The country's premier women's sports bar is turning around one of the mistakes from last year. NCAA Tournament .
The sports bra took control of the court with the inconsistently sized 3-point arcs This created a buzz during the women's tournament matches held in Portland, Oregon, in 2024, and led to its installation as a new bar surface.
Jenny Nguyen, the founder of Sports Bra, views the court as having drawn more focus to the women’s tournament, which has underscored that the women’s side can no longer remain an overlooked aspect.
And according to her, that is ultimately beneficial.
“As far as we’re concerned, commemorating it helps reshape the story,” Nguyen stated. “There’s something almost uplifting about that, akin to displaying it in a museum. Plus, where else would you showcase it but at the Sports Bra?”
In the previous year, when Portland was home to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matches, the court featured uneven three-point lines, differing from one end to the other. roughly 9 inches shorter than standard size at its apex.
Before the lines were redone for the regional final match between UConn and Southern California, five games had taken place on the court. The NCAA stated that this error was due to a human mistake made by the firm responsible for setting up the venue.
The legal issues were merely part of a sequence of complications throughout the 2024 women's tournament.
In Spokane, Washington, the men’s and women’s opening-round games overlapped with a youth volleyball tournament. This led to some of the women’s teams being accommodated in hotels located across the state border in Idaho. The Utah women's team mentioned that during their stay there, players were subjected to racist abuse by a passerby .
Moreover, during an early round match in Raleigh, North Carolina, a referee was replaced at halftime due to a potential bias issue. In another instance, a player was removed from a game for similar reasons. remove a nose piercing .
This March Madness has seen little controversy regarding women's basketball, which Nguyen views positively for the development of women’s sports. This is part of what inspired her to transform the former playing surface into a bar countertop.
"We believe it's the most incredible tale ever told. However, some others may view it as the gravest error imaginable, one that merely commemorates a misstep and leaves a blemish on the competition," she stated.
The Sports Bra, launched in 2022, was the inaugural one of its kind. increasing number of sports bars tailored for women spreading nationwide Including "Rough & Tumble" in Seattle and "A Bar of Their Own" in Minneapolis, the Sports Bra aims to broaden its presence across more regions. The venture has received backing from Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit and an original owner of Angel City FC in the NWSL.
Nguyen mentioned that parts of the notorious courthouse might also be included in those upcoming sites.
Like in 2021, when the disparity between the men's and women's weight rooms at the event prompted the NCAA to take action—these small but significant fights contribute to an improved experience for all female athletes and their teams. "It’s quite a rollercoaster," Nguyen stated, "but we're embracing it."
