The world of sports has been shifting daily, and the sports bar scene in New York has been adapting to that change. Spaces that were once seen as more of a male-dominated space are stepping up to the plate and appreciating the surge in women’s presence on the courts and fields.
Look no further than the New York Liberty. Attendance at Barclays Center has gone up 462% from previous years as fans want to watch the power trio of current Olympians Brianna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu along with All-Star Jonquel Jones. With the Liberty currently leading the league, fans are eager to cheer them on down the home stretch in the chase for the championship.
For the recent WNBA Commissioner’s Cup pitting New York Liberty against the Phoenix Mercury, Blue Haven South located in the Financial District held a watch party partnering with Althea’s, another up-and-coming sports bar that will be strictly women’s sports based. In many ways, it felt like any other sports bar: nachos, sliders, trivia (sample questions: “What year was the Liberty mascot introduced?” and “Who can do the best impression of the Ellie Stomp?”).
One unique feature? The staff wore custom shirts that were being sold saying, “If you’re just now tuning into Women’s Basketball, we told you so.”
“It has been just a breath of fresh air to see not only women getting involved but men are fully on board too, ” says Dowd. “It has been a true melting pot, men and women just going crazy watching the Liberty dominate.”
Not only is Blue Haven a great place to watch a Liberty game, they are also an official watch bar for one of New York’s newer home teams, the Gotham FC professional soccer team.
“The visibility into women’s basketball, and women’s sports overall has just blown up,” says Abby Dowd, general manager of Blue Haven South. “In our bar, we have seen it blow up, with so many more games being broadcasted, and so many more people are coming in and asking us to play all women’s sports, not just the WNBA.”
