Debany Davila remembers the night time in 2023 that the New York Liberty game by no means made it onto the sports bar display. A practising lawyer, she had moved to New York City from Texas not lengthy earlier than, and had known as the sports bar twice that day to make sure it was exhibiting the game.
When Davila walked in sporting her jersey, able to cheer on her group, each tv glowed with Mets blue and Yankees pinstripes. The disappointment felt acquainted.
“I was petty”, she stated, laughing. “I told them, ‘This is the team that’s going to win something for New York.’”
It got here out half-joke, half-plea, however that second, small because it appeared, made her surprise: Why wasn’t there an area in New York City the place women’s sports have been the most important occasion, not an afterthought?
Fast-forward to 2025, and Davila not has to depend upon discovering the proper sports bar — as a result of she began her personal.
Blazers is greater than a sports bar; it’s a love letter to women’s sports, born from likelihood conferences on the relationship app Hinge. Today marks the bar’s opening weekend at 308 Bedford Ave. in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.
Murals of trailblazing ladies grace the partitions, jerseys are worn with delight, and the soundtrack is the roar of followers cheering game-winning pictures of women’s sports throughout the world.
The ladies designed Blazers with the intention of welcoming all comers.
“We wanted brighter colors,” co-founder Chandler Robertson stated. “Not the dark, sticky sports bars we grew up with. We want this to be welcoming for everyone.”
Robertson met Los Angeles-based muralist Corie Mattie by likelihood whereas visiting Long Beach, Calif. Mattie, who painted murals of Billie Jean King and Megan Rapinoe in the state’s first women’s sports bar, Watch Me!, introduced her magic to Blazers’ ‘Trailblazer Room.’ The room options hand-painted portraits of Chloe Kim, Serena Williams, Kristi Yamaguchi, Amanda Nunes and extra that fill the area, alongside a mirror that reads, ‘You’re a trailblazer too.’
The “Trailblazer Room” at Blazers Sports Bar is supposed to encourage prospects to consider in themselves. (Kaylen Jackson / The Athletic)
Their bar celebrates the athletes who impressed them, creating an area the place each fan can see themselves.
The menu options cocktails like “Put Me In Coach” (mezcal, ginger, pineapple and lime), the merch racks are lined with “Watch Women’s Sports” gear and toilet partitions are lined with photographs from ESPN Magazine’s “Body Issue,” completely that includes ladies athletes.
Every inch of Blazers was thoughtfully crafted by the founders, who stayed up late portray, designing bogs, creating menus and elevating cash for the renovation.
“We’re putting our own blood, sweat and tears into this,” Davila stated.
Davila met Robertson, a expertise company booker, and fellow legal professional Caroline Kane by way of Hinge in 2023. Both Davila and Robertson matched with and have become associates with Kane, who invited them to a New York Liberty game. There, the three bonded by way of a shared obsession with women’s sports. Most Hinge matches finish in ghosting or one painfully awkward drink. This one led to friendships and a marketing strategy.
“Liberty games made me realize we need this space. When they’re away, where is that community? It’s exciting to provide a centralized place where fans can come together,” Davila stated. “Sure, we’d love to be successful, but really, it’s about women’s sports taking center stage. Younger versions of myself, whether that be tourists or locals, should be able to feel this space exists for them.”
In late 2023, throughout lunch, Kane shared her dream to open a women’s sports bar. She had been impressed by Portland’s The Sports Bra, the first U.S. bar solely devoted to women’s sports, which had opened just a 12 months earlier. Davila was intrigued, nevertheless it was Robertson who hit the gasoline. When Robertson began bartending to study the bar world whereas juggling her company work, Davila stated she and Kane realized, “Oh, s—, she’s serious.” It was then that the trio went all in to create the place they’d dreamed of.
For a 12 months, they immersed themselves in studying the hospitality trade. They assigned chapters to 1 one other from the ebook “Running a Bar for Dummies,” attended workshops and shadowed native bars.
In March 2025, they discovered the excellent spot: Old Man Hustle, a former comedy membership in Williamsburg. What they’d anticipated to take over a 12 months to materialize got here collectively in a few months.
“It’s a thing many women do: We wait until we’re overqualified to do something,” Davila stated. “But we decided to learn as we go. We came in knowing what we don’t know and built a support system around us. Almost anything we’ve encountered, someone has already faced before. And that support, whether online or in Brooklyn, has been invaluable.”
The trio joins the house owners of Wilka’s in Manhattan and Athena Keke’s, which is ready to open in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood.
Blazers used watch events at completely different venues to check buyer curiosity, sharing on Instagram and TikTok to develop a social media presence and attract followers. Those followers responded. One Blazers watch occasion at Bushwick’s Star Bar for the WNBA All-Star Game drew greater than 100 individuals, underscoring the group’s enthusiasm for a devoted women’s sports bar.
Two weeks earlier than opening weekend, Blazers hosted practically 80 friends at their new, everlasting location to observe Gotham FC and Washington Spirit in the NWSL Championship. Guests wrapped round the back and front rooms of the bar.
Kalani Byrd, 31, first heard about Blazers on TikTok and determined to attend the NWSL watch occasion.
“I always wondered why there wasn’t a women’s sports bar,” she stated. “It means everything to me that women’s sports are finally being centered.”
Eric Barnosky, 34, echoed her sentiment: “I don’t know why it’s taken so long. Both women and men would love to come to this space,” he stated. “The U.S. women’s national team has been fighting for equal pay for years; they’re winning World Cups and drawing more TV viewers than men’s teams. You can’t argue economics.”
Blazers co-owners Caroline Kane (far left) and Chandler Robertson (far proper) are grateful for his or her group’s assist, however wish to see extra bars like theirs open. (Kaylen Jackson / The Athletic)
Robertson, co-founder and bar supervisor, sees the followers’ urge for food.
“At almost every watch party, we’ve had people walk in and not be able to get a seat,” she stated. “If we’re past capacity, we need more women’s sports bars.
“Barclays sells out 19,000 seats for Liberty games, and the audience in the market is nowhere near what three women’s sports bars can provide. I want to see a women’s sports bar in every neighborhood in New York City; everybody should have this. It’s not about competition. We all want more spaces for fans.”
The Blazers’ house owners are additionally a part of a nationwide group chat of women’s sports bar house owners, began by Jenny Nguyen, founding father of The Sports Bra. Their conversations vary extensively.
“Some of it’s general bar problems,” Robertson stated. “Some of it’s women’s sports–related, but someone is always willing to chime in and answer a question. It’s so intentional, and we have received so much encouragement from people. They were just like: ‘You can do it, keep going. Come on, if we can do it, you can too.’ Hearing that constantly really helps push us.”
Blazers is opening at a pivotal second for women’s sports. McKinsey & Company reviews that women’s sports grew 4.5 instances sooner than males’s between 2022 and 2024, but they nonetheless obtain solely 15 % of complete sports media protection. The NWSL says the 2025 season averaged 228,000 viewers per game, up 61 % from final 12 months; the NWSL’s 2025 Championship Game topped a mean of 1 million viewers for the first time.
WNBA Finals viewership was at a 25-year excessive, in keeping with Front Office Sports. The 2024 NCAA women’s basketball championship drew 18.9 million viewers, surpassing the males’s game for the first time, in keeping with Nielsen. The success of The Sports Bra in Portland — now increasing into Boston, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Las Vegas — proved that devoted women’s sports areas can thrive.
Playing women’s sports in the bar will not be so simple as flipping on ESPN. It’s navigating a maze of streaming rights.
“Cable? Easy. But Peacock, Paramount+, YouTube TV — you need express permission for everything,” Robertson stated. “We have ten streaming subscriptions, and it’s still not enough.”
For Blazers, navigating the programming maze is a part of the mission. The group works to safe business licenses so followers can really watch reside video games that might in any other case be buried on obscure platforms or unavailable altogether.
Blazers’ founders view this as a part of the bigger combat for equity. Women’s sports could have reached fairness when a game from the WNBA, NWSL, or PWHL is as seen and accessible as any NFL or MLB matchup.
Heading into the bar’s opening weekend, Robertson envisions moments of pure pleasure: a objective scored, the bar erupting with cheer, strangers bonding over shared fandom. Kane hopes for a collective sense of accomplishment.
“I rarely let myself reflect and be like, you did it,” she stated. “I hope we all get the feeling of, ‘We did it.’ Now the community has this space.”