The WNBA is drawing sold-out crowds and unprecedented viewership during its final, transformative period, and sports bars and restaurants are taking notice.
Playing basketball at Signature Bar & Restaurant in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood near Wintrust Arena, home of the Chicago Sky, on Sunday as Game 2 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx was televised. WNBA restaurant customers sitting at the bar watching WNBA. October 13, 2024. The WNBA enjoyed sold-out crowds and unprecedented viewership during a transformative season. Sports-oriented bars and restaurants are gaining traction. Some say there is a growing demand for women’s sports on television. (AP Photo/Andrew Seligman)
AP Photo/Andrew Seligman
WNBA Restaurants Watching Basketball Game 2 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx is on TV at Signature Bar in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood near Wintrust Arena, home of the Chicago Sky. & Restaurant bar worker Josh Paalke is sitting at the bar. TV on Sunday, October 13, 2024. Pelke, Signature’s general manager, said restaurants are seeing an increase in requests for TVs tuned to the WNBA. (AP Photo/Andrew Seligman)
AP Photo/Andrew Seligman
CHICAGO (AP) — Josh Paalke remembers having to beg to be allowed to watch WNBA games at bars and restaurants just a few years ago. Most of the time, the answer was a resounding “no.”
These days, he doesn’t have to worry as much.
As general manager of Signature Bar & Restaurant in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, he has some say in shooting 3-pointers from Wintrust Arena, home of the Chicago Sky. But even when he wasn’t working, he noticed changes.
“This season, I went to Cubs games, I went to the sports bar in Wrigleyville, and I found the WNBA on TV, which didn’t happen two or three years ago,” Paelke said. spoke.
The WNBA drew sold-out crowds and unprecedented ratings for a transformative season that ended with a finals game between the New York Liberty, seeking their first title, and the Minnesota Lynx, seeking their record fifth. The best-of-five series began on Thursday, with Minnesota coming through to defeat New York in overtime.
Whether it’s Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese developing a fascinating rivalry from college to the pros or Simone Biles winning more gold medals at the Olympics, for the game of volleyball. With 92,003 fans filling Nebraska’s football stadium in 2019, women’s sports in general are getting more attention.
Sports bars and restaurants are also taking notice and adjusting their marketing and menus to attract a wider audience. At least some say there is a growing demand for women’s sports on television, but the evidence is more anecdotal than statistical. Restaurants specializing in women’s sports have opened in recent years, such as The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon.
Either way, fans have options if they want to grab some snacks and drinks and watch the game away from home.
“We’re going to see small groups of women coming in to watch real sports,” said Brian Wright, CEO of Bar Louie. “And now we see a lot of men wanting women’s sports. So this is like a whole paradigm shift in how women’s sports are viewed. You rarely see a group of men come up and say, “Can I have one?” Nowadays, it is really becoming the norm. ”
Bar Louie has restaurants in 21 states, each with 20 televisions. As for how many athletes are tailored to each specific sport, Wright said there’s no real science to determine that. But he is sure of a few things.
The chain is seeing an increasing number of female customers. And when Clark and Reese were playing, it was good for business. For example, over the past two years, NCAA Tournament games have increased business by about 10%.
Twin Peaks has 16 satellite TVs and 75 TVs in most of its stores, and about 80% of its customers skew male, CEO Joe Hummel said. However, the gap between men and women is narrowing.
“Five years ago, we may not have promoted or promoted March Madness for women,” Hummel said.
The company evaluates the schedule daily and decides how many televisions to broadcast each game. It’s important for restaurants to be able to adjust based on news and customer demand. Hummel said Twin Peaks doesn’t track the number of TVs tuned to a particular event or customer requests to sit where they can watch a particular game.
“It’s going to be very difficult,” he said. “Our operators interact with guests over and over again. If we inundate them, we have to constantly track this and that. At the end of the day, operators don’t care about statistics. and we won’t even be able to respond to guests.”
Nicole Bond, associate director of marketing strategy at Mintel Compere Media, said research shows 71% of consumers believe women’s sports will continue to grow in popularity. She sees it up close in her side job as a bartender at Barney’s Tap & Grill near Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
“Men are leaning toward women’s track and field,” said Bond, a former Northwestern softball player. “And you’re listening to the conversations they’re having about what’s going on at the W or what’s going on at the NWSL or whatever it is. It gets really interesting and it’s like the norm in bar conversation. I think people want to see those games and groups the same way you invite people to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.”
Pelke became a WNBA fan about 10 years ago and began following the Sky when they added Chicago-area product Candice Parker before the 2021 championship season. He grew up in northern Wisconsin as a Los Angeles Lakers fan.
My friend Perke, who is a season ticket holder, is a regular at Sky Games’ Wintrust Arena. He also collects WNBA trading cards.
Signature, owned by former Bears defensive lineman Israel Idonije, opened in January. There are 13 TVs on the walls, 10 of which watch WNBA programming on Friday nights near the end of the regular season. The six were in Minnesota, broadcasting the game on Sky.
Perke said during the playoffs, restaurants saw an increase in requests to tune their TVs to the WNBA. He also expected business to pick up.
“The demand has been outstanding throughout this playoffs,” he said. “I was very happy that it seemed to apply to all games, not just the Fever games.”
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