When the New York Liberty edged out the Minnesota Lynx in the game five, winner-take-all overtime of the 2024 WNBA finals to take the championship, there wasn’t a single women’s sports bar in New York City.
But when Gotham FC, New York’s professional women’s soccer team, won the NWSL Championship last November, it was a different story. Two women’s sports bars in the city hosted watch parties, and by the end of 2025, that number had grown to three, all debuting within the last four months of the year.
First to open was Wilka’s (241 Bowery, Manhattan, New York City) on the Lower East Side/East Village, followed by Blazers (308 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, New York City) in Williamsburg and Athena Keke’s (222 Greene Ave., Brooklyn, New York City) in Clinton Hill.
These NYC arrivals are part of a bigger wave sweeping Canada and the U.S. Since The Sports Bra (2512 NE Broadway, Portland), the first women’s sports bar in the world, debuted in April 2022, roughly 30 more have popped up across North America. They’re usually opened by women who want a reliable place to watch women’s athletic competitions with friends because they couldn’t find it at their neighbourhood bars. There’s also been an explosion in popularity and record-breaking viewership of women’s professional and college sports, which exposed this significant, underserved market.
It’s also pretty gay.
Going to a professional women’s sporting event feels, in many cases, like going to a lesbian bar: there are always lots of queer women. Even more so at women’s sports bars. The owners of all of NYC’s spots are openly queer and consider that identity central to their establishments, but they welcome anybody who wants to watch women’s sports. Maybe it’s my middle age showing, but one thing I really love about these places is that I can drop by late afternoon or early evening on a weekday, or during the day on weekends, and still be surrounded by queer folks, at hours when most lesbian bars are either closed or very quiet.
So how do these three bars compare? On a big game day, they’re all packed. Wilka’s has lines out the door and Athena Keke’s posts on social media about hitting capacity, so arrive early if you want to get in. Determining when and where women’s games are broadcast is a constant headache for all. Every bar hosts parties and events with local women’s sports teams, both professional and recreational leagues.
All of them have amazing bathrooms: clean with fun, sport-inspired design and even free tampons. While sports are at the heart of what they do, it’s not everything. Community is important to all of these owners. To ensure their spaces stay busy when there aren’t big games, they serve food and open their doors to other activities: Wilka’s has become famous for hosting a monthly sports knitting group and sports-adjacent comedy shows. Blazers offers business start-up seminars, Heated Rivalry watch parties and drag bingo. Athena Keke’s hosts popular trivia nights, social mixers and more.
Since these bars are only a few months old, they’re all still figuring out ways to welcome more people to their establishments during less busy times.
Wilka’s
241 Bowery, Manhattan, New York City
My wife and I headed to Wilka’s on a recent Friday night to catch an Unrivaled women’s basketball game. Walking up to the door, we knew it was the right place when we saw the sandwich board sign outside offering “$5 beers! Butches! B-Ball!”
Inside, the place was hopping. Inspired by the strength and unity of a wolf pack—“Wilk” means wolf in Polish—Wilka’s is the biggest of the city’s three establishments, spread across two spacious, high-ceilinged rooms. Large windows run along the front of the space. The white walls are adorned with about two dozen TVs, placed so games are visible but not overpowering. We grabbed a seat at the very long wooden table that goes down the middle of the back room, with a group of six young women wearing dresses and drinking fancy cocktails to one side of us, and four sporty friends on the other side, playing Connect Four and eating popcorn. Nearby was a group of older lesbians yelling at the screen and another woman sitting on her own, having a bite and watching the game.
The crowd was diverse in every way possible. With tons of board games, sports books and memorabilia throughout, it felt like about half of the people were there to watch sports and the other half to just hang out with friends. When the game ended, we headed home, but lots of folks stayed.
Blazers
308 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, New York City
The Blazers origin story couldn’t be more queerly perfect. The three co-owners met thanks to the dating app Hinge. Two of them matched with the third, but there were no romantic sparks. Instead, it was friendships and conversations about how hard it was to find places playing Liberty games, which ultimately became a decision to open the bar together.
Named for female sporting trailblazers, the theme is carried throughout the two rooms of the bar, with paintings of top female athletes throughout the space, sports memorabilia and a huge, beautiful painted logo on the back wall. A nook no bigger than a phone booth was transformed into the Trailblazer Room, a space that’s perfect for selfies. Of the three bars, this one has the strongest “sports bar” vibe to it, while also feeling like a local neighbourhood spot where regulars drop by to grab a drink. I loved the inclusion of MTA (New York’s transit authority) memorabilia, including authentic subway seats and a Bedford Avenue station sign. When my wife and I visited on a Sunday afternoon with two gay male friends, it was really busy, but we didn’t realize that an NFL game would be playing on some of the screens. While Blazers’ priority will always be for women’s sports, when there’s a big men’s game that people want to watch, they’ll turn to it on a few of their TVs. Because yes, some women also like to watch men’s sports.
Athena Keke’s
222 Greene Ave., Brooklyn, New York City
Somewhat selfishly, this is the bar I’d been looking forward to most because it’s less than a 10-minute walk from our apartment. Stepping through the door on an early Sunday evening, with no big games happening, we were welcomed by a warm “Hello!” from the bartender. The space was busy, about half full, with most folks hanging out for a drink or a bite. Between Blondie and Joan Jett on the speakers, and a palette of light green, pink and turquoise, the space reads as a stylish, female-forward wine bar rather than a sports bar, but a closer look tells a different story. With several TVs, framed photos of female athletes, sport-focused magazine covers and artwork throughout the space (including decorative basketball hoops designed like chandeliers), Athena Keke’s oozes rather than shouts the sports bar vibe.
But it’s also got whimsy. Named for the owners’ cat (so queer), you can see the feline spirit throughout, be it the logo with a cat paw, kitty drawings on the menu or the “meow mix”—cat-shaped homemade tortilla chips—that comes with drinks. Right next to the front door, there’s a mini print vending machine selling cute art pieces for just four quarters. My wife and I had to stop ourselves with just two prints or we would have taken a dozen home.
We’d dropped by just to check the space out, but ended up staying for Talea beers (a local woman-owned brewery) and a delicious dinner of chickpea and coconut soup, lentil stew and Baltimore fries with Old Bay seasoning. It’s obvious one of the owners is a professional chef. I’d never imagined a queer bar would open in my fairly residential neighbourhood, so I’ll have to do my part and become a regular. I’m good with that!
