A First Of Its Kind Sports Bar Dedicated To Women’s Sports Coming To Minnesota

A brand new sports bar is making plans to open in Minnesota, becoming the first business of its kind dedicated to women's sports in the state.

The new establishment, being called "A Bar of Their Own", is the realization of a dream that was inspired by some experiences over the last couple of years by the new business's owner.

Jillian Hiscock, the owner of the upcoming "A Bar of Their Own", told The Eater that she is a huge women's sports fan. After working at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Final Four basketball tournament in the Twin Cities and discovering the growing success of a similar type of business in Oregon, she wondered when someone might open a women's sports bar in Minnesota.

As Jillian shared on a crowdfunding page for this new business, an experience from earlier this year really put things in motion.

The University of Minnesota's softball team was competing in the NCAA national tournament. Going to a sports bar in the Twin Cities to watch the game with some friends, they noticed the game wasn't on any of the over 20 TVs in the establishment, which were showing things like replays of football games and a cornhole tournament, instead of an NCAA Division I national tournament.

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Jillian and her partner launched a crowdfunding campaign in September, making over $138,000 of their $200,000 goal in only two months, drawing over 500 supporters that have offered contributions anywhere from a few dollars all the way up to $5,000.

What will A Bar of Their Own offer?

The Eater reports that the owners are working on getting the streaming rights for the bar to show all of the platforms that provide the games they want to show, as not all of the games they will want to show are available on mainstream broadcast/cable/satellite channels. This includes the Minnesota Vixen football team and will also likely include the brand-new women's professional hockey team starting up in Minnesota.

In addition to a lot of options for women's sports on the bar's TVs, they will provide expected bar food like burgers and sandwiches as well as gluten-free and true vegan options "Making sure that a vegan’s only option isn’t taking everything off of a salad and getting left with a bowl of lettuce”.

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They will also offer buffalo wings that will pay homage to the location A Bar of Their Own will occupy.

Where will A Bar of Their Own be located?

The owners shared on December 6 that they will be opening at 2207 Franklin Avenue E in Minneapolis. This is the space that was previously home to Tracy's Saloon & Eatery, which closed after 44 years in business. Remember those buffalo wings I mentioned? Jillian says that the previous owner sold the recipe, so they will live on at A Bar of Their Own!

When will A Bar of Their Own open?

The owners say they will be ending their crowdfunding campaign on December 15, asking anyone who would like to make a contribution in support of the new establishment to do so as soon as possible. From there, it's full-speed ahead in getting the place ready to go.

Jillian tells The Eater that if all goes as planned, they hope to be open in time for the Big 10 Women's Basketball Tournament, which is March 6-10, 2024 in Minneapolis.