Jolene Jolene could add Atlanta to growing women's sports bar industry
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."
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