The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Commissioner’s Cup Championship saw the Minnesota Lynx overcome the New York Liberty on June 25, and women’s sports bars across the country were crowded with fans. Coinbase, the game’s sponsor, provided the entertainment.
56 people arrived at the packed Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, to enjoy bar bites and one complimentary glass of wine or beer (no free cocktails, not even for Cointelegraph). After accepting an invitation from Coinbase or the WNBA, they also received a free T-shirt. Bars in Seattle, St. Paul, and New York City had similar incidents. As part of a multiyear agreement, Coinbase has sponsored the NBA and WNBA for the past three years.
It was good timing. “The growth in the league [WNBA] has been huge. Selling out stadiums — that’s the first time it’s happened in the last couple of years,” Sports Bra operations manager Katie Leedy told Cointelegraph.
According to Leedy, Coinbase got in touch with Jenny Nguyen, the owner of Sports Bra, to propose the watch party, and the bar’s management worked closely with the cryptocurrency exchange to make everything happen. According to Kate Rouch, chief marketing officer of Coinbase, Cointelegraph.
“Encouraging women to participate in an updated, more empowering financial system is one reason we choose to partner with the WNBA. […] We’re proud to support female athletes, women-owned small businesses, and to celebrate in person with dedicated WNBA fans.”
The popularity of women’s sports is growing, as is The Sports Bra, which opened in February 2022 and billed itself as the first women-only sports bar in history.Nguyen, which was founded with money from a Kickstarter campaign, reportedly achieved $1 million in revenue in its first eight months of business. Following an investment from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s 776 Foundation, the bar plans to use franchising to grow across the country.