How the world鈥檚 2nd pub for women鈥檚 sports opened in Seattle
SEATTLE (BVM) 鈥� , located in Seattle鈥檚 Ballard neighborhood, opened in December of 2022 as just the second sports bar/pub in the world to prioritize the screening of women鈥檚 sports.听
鈥淩ough & Tumble Pub is only the second sports bar/pub in the world to put the focus on female athletes and women鈥檚 sports 鈥� and we shouldn鈥檛 be (with it almost being 2023),鈥� said Jen Barnes, founder of R&T Pub.听
Barnes, a former local competitive rower and former crew coach at Mount Holyoke College, can recall the pivotal moment that led to her starting a unique pub that puts the focus on women鈥檚 sports.听聽
鈥淚 came up with the idea after I was trying to find a place to watch the OL Reign鈥檚 (NWSL) semi-final game (October 2021),鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淥ne place agreed to put it up after the out-of-market NFL game, but the game went into overtime so the Reign game didn鈥檛 go up until halftime. It was astonishing to me that [such an important game for Seattle women鈥檚 sports wasn鈥檛 getting priority].
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 fathom that we were still doing this in 2021 so I decided to enact change myself.鈥澛�
Barnes began executing her idea the following week. Fortunately, she has years of experience in the food and hospitality industry in positions from server to manager. She also has 20 years of corporate experience in business and operations.听
Her first step was to begin market research. She needed to understand if a business marketed towards people who watch women鈥檚 sports would even succeed.听聽
鈥淭here was a mix of reactions to starting this business,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淚 think anytime you step into the world with an idea that is unique there are a lot of questions that go into that. In general, once I talked about the data points around it, it started to make sense.鈥澛�
The data that Barnes pointed to is that 84% of sports fans are interested in women鈥檚 sports, and of those, 49% are female and 51% are male, according to research from .听
Barnes spent roughly 13 months executing her idea which turned to fruition when Rough & Tumble Pub opened for business on December 9.听
鈥淲e鈥檝e been open for less than three weeks and our sales are astounding,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been at capacity with up to three-hour waits. Roughly 50% of our patrons are men, too. At any given time, there are several guys sitting at the bar watching the game on the big screen.鈥�
At its surface, a pub focusing on women鈥檚 sports may have sounded like a risk. After all, more people watch men鈥檚 sports. But Barnes knew she wouldn鈥檛 miss out on business because there is an exponential rise in viewership for women鈥檚 sports.听
鈥淚 think the average sports bars 鈥� or the 99.9% of the other sports bars, pubs and restaurants out there 鈥� are the ones actually missing out on a significant amount of business,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淚 hope we will be proof of concept that paves the way for additional places like ours to start popping up. I hope someday we don鈥檛 have to prioritize something for women鈥檚 sports: we can all be equal but that isn鈥檛 the case right now.鈥澛�
The feedback overall has been overwhelmingly positive from both fans and pro athletes who find Rough & Tumble Pub to be an important space.听
鈥淭he WNBA鈥檚 Seattle Storm and NWSL鈥檚 OL Reign have been incredibly supportive,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淢ercedes Russell (Storm) came through as did a lot of NWSL players. It鈥檚 gratifying to have created a space for these players.鈥澛�
Rough & Tumble Pub prioritizes women鈥檚 sports including the Seattle Storm, OL Reign and the area鈥檚 collegiate teams. The pub also screens men鈥檚 sports when applicable.听
鈥淕roups of women come in who are NFL and NHL fans and they love that this is a comfortable place and are not minimized by the masculine sports bar culture at many other places,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淲hen it comes to the men, I鈥檝e had guys tell me they are delighted to watch the women鈥檚 soccer games on something that isn鈥檛 a phone.鈥�
In terms of the future, Barnes hopes others will take steps in making women鈥檚 sports more accessible across the country.听
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping Rough & Tumble Pub will change how women鈥檚 sports are viewed as a whole in the industry,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淭he Sports Bra opened in April of 2022 (in Portland, Oregon) and is the only other place in the world doing what I鈥檓 doing. We are advocating for equality for women鈥檚 sports and the more pubs, restaurants and bars that are willing to take something like this on — the closer we can get to a place where there is equality and equity.鈥澛�
