The success of Caitlin Clark in the WNBA, the boom of women soccer clubs like Angel City and the growing fan base of the LA Sparks are just three reasons why Jax Diener and Emme Eddy believe that, if they build a sports bar for women sports, bargoers will come.
“It’s giant right now! This has been going on for many, many years, bubbling under the surface. And now we are finally getting our day,” said Diener, who has been dreaming of opening up a space for women’s sports for more than 30 years. “Now, we are filling stadiums, we are filling arenas.”
And she hopes it will fill the seats at “Watch Me,” a bar being created inside an old Mexican restaurant off PCH in Long Beach, slated to open up in July for the Olympics.
The name is a reference to how women athletes often have to prove themselves by showing doubters what they can do.
Sports bars for women’s sports have proved to be pretty successful.
The “Sports Bra” opened up in Portland, Oregon in 2022 and saw $944,000 in revenue in the first eight months it was open, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
Diener and Eddy are hoping for that kind of success in Long Beach with a focus mostly on women sports.
“95% women’s sports. We love the Dodgers, and we are NHL fans, so we will have that on, too. But most of the TVs will have women’s sports,” said Diener.
The first steps: getting the space built out.
The married couple just took over the former restaurant last week and have just six to seven weeks to transform into their dream in time for the Olympics.
They plan to be open every day for the Olympics before scaling back to five days a week after the closing ceremony.
“I think it’s exactly what California needs,” said Eddy. “I think it will be the first. I think there will be many more.”