Long Beach, California welcomed the grand opening of Watch Me Sports Bar on Friday, July 26, 2024, the first women’s sports bar in the state. Co-owners Jax Diener and Emma Eddy aim to create a space that celebrates and supports female athletes and fans in an inclusive environment. Watch Me Sports Bar, located at the Marketplace Long Beach, is a bar dedicated mainly to broadcasting women’s league games. The establishment is inspired by similar women-focused sports bars in Portland, Seattle, and Minneapolis.
With an emphasis on celebrating women who break barriers in the sports world, Watch Me Sports Bar aims to create a welcoming community for all sports fans. The bar’s goal is to showcase around 95% of women’s sports games on their 26 flat-screen TVs, with occasional broadcasts of men’s sports as well. Despite encounters with misogyny and homophobia in traditional men’s sports bar settings, the owners are determined to create an environment of diversity and empowerment.
The opening of Watch Me Sports Bar coincided with the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, attracting hundreds of patrons, including athletes like Pan Am Games rower Madeleine Focht and WNBA trailblazer Penny Toler. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson expressed the importance of the women’s sports bar, highlighting the significance of the space for female athletes and fans. With an outpouring of support and over $30,000 raised for opening costs, Watch Me Sports Bar is set to make an impactful mark in the world of women’s sports and beyond.
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