Jolene Jolene could add Atlanta to growing women's sports bar industry
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Bars dedicated to women's sports are having a moment, and Atlanta could soon be the latest city to join the craze.
Why it matters: With viewership and attendance for women's sports soaring — including with the debut of a new WNBA team — fans are building new hubs that are about more than simply watching games.
Driving the news: Six women's sports bars have opened this year, according to Kaitlyn Laabs, who is making a documentary about women's sports bars called "Untapped" — and as many as 21 are on the way.
What they're saying: Decatur resident Chelsea Fishman hopes to put Atlanta on the map when she opens Jolene Jolene, which would be the city's first bar dedicated solely to showing women's sports teams.
- Fishman told Axios she is in negotiations for a couple of potential locations, including Decatur and Grant Park.
- She hopes to open the bar, which is named after Dolly Parton's famous tune, later this year.
Zoom in: Jolene Jolene has hosted watch parties for Atlanta Dream and plans to host similar events for the Women's Euro Games that start next month.
- In the meantime, Jolene Jolene also holds Friday rooftop club pregame happy hours at Xo House before the start of Decatur FC matches.
- The next ones are set for 5:45pm June 20 and June 27, according to Jolene Jolene's Instagram feed.
Flashback: Sports bars that cater to women's sports all began with The Sports Bra, a Portland bar dedicated to supporting and showing women's sports founded by Jenny Nguyen in April 2022.
- By the end of 2024, three more had opened: A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis; Watch Me! Sports Bar in Long Beach, Calif.; and The 99ers Sports Bar in Denver.
Friction point: Some bar owners, such as Watch Me! owner Jax Diener, have gotten sexist and anti-LGBTQ+ hate.
Between the lines: Many of these bar owners also struggle to secure small-business loans, increasing the barrier to opening, Laabs said.
- Getting space and securing funding has been a challenge for her, Fishman said, especially when she explains the concept of Jolene Jolene.
- "You just have to continue to educate them," she said. "It's not a bar for women. It's a bar for women's sports," she said.
- Many women's sports bar owners have turned to crowdfunding, which Fishman did for Jolene Jolene.
The bottom line: Fishman told Axios Jolene Jolene will "give us a dedicated space to celebrate the female athletes that play here and are from here."
- "There's not a space that does that here, so I think it just means a lot to athletes, and it means a lot to the sports community, just to give a spotlight to teams and athletes that have long deserved it," she said.