If we were sitting in our bar today (Vol. 3)

If you’re reading this, it’s because you signed up to follow along as I work to start a sports bar in SF centered on women’s sports. This is one in a series of occasional dispatches about life in the future bar. It’s an experiment — but it’s all kind of a big experiment. Thanks for being on the ride.

If you just want a quick update on the state of the actual bar, keep scrolling.

If we were sitting in our bar today we’d be mainlining NCAA softball directly into our eyeballs for hours on end, screamingcryingthrowingup (well, hopefully not throwing up) as the stakes get higher through the regional round.

If we were sitting in our bar today, we’d be talking about the Valkyries name announcement, and the serious Marvel-meets-Yellowjackets vibes of that promo video, and the merits of violet as a gear color (I’m very pro) while we settle into the WNBA’s most hyped opening week ever.

If we were sitting in our bar today, we’d be watching Bay FC vs. the San Diego Wave, rooting for scoring, rooting for chaos, rooting for our newest team in their first season to find their footing.

If we were sitting in our bar today, we’d be just one day away from the first gymnastics competition with the past THREE Olympic all-around gold medalists competing simultaneously — what a time to be alive.

If we were sitting in our bar today, we’d need a LOT of TVs to even attempt to watch everything we want to see. “What will you do when women’s sports aren’t on?” Well, lucky lucky us, because that’s becoming less of a problem with every passing day.

One of my favorite things to think about these days is the TV schedule for our bar — how many leagues with legit TV deals we have now, how many games we could actually show. It’s changed so dramatically from when my coworker Emily and I first started kicking this idea around in 2021, when for a lot of things it was still YouTube or nothing or ESPN3 at best. And weekends like this really bring it home, when some sports are cresting at high volume (you know I love high volume) toward their season’s end and others are just getting started. Mark your calendars for mid-May 2025; It’s gonna feel pretty cool when this all goes down next year at San Francisco’s women’s sports bar of the future.

In actual bar news

It’s a weird time, to be honest. Lots is happening; nothing is happening. I saw a space I loved that turned my whole idea of what this bar could be on its head, and now I can’t get it out of my head. But it means some different math, some rethinking the business plan. It’s exciting and scary and cool and I want it to be The One, but it might not be. (But what if it is? is what the little voice in my head whispers …) I realize this is annoyingly vague, but it’s a vague time. I didn’t appreciate how many of these early pre-launch days would be spent sitting in uncertainty.

One concrete step: I’ve started working with Alyson Thomas on logo and branding. (Yes, this means there IS a name.) I’m supremely lucky that the designer behind so much of my favorite food art is also one of my best friends, and getting to work on a project with her is a dream.

And, a request: The first person I’ll be looking to bring on board is an incredible restaurant GM, someone who can lead the kitchen with spirit and care and help me absorb the millions of things I don’t know about running a hospitality business. If this is you, if this is a friend of yours — please reach out. I’m working on a job description, but obviously it’s early days, so I’d love to just start by talking.

And a few shouts

To Watch Me! in Long Beach, whose post-game parties and fundraisers have been nothing short of star-studded. (Jemele Hill, are you KIDDING ME?!)

To Althea’s NYC, who kicked off WNBA season with a bubble-filled watch party that looked like an absolute blast

To The 99ers in Denver, who are rounding the halfway mark of their Kickstarter goal as I write this (and who have been literally building a bar with their bare hands)

To ATX Women’s Sports Pub and Babe’s in Chicago, getting massive press mentions (ATX | Babe’s) and making big things happen on Central Time

As they say: It’s not a moment, it’s a movement. What a joy and delight to feel that every day.

Thanks for reading, and join me next time for another dispatch. In the meantime — feel free to forward this to the friend you can’t wait to bring with you to the San Francisco women’s sports bar of the future.