Women’s sports bars are popping up across the U.S. A group is fundraising to open one in Philly.

Imagine this: A sports bar where you don’t need to ask for them to turn on a women’s basketball or soccer game because it’s already playing.

A group of four Women’s National Basketball Association enthusiasts have begun a crowdfunding campaign to open Philly’s first dedicated women’s sports bar by summer 2026, capitalizing on the momentum from a series of watch parties firefighter Jen Leary started hosting at local bars last year.

The parties stemmed from Leary’s experience trying to watch WNBA games at sports bars around the city that would either outright refuse to or play them at such a low volume that it was impossible to follow along. More than 100 people packed Rittenhouse Square gay bar Stir Lounge in April 2024 to join Leary in watching Dawn Staley’s University of South Carolina Gamecocks beat the University of Iowa in that year’s women’s college basketball championship.

Since then, Leary has planned 39 more parties with 200 or more attendees, introducing crowds to the magic of a Professional Women’s Hockey League nail-biter or an Unrivaled three-on-three matchup. That same mission, she hopes, will extend to her bar.

» READ MORE: This Philly WNBA watch party wants to show that the city is more than ready for a team

“This is not about being a women’s sports bar to keep it separate from the others,” said Lori Albright, Leary’s wife and business partner. “Women’s sports needs its own venue.”

The crowdsourcing campaign comes as women’s sports bars are popping up across the United States to capitalize on repeated viewership and attendance records set by the WNBA, the National Women’s Soccer League, and countless women’s collegiate teams from basketball to volleyball. The U.S. had just six women’s sports bars at the start of 2024. If Philly’s opens in 2026, there will be upward of 25.

And while women’s sports fandom may be booming, 55% of fans say they would watch even more women’s sports if they could do it with other people, according to a 2024 survey of 14,000 sports watchers from SurveyMonkey and Parity, a sports marketing platform dedicated to women athletes. That rings especially true in Philly, a city with no professional women’s sports franchises.

“People want to be together watching,” said Albright.

Leary, Albright, Megan Ditolla, and Fawn McGee — who went from watch party volunteers to business partners — are seeking $50,000 from the GoFundMe to cover start-up costs associated with opening the bar.

The group is currently hoping to find a space in Midtown Village, the Gayborhood, or South Philly with room for an adjoining podcasting studio. They envision an all-day operation with coffee in the mornings and beers on tap from local breweries at night. Local food trucks will cycle through in lieu of a menu of bar snacks.

“We have dads who want to bring their kids,” said Leary. “You’d come in the morning, get your coffee, and watch the latest women’s sports news playing on the television. And then the games come on — with the volume turned up — as that rowdier bar crowd comes in.”

» READ MORE: Jeannine Kayembe Oro is combining her two passions to launch the Black Women’s Basketball Museum

Leary said the team is collaborating with the recently announced Black Women’s Basketball Museum to source memorabilia and develop programming around the city’s history of great women athletes to give the bar a distinctly Philly feel. A diverse board of advisers — which includes men and members of the queer community — are also working closely with the bar’s founders.

And before you ask, yes, the bar will still show Eagles and Phillies games, Leary said. It’s a choice in keeping with Albright and Leary’s love story: The pair met 25 years ago at a friend’s house while watching the Eagles play the Buffalo Bills in a preseason game.

Leary also hopes the bar could help Philly’s chances to score a WNBA expansion team. The 76ers and Comcast Spectacor officially announced a bid in January as part of the agreement to build a new arena in the sports complex, not on Market East. A WNBA insider told the Sports Business Journal that Philly is a “clear front-runner” to land a team, but the next city to secure their spot in the league would likely be Cleveland.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia is a ‘clear front-runner’ for WNBA expansion, report says, but not next in line

Philly has been interested in joining the WNBA since at least 2022, when comedian Wanda Sykes — who resides in Media part-time — courted a list of Philly power players from Will Smith and Kevin Hart to Sixers owner Josh Harris and Dawn Staley to put together a team. Harris personally invested in the group, which met repeatedly with the WNBA, but the bid failed.

According to Leary, Philly needs a women’s sports bar before it needs a professional women’s team.

“It’s supply and demand,” said Leary. “Just because we don’t have a team doesn’t mean [the bar] isn’t going to succeed.”