BOULDER — The irony’s as cruel as an own goal, as cutting as a Lindsay Horan header.
Only a handful of tickets were left after Memorial Day for the USA-South Korea friendly at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday. Any other summer, Miranda Spencer and Annie Weaver would’ve snapped those puppies up.
“We’re pretty sad we’re not going,” Weaver told me Tuesday with a rueful chuckle.
“We would definitely be there,” Spencer added.
They’ve got a good reason, though. The best. Spencer and Weaver can’t make one of Front Range’s premier women’s sports events of the year because they’re still burning the midnight oil getting a premier women’s sports bar for Denver up and running.
The 99ers Sports Bar, Spencer and Weaver’s passion project, is aiming for a July grand opening. But if you want a taste of what’s to come at 909 E. Colfax, Miranda and Annie are holding a preview pop-up/U.S. Women’s National Team soccer game-watch party on Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. at Lady Justice Brewing in Englewood.
“(The pop-up) gives people a chance to watch it,” Spencer said. “Especially for those who couldn’t make it to the game or couldn’t afford tickets to the game.” Ave.
After all, they wouldn’t be there without them. Or rather, they wouldn’t not be there without them.
The 99ers is named for, and inspired by, the legendary USWNT that won the 1999 World Cup, a benchmark moment for women’s sports — and for how women’s sports have been watched and covered since.
“I think for women’s sports, they showcased it, they started it,” Spencer said. “Without them, there is no this. Without the ceilings they broke and continue to do so, there is not an us.
“They paved the way for us to feel empowered to do what we’re doing. It gave young athletes something to aspire to be and to believe in something that was achievable.”
Spencer’s from Idaho. Weaver’s from Iowa. Seeing The Stars & Stripes on the pitch a Mile High is especially near and dear to Annie’s heart. She was 6 years old when Brandi Chastain rocked the Rose Bowl in ’99, shattering another glass ceiling along the way. Fast forward 15 or so years, she grew up to become a defender for the women’s soccer team at Central College, a Division III program in tiny Pella, Iowa, a burg probably best known to locals as the home of Pella windows and former NBA sharpshooter Kyle Korver.
“We were young, but we both remember (’99),” Weaver said. “It was one of those moments in history, especially being a young female athlete.”
It was one of those moments that didn’t just open eyes. It brought them back. And kept them. Especially on the broadcast front, where the big checks get written. You haven’t really made it in American sports until TV networks decide they love you. Or because TV advertisers will pony up the cash to hang with you, whichever comes first.
Per WorldSoccerTalk.com, the 10 USWNT games that aired over linear networks in 2023 averaged 338,400 viewers per match, which ran pretty close to the men’s national team’s average ratings over its 10 linear-network appearances (380,300). The USWNT’s 2023 TV ratings were reportedly its highest since 2019, with an average of 1.56 million viewers over 14 recorded data points, and a jump of 330% over 2022.
There’s an audience, all right. A tribe that’s looking for places to gather, to celebrate, to commiserate. And the growth of women’s sports in TV, fueled in part by soccer and the WNBA — paging Caitlin Clark — has given rise to the concept of sports bars themed toward women’s sports and women’s athletics. The Sports Bra, a women’s sports-centered bar in Portland, opened in April 2022. According to a recent piece at CNBC.com, its owner, Jenny Nguyen, says she made roughly $1 million over her first eight months in business.
“I think it’s smart,” USWNT striker and Windsor native Sophia Smith said when asked about The 99ers bar before the team’s Tuesday practice session at CU. “I think it’s smart for people to get on board with that.
“And it’s a cool concept, because still women’s sports are hard to watch. You have to have subscriptions or it’s on different streaming platforms. So if you can go somewhere and it’s on and easy to access, I think that’s amazing. And, yeah, I think it’s a smart investment for (Spencer and Weaver).”
The 24ers are out there giving love to The 99ers. How cool is that?
“I don’t think it ever gets old,” Miranda said.
“I don’t have words,” Annie said. “Soccer is my background, so even though they’re younger than me, they’re my heroes. That’s incredible.”
And if you can’t make it to Commerce City, the party at Lady Justice Brewing sounds as if it’s gearing up to be the next best thing. There’ll be items on-hand showcasing the bar to come, as well as giveaways and a fundraiser.
As for the site itself, well …
“It’s starting to look like a sports bar,” Weaver laughed.
“There’s no instruction manual for this,” Spencer added. “There’s no ‘Opening A Bar For Dummies’ (book). We’re learning. Every single day, we’re learning two things while we also don’t know 15 things. Our list is constantly growing. The real cool thing is, within the women’s sports bar community, everyone is willing to help.”
They’ll toast the 24ers Saturday, even from afar. To every door they’ve kicked open. And to every door that’s got it coming.
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