The WNBA Finals Are Better At The Women's Sports Bar

It’s a Saturday afternoon, and I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers in a small Boston brewery. All eyes are locked on the televisions on the walls, which are playing Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream.

When Golden State forward and fan favorite Gabby Williams goes off, draining a huge 3-point shot, the bar erupts. When Dream center Angel Reese gets a tough finish at the rim plus the foul call, the bar is just as loud. Strangers high-five, friends hug, and co-workers cheer in between running pints to tables. For a moment, I look around at this diverse group of people who have come together to watch the WNBA and remember what it was like just a few years ago, when I couldn’t find a single bar willing to put on a game.

In 2022, there was only one bar dedicated to women’s sports in the United States. Today, there are more than 25, with more on the way. I’m watching the Finals at Drawdown Brewing, a queer-owned spot in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Until recently, the city lacked a dedicated women’s sports bar, so in 2023, Drawdown stepped in to fill the void.

It’s run by Liz Nicol, who spent a decade as a home brewer before winning VinePair’s “Brewer of the Year” award, and her wife, Jenn Batore. While they will sometimes put on men’s sports “as filler,” as Nicol puts it, their bread and butter is women’s sports. As the WNBA’s audience continues to grow, women’s sports bars across the country are meeting the demand by providing spaces where fans can gather during games.

“This is my Cheers,” says Noah Tobin, a regular who visits at least once per week. He says he likes it because even if he is alone, there is always someone there that he can connect with over a shared interest in women’s sports.

Ahead of a 3:30 p.m. tipoff, I get to Drawdown around 2 p.m. so that I will have time to chat with Nicol and hopefully snag a seat for later. Drawdown is a relatively small space — just 30 to 40 seats with a standing room capacity of nearly 100. When I get there, it’s empty aside from one couple visiting from out of town. On one TV, an NWSL game plays. On the other, men’s college football.

The beer list, written on a large chalk board above the taps, features brews with queer-specific names, like the IPA (“LGBTQIPA+”) and hard seltzer (“Gaydarade,” which also comes in a non-alcoholic version), and others that are named for local events or seasons, like the Scotch Ale (“No Scotland, No Party,” a World Cup reference) or pumpkin ale (“White Girl Wasted”). Below one of the TVs, there’s a shirt for sale emblazoned with “Beers, Gays, Sports.”

I’m curious to see who the crowd will be rooting for, as there isn’t a local team in the Finals (and, following the sale of the Connecticut Sun to Houston earlier this year, there is no longer a team in New England). It’s immediately clear that the patrons are just here to watch some good basketball, as by 3 p.m. I have seen a Dallas Wings hat, a Sun “KEESUSK” hat, a Kelsey Mitchell Indiana Fever jersey, and a WNBA Playa Society jersey that says “The WNBA is so important” on the back (a quote from WNBA journalist Ari Chambers).

The woman in the WNBA jersey — which, it turns out, she bought at the WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago this summer — is Andrea Lackey, who came to Drawdown to watch the game with her husband, Dan. The pair is in town from Orange County, California, to visit their son at Boston University. She tells me that they aren’t rooting for any particular team (“we’re more fans of individual players”) and that they travel all over the world to watch their favorites. They flew to Berlin for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) tournament this summer, where they met Isobel Borlase, an Atlanta Dream rookie and Australia national team member. In the off-season, they’re going to watch her play Down Under.

Not everyone at Drawdown is a diehard fan. “I come here regularly, and there are some people who take it very, very seriously,” says Shelley Harrison, who is sitting next to me at the bar before the game. She’s wearing Valkyries gear but says she feels a little bad because she’s a huge Las Vegas Aces fan and her team lost to Golden State in the previous round. “But then you have people like my friends, who are just coming in for the playoffs because it’s fun.”

By the time tipoff arrives, the bar is packed. There are no empty seats, and some people are sitting on window ledges, while the rest stand. No one seems to mind; everyone’s focus is on the game. A decent amount of Valkyries merch is visible in the space, but when Angel Reese gets her first bucket, it becomes clear that there’s a huge Dream contingent at the back of the bar. Based on the cheering, the crowd seems pretty evenly split between rooting for Golden State and for Atlanta. Despite that, there is no sniping or bickering among opposing fandoms. Everyone is just there to have a good time.

I settle into a corner barstool with two people I only know from the Internet — subscribers to my newsletter who are also members of the associated Discord server who recognized me and came over to say hi. Another Internet friend, hockey writer Sara Civian, comes over and introduces herself; we’ve been trying to meet in person for years. Maybe this is becoming my Cheers, too.

The 2026 WNBA Finals is a historic series, and it’s reflected in the fans’ groans and yells throughout the entire two hours of basketball. The Golden State Valkyries have made the championship in just their second year, the fastest expansion team to ever achieve the milestone. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Dream haven’t been in the Finals since 2013 and had been swept all three times they’d made it there. Neither franchise has ever won a championship. Game 1 is a good one — a back-and-forth battle that remains a toss-up until the very last minute. Ultimately, the Valkyries are victorious, winning 68-64. About half the bar erupts into cheers, but the entire place claps its respect for the start of a competitive series.

It strikes me that a crowd of people gathered to watch two teams with virtually no local connection. (Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton is from nearby Newton, Massachusetts.) They sought out a place where they knew their game would be on the TVs, where no one would judge them for cheering on women hoopers. And they’ll keep coming back, because when you find a place like that, it’s worth keeping.