The map above shows several new bars dedicated to women's sports which have made the mad dash to open in time to capitalize on March Madness, now in full swing. (AP Graphic)

PHOENIX (AP) — When you walk into Title 9 Sports Grill in Phoenix's Melrose District, its mission to be a haven for watching women's sports permeates every nook and cranny. From the over dozen TVs mounted on pink and orange walls to the “Play Like a Girl!” neon sign against a giant image of retired WNBA star Diana Taurasi.

It's an impressive turnaround for co-owners Audrey Corley and Kat Moore. Just before Christmas, the space was still Moore and her husband Brad's hot dog restaurant. But last summer they sold the business and the new owners didn't want to stay in the property. That's when Corley, who owns a popular lesbian bar on the next block, proposed partnering on the city's first women's sports-centric bar. She had been mulling the idea since reading about the Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, which opened in 2022, and then seeing a half-dozen similar bars emerge in the last year.

“Then I see, you know, another one popped up here and another one. And then I was like, it’s just time. It has to be,” Corley said before Title 9's grand opening earlier this month.

Several new bars dedicated to women's sports have made the mad dash to open in time to capitalize on March Madness, now in full swing. From San Francisco to Cleveland, there will be more than a dozen across the country before the year is over. The femme-focused bar scene has made huge strides from three years ago when The Sports Bra was the only one. It comes during an exciting first year during which teams in the women's bracket will finally be paid for playing in the NCAA tourney. Many credit stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for increasing the marketability of female players.

Last season, Reese and Clark's teams never saw a dollar. Now, the women's teams will finally earn individual revenue, known as “units.” A unit is money paid to conferences when one of its teams appears in the NCAA Tournament. Teams earn another with every game played.

The most seamless part of transforming her old restaurant into Title 9 has been the built-in community anticipation of having a place to view women's sports, Moore said.

"The only question I’ve gotten from quite a few men, especially when we first started telling people, was, ‘Are men allowed?’ Yeah!” Moore said, with a chuckle.

Named for the landmark 1972 law that forbids discrimination based on sex in education, including athletics, Title 9 is filled with tributes to female athletes, from framed photos with QR codes to a cocktail roster with drinks such as the Pat Summitt Sour and Taurasi Goat-Tail. However, the owners emphasize a family-friendly atmosphere where young girls can come celebrate after a school game.

“Even some of the little girls, they could come here and dream of being on the TV someday and actually getting paid for it,” Corley said.

Debra Hallum and Marlene du Plessis were also inspired by the Sports Bra. They made their targeted opening in Austin last week of 1972 ATX Women's Sports Pub across from the University of Texas campus. The day included a rainbow ribbon cutting and officials from the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

While they are in a conservative state, the women have been emphasizing the bar’s LGBTQ-friendliness.

“We want to be very clear that we will be a very welcoming and inclusive space for all women sports fans,” Hallum said. “We want to invite everyone to grow the interest and the viewership, because that’s the only way we’re going to fix that gap for women, including the pay gap.”

Neither woman has hospitality experience. Hallum has a corporate background and du Plessis' is in education. But, they researched running a business like this and hired a talented chef and staff. It's clear both are passionate.

“It is so hard to find a bar or a pub that will show women’s sports,” du Plessis said. “You always have to call around, ask around to find where they going to show it. And then most of the time you know they will not have the sound on. And we will.”

They've been touched by the reactions from residents, even parents of boys.

“We had a mom and dad, two daughters and their son show up and (the mom) was all about, 'This is exactly what we need,’” Hallum said. “We want our son to be raised knowing that this is just as great and just as wonderful as men’s sports.”

In Denver, Annie Weaver and Miranda Spencer met playing on opposing flag football teams. A month later, they began drafting a business plan for a similar concept, also inspired by The Sports Bra. Open since December, the 99ers Sports Bar is now hosting its first March Madness crowds.

They were first mulling a name that would play off of Mia Hamm, the 1990s soccer icon who inspired Weaver’s Halloween costume for years. They settled on a name that honors the 1999 U.S. Women's World Cup soccer team, filled with names and faces that didn't get as much attention as Hamm.

On a recent Sunday, the bar was standing room only as the TVs aired an NWSL game, Unrivaled semifinal games, and the Selection Sunday broadcast announcing the brackets for the NCAA Tournament.

The city doesn’t even have any women’s teams in the major national leagues, but it was recently awarded the 16th NWSL expansion team, to begin play in 2026.

A tri-fold bracket covered one table, and an impromptu friendship bracelet-making station occupied another.

“I wish I would have had this space growing up,” Spencer said.

These new bar operators agree this is not a trend but an indicator of a market that hasn't been served. But hopefully, anyone looking to open a women's sports bar isn't doing it “just to be trendy,” said Moore, of Title 9.

Corley's most important advice for any would-be barkeep: "The same way you play sports for the love, open this up for the love.”

___ Peterson reported from Denver.

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