The Sports Bra, located in Oregon, is the first sports bar dedicated to women’s sports. What’s special about this sports bar is that they only show women’s sports, such as WNBA games, NWSL, WTA and more. According to Vogue, “As of 2023, women’s sports coverage made up only 15% of all sports coverage in media—and in the preceding decades, women’s sports had only made up 5% of coverage, if that.”
The bar initially opened back in 2022 but has recently made headlines when Impact made an Instagram post about the bar last week, noting that it hopes to expand nationwide.
About opening her own women’s sports bar, owner Jenny Nguyen told The Cut, “The intent was to uplift it, to promote it, to support it, to give people a place to come and celebrate [women’s sports].”
The menu features some creative items, such as the cocktail “Title IX,” described as a “bourbon, peach liqueur and mint” and the “Cherry Picker” which includes “gin, cherry juice, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white.” Food-wise, they offer the BRA.LT, which is just a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich with chipotle aioli.
The Sports Bra also features gender-neutral restrooms. Nguyen said to The Cut, “As a queer person, what always bothers me is when I get kicked out of women’s restrooms, or when I have to bring my girlfriend with me because she has long hair and is very apparently cis so I don’t get accosted. So turning the restrooms into non-gender-specific restrooms was key…I felt like it would help other people be comfortable.”
Nguyen has inspired others to open more women’s sports bars. A Bar Of Their Own, owned by Jillian Hiscock, opened in Minneapolis shortly after. Hiscock told Vogue, “We’re doing our best to highlight these women athletes and so we’re creating our own spaces.”
As a woman athlete here at Ramapo, I think women’s sports are equally as important as men’s sports. We put just as much work and effort into what we do. These women’s sports bars are very impactful because they give women their voices and show how powerful and talented we are.
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @AJ_McCord, X
