Jenny Nguyen realized that the typical sports bar experience of showing only the biggest NFL and MLB games on big-screen TVs does not work for all sports fans. This prompted her to create her own sports bar in Portland, with one small but powerful change – exclusively featuring women’s sports. Nguyen’s sports bar, called Sports Bra, opened in April 2022, becoming the first of its kind globally.
The idea for Sports Bra started as an inside joke between Nguyen and her friends, reflecting their frustrations over the challenges they faced in trying to watch women’s sports in typical bars. These obstacles included feeling unsafe, asking staff to turn on women’s games, and watching them on silent TVs. Nguyen’s desire to watch women’s sports in all their glory led her to create her own sports bar exclusively for women’s sports.
Sports Bra features sports-themed everything, including Title IX cocktails and gluten-free buns for their burgers. Women’s sports are the absolute rule of the bar. Despite the gamble, the sports bra was an instant success, as women’s sports viewership continues to skyrocket, resonating particularly with younger audiences.
While Nguyen acknowledges that access to more content, more streaming services, and larger network deals have helped increase women’s sports viewership, she believes that the community being built in Sports Bra cannot be calculated. People who feel safe and seen at the bar are growing the community, and this creates the energy freedom to dream bigger. Nguyen hopes that the success of Sports Bra will inspire others to break the status quo in sports and do the same in the future.