
Visibility is still an issue. A USC/Purdue University research team has examined sports media coverage of men and women every five years since 1989. ESPN’s SportsCenter covered women’s track and field. However, when her FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage, which the US women’s national team won in France, is excluded from the data, her overall percentage drops to 3.5% compared to coverage of men’s sports.
Finding channels for actual women’s sports competitions is even more difficult. Mega events such as the Women’s Tennis Grand Slam, World Cup, NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and the Olympics are televised on major networks. But regular season games, whether professional or amateur, often don’t.
The popularity of streaming amidst the COVID pandemic in 2020 has helped the women’s league get their product on screen. However, companies may not use personal streaming services such as ESPN+, Paramount+, YouTube, FuboTV, Twitch, Sling, or league apps (platforms featuring women’s athletics) to televise matches.
The workaround was to get permission for the content, and Nguyen started sending emails.
“It’s definitely grassroots. That’s a good way to put it,” Nguyen said. I just emailed and got a reply. They said they didn’t have one for business, but they allowed me to use my League Pass.”
As rumors spread about Nguyen’s mission, various sites began contacting her.
Launched in September 2020, Ata Football, the American streaming service for the world’s top women’s soccer league, offered a free subscription. Portland Thorns FC helped Zabra obtain a Paramount + Pass to televise his NWSL matches. The Oregon Ravens, who play alongside the Seattle Majestics in the Amateur Women’s National Football Conference, provided streaming services.
The bustling bar felt like another galaxy in August, with a diverse crowd feasting on innovative dishes like vegan Reuben sandwiches, Vietnamese chicken wings, and nostalgic RC Cola. It was week 0 of college football, and all eyes were on Northwestern’s defeat of Nebraska in Ireland, but none of his five TVs at Zabra had his one game or men’s sports talk show. was not aired.
Instead, television showed matches from the Italian women’s soccer league, college women’s volleyball, women’s tennis, women’s golf and women’s gymnastics. Also, when there are no women’s sporting events to show, Bra loops a video of her Jane Fonda working out.
Burns said of her visit to Bra in August to connect with Nguyen, “It was emotional for me.” But suddenly I looked around and I have to admit, wow, this is the first time I’ve been to a space surrounded by women’s games.I just started crying.
“It’s just indoctrinated”
For example, The Bra is a straight shot, and Rough & Tumble is a mixed drink.
Nguyen focuses on women beyond just sports on TV. She buys meat from her third generation female ranchers locally, uses women-sourced ingredients, and everything on tap her menu is created, owned and operated by women.
Burns, a former rower for the Green Lake Crew, is refurbishing Ballard’s Sawyer for a sports pub. The airy space He opened in August 2018 and was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in the US, but will close on Sunday, October 2nd.
The new look, which opens to the public in December, has at least 15 TVs and seating for 160 people. The first adornment is Lauren Jackson’s Storm his jersey, gifted to him by Nguyen.
Rough & Tumble’s name is a tribute to Dick, Kerr Ladies FC, who were banned from football in England in the early 1900s and dubbed the ‘Rough Girls’.
Barnes envisioned her bar as a safe place to watch women’s sports, where young girl athletes could see themselves on screen while grabbing snacks after practices and games. We plan to have sections for all age groups so that we can.
Burns says men’s sports are the default event televised in most sports bars around the world. “[Parents]say their daughters are aware that only boys are on screen…that shouldn’t happen. I’m trying to change that.”
To emphasize equality across the pub, Rough & Tumble turns on the sound and shows the women’s competition on the main screen, but people are encouraged to watch men’s sports, especially the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders and Kraken. You can also
Burns said of restricting airtime to only women’s competitions, “It’s completely disappointing and would exclude many sports fans.” We want a place focused on equality and fairness, and that’s where we (as a society) need to get.”
Barnes has a sizable budget to pay for her streaming service, which will show winter sports such as women’s professional hockey, women’s roller derby, and women’s alpine skiing. She will also show off her whitewater kayaking for women, her rock climbing for women, and her UFC for women.
“Looking back at the decades that sports bars have existed, we see how the way people enjoy sports has changed,” Nguyen said. “Whether they’re buying merchandise or investing in teams, stories, players. It Is difficult.
“Now I feel there is a real culture that celebrates women’s sport, not just in the games that people have done it in, but in this fandom way men have done it through sports bars for decades. increase. “
“Storm Effect”
The Shelley Brothers, co-owners of The Wildrose, a lesbian bar founded on Capitol Hill in 1984, agree that Rough & Tumble and The Sports Bra are next steps to increase women’s sports attendance . She hosts Storm watching parties, and Rain’s supporters, her group of Royal Guards, have officially partnered with her Rookies, a Columbia City sports her bar and grill owned by Heather Allard, to load her matches. It has become a flagship store for watching the game.
But it’s reserved viewing. Interest in televising women’s games is proven only because it is the expectation of sports bars.
“I call it the Storm effect,” the Brothers said of Seattle before the Storm won the first of three WNBA titles in 2004. Customers and friends who have never played sports, but they yell and scream for reigns and storms. ”
The change in the Rookies was evident when the Storm’s playoff game aired at the same time as the Seahawks’ preseason games in August.
“We were busier with the Storm games than the Seahawks,” said Rookies general manager Shantel Knapstad, who has 14 TVs in the bar. and the bar area was a Seahawks fan, that was the majority rule of the sound, that was the Storm.”
Greg and son Matt Figueroa were intrigued by the Barnes concept while watching NFL football week one at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Tukwila. The chain has 65 TVs for him, but none showing Game 1 of his WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun until asked.
Figueroas in Las Vegas Raiders gear wanted to see the Aces game with the Raiders. Greg is a big fan of tennis and surmised that a place like Rough and Tumble would be the ideal place to satisfy his sporting cravings.
“I would love to see it,” said Greg, who was visiting from California. “Then we got to watch big events like the Raiders and the U.S. Women’s Open. Sports bars have one thing in common: wanting to watch a game.”
