It’s time now for the Joy Beat, our weekly moment when we focus on the good. This week, we find our joy near Faneuil Hall, where a new sports bar is trying to “rewrite the playbook.” The Sports Bra is dedicating itself 100% to women’s sports and also giving Boston some community, beer and delicious food. Co-owner of the Sports Bra Boston, Whitney Edwards, joined GBH’s All Things Considered Host Arun Rath. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.
Arun Rath: The Sports Bra, I love the name. It has been in the works here in Boston for a while. Could you start off by giving us the origin story?
Whitney Edwards: Our story as a group, being eight women owning this business, starts with just the relationships that we had. Some of those relationships were formed through childhood friends — our team grew up right here in Boston and its surrounding areas — and our love of sport. And our [desire] to also support sports. So, I think in our early conversations of just trying to find a spot to watch the game.
I think a lot of people can relate to that effort, if you are a true women’s sports fan, and you’ve gone out and tried to find it. Our effort was just like other people’s. You go in, you ask and the TV that you may or may not get the channel on — it was hard to find. It was hard to find even for us.
So, we have followed the original location, which is out in Portland, Oregon. The founder, Jenny Nguyen’s, story was something that we, as a group, really connected to, and even in her experience of trying to find and access women’s sports and the difficulty. She birthed this business that we are fortunate to have a franchise [of] coming to this city.
Obviously, with the growth of women’s sports, when you look at the WNBA, you see they are having their highest viewers in their 30th year. It has done nothing but grow. In our time with this, it has been two years. We have obviously grown as the landscape of women’s sports has grown. But it very much stems from our own experiences of lack of access, as well as wanting a bigger, more welcoming experience for ourselves, and then wanting to create community around that.
We started out as a group called “Watch With Us Boston.” We took it as a challenge and we started hosting our own events. We worked with local bars and restaurants that were willing to have us in their space. Through that experience, we really have built a great community of supporters around women’s sports in Boston. The way that folks are still showing up today, it is just a mark of the importance of women’s sports, both in the city but also how it is being reflected nationally now.
Rath: That’s brilliant. So, you wanted something that did not exist and you actually found a model for it in Portland, Oregon. Talk about what this kind of a space is going to mean going forward and how the community builds upon this.
Edwards: There is a demand. We have experienced the demand of people who are just looking for places to come out and enjoy something that they have in common. This happens to be women’s sports. Again, the growth of both the sports landscape, itself, but also the businesses that are now supporting more spaces for people to come out, everyone just wants it to fell like a normal and regular experience.
You can walk into any bar or restaurant right now and there is something on the TV. Usually, it is men’s sports. For us, we’re just ultimately centering it on women — we are not shunning men at all — in that, we invite everyone into our space.
We want anyone who supports women’s sports to come and share in that, or anyone who just wants to understand more of women’s sports even, because sometimes we found that this is people’s first exposure. They come to a watch party that we host, engage with us or ask us questions. Sometimes it is folks’ introduction sport, as well. So, we have been really intentional just to build those bonds with folks.
The community aspect of it is — this is a city of champions, right? So, we understand people come together around sports in Boston already. We just want to make the case that women’s sports, as well, should have that platform. We have been able to see the type of support that it can have, as well.
Rath: This is the Joy Beat. I think I have already heard the joy you find in building community like this but has there been a particular moment or moments along the path of opening The Sports Bra that really demonstrates that to you?
Edwards: I think for every outreach that we receive, for folks that just want to partner with us or are excited that we are here. Once we announced our location, sort of the outpour of people, even if it is the repetitive question of when we are opening, is appreciated. We do not take it for granted. We are so excited that people are still excited about this, even though it has sort of been in motion for over a year now.
It is hard to keep the excitement around things because they sort of come and go very quickly now with technology. Boston is a city where there is no lack of things to do. So, we are just so ecstatic that people are reaching out to us, either if it is just the opening or they want to be a part of our community in getting this place open and supporting it once we are here. We have felt that tremendously. The organizations that we have been able to work with that are also in support of girls and women, that has been a great experience for our team and something really memorable about this experience.
I guess a funny story I will share: We had a couple meet at one of our watch parties. I would say that is also pretty cool and not something that we think will happen. We are excited to see people come together and have excitement. Like you said, joy is not always an easy thing to find but we are finding that in this process, we are able to create some pockets of it. People are really leaning into their excitement around women’s sports. The continuing energy of that has been really energizing for our team, as well.
Rath: Finally, because I know you will not mind me asking, when are you going to be opening? The sign says Fall of 2026.
Edwards: Yes, we are still pushing for that. We are eager to get it there. We are hopeful for late this year and that is what we are on track to do right now. We have to sort of get through this next couple of weeks to really set course for what the specific date will be but please know the moment we know, we are going to be shouting it form the rooftops. So that, again, people can continue to keep the excitement and know that we are working hard to get these doors open as soon as possible.
