A Sports Bar Builds a Loyal Clientele Showing Only Women’s Events
The neighborhood watering hole in Portland, Oregon, is a temple of female athletic achievement.
By 4 p.m. on a Friday in September, there was already a waitlist for seats and a line out the door of the Sports Bra, a new watering hole in northeast Portland. The Portland Thorns women’s soccer team was taking the pitch against the Orlando Pride, and the kickoff was being beamed across half a dozen screens. Beer taps hissed, and fans noshed on nachos, their eyes glued to the field.
“The Bra,” as regulars call it, plays only women’s sports. “We support women” is the motto of the establishment, the first of its kind in the country, and, according to its founder and owner, Jenny Nguyen, the world. For decades, the dismissal of women’s sports, especially by male media executives, was predictable: They lost money; no one cared to watch; leagues and teams came and went. The staffers and regulars at the Sports Bra reject all of that. And judging from the roar when Thorns midfielder Yazmeen Ryan scored a goal, they appear to be right.