March 21, 2025
Provided image/Watch Party PHL
Watch Party PHL is planning to open a bar that shows only women's sports in 2026. Above, fans gather for a women's soccer watch party organized by the group last summer.
Watch Party PHL, a community of women's sports fans, is looking to open its own bar in Philly in 2026 that would show only women's sports on its TVs.
Group leaders Jen Leary, Lori Albright, Fawn McGee and Megan DiTolla launched a GoFundMe on Thursday with the goal to raise $50,000 to get the project started.
Leary said the business will be open seven days a week, functioning as a coffee shop in the mornings and as a bar in the evenings, and will feature an event space, studio for live podcasting and beers from local breweries, including Love City, Dock Street and Yards. While it won't have a large food menu, Leary said they will be selling soft pretzels from Center City Pretzel Co. and bring in local vendors and food trucks for events.
Organizers don't have a space yet, but they're looking at spots in Midtown Village and Center City.
"It's really going to be the home for women's sports in Philly," Leary said.
Leary first started Watch Party PHL in April 2024. She said it was born out of her love for the WNBA. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual community watching games together was a bright spot for her. When lockdowns were lifted, she wanted to find that same connection in real life but had a hard time finding it.
"There was nowhere, absolutely nowhere, in the city showing women's sports on TV with the sound on," Leary said. "It was really born from a need."
The first watch party by the organization was for the title game of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, which featured Philly native Dawn Staley coaching South Carolina to a championship over Iowa, which was led by phenom Caitlin Clark. The game had an average of nearly 19 million viewers, and it was the first time the women's NCAA championship game outdrew the men's final. While Leary was concerned that the group would have a hard time continuing the momentum from that historic game, she said Watch Party PHL now hosts multiple events per month with around 150 to 300 attendees — and even more for big games.
Gaining that strong of support in such a short time shows the city needs for a space to watch women's sports — and a professional team of its own, Leary said.
"The fact that Philly is a major metropolitan city, the fact that we are so historically a sports town, and that we don't have a women's sports team here yet, is so frustrating," she said.
