At California’s first sports bar catering to women’s sports, lines stretched around the block and patrons waited hours to get a table.
Located in the 6500 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, Watch Me! Sports Bar is a place that celebrates female athletes and their accomplishments.
“We saw the crowds and realized there was a need here,” said Watch Me co-owner Mean Eddy. “This has been a labor of love. We’ve been pouring our hearts into it for months.”
Eddie and her partner Jax Diener founded the sports bar because they saw a need for a place that put women’s sports front and center.
“I think we’re doing a lot for a lot of women,” Diener said. “Creating a space that celebrates women’s sports and athletes and opening it up to everyone is groundbreaking.”
The name “Watch Me” comes from the fact that female athletes often have to prove themselves to people who doubt them, and a sports bar for women in sports has proven to be quite successful.
“Sports Bra” opened in Portland, Oregon in 2022 and generated $944,000 in revenue in the first eight months after opening, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
“I’ve been waiting all my life, 72 years, to come to a place that welcomes women and sport,” said Diane Higgs, a member of Old Beeches sports and social club, who waited hours to get a table on the opening day.
“We heard rumors that people were planning to have tailgate parties in our patio,” Diener said.
“I’m very excited,” said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, who attended the opening ceremony with his wife and two daughters. “I wanted to be here because it’s so important. It’s important to me personally as a father of two athletes, two daughter-athletes.”
Watch Me! Sports Bar will be open from 9am to 9pm during the Olympics and will return to normal hours after the Paris Games end.
