'Standing room only': Fans pack pop-ups as Bar IX, Detroit's first women's sports bar, eyes permanent home

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The event Bar IX held to celebrate the WNBA's Detroit expansion (Photo: Bar IX)

DETROIT (FOX 2) - "Everyone watches women's sports."

Walk into a Bar IX event in Detroit, and that's the message you'll find emblazoned on a flag decorating the packed space.

Bar IX is hosting pop-up women's sports watch parties around Detroit, with plans to eventually move into a permanent home – a sports bar where women athletes fill the TVs.

"It's super exciting right now to be a women's sports fan, and it seems like, between the rise in women's sports nationally, and I think the need and desire for community and building community spaces. I feel strongly about community, and having these third spaces to gather, celebrate, bring joy is really important," Alissa Graff said. "Bar IX is hoping to be that for Detroit."

Graff, part of Bar IX's leadership team, said she's been a fan of women's sports her entire life, and recalls memories of watching Detroit Shock basketball games before the WNBA team left Michigan. So, when bars dedicated to showing only women's sports began popping up around the U.S., she decided that Detroit, too, needed such a space. And it just so happened that as she began planning how to bring such a concept to Detroit, it was announced that the WNBA was returning to the city.

She calls that announcement "the icing on the cake" of a plan that took off earlier this year when a group gathered at Eastern Market Brewing Co. to watch the start of the WNBA season. That first event drew about 60 people to the brewery — a turnout that forced the group to need to move to a larger room.

And the reception has continued to be a positive one, Graff said.

Since that first event, Bar IX's pop-up watch parties continuously attract large crowds to venues around the city. Bar IX has aimed to host at least one event a month by partnering with local businesses, including Gilly's Clubhouse, Meantime, The Congregation, and more, to show everything from women's rugby, to soccer, to basketball.

"A number of our events have become standing room only," Graff said, noting that a mix of new attendees and returning fans fill each event.

Graff highlighted one particular event that showed just how strong the support is behind Bar IX – a quickly thrown-together celebration at Collect Beer Bar when the WNBA Detroit expansion was announced over the summer.

"We put it together in 24 hours, and we ended up with like 70 people there," she said. "Packed the place out on a Tuesday."

In addition to giving fans a place to watch women's sports, these events have helped build a community and connections, with people meeting at Bat IX events and attending more events with each other.

"We're really trying to encourage building the grassroots support," Graff said, adding that the goal is to create a community centered around women's sports from the ground up.

What's next:

While the events Bar IX has already hosted have been a success, Graff says it's only just the start.

"We definitely want to have our own brick and mortar space," she said.

Graff said Bar IX's team is starting to look into physical locations in Detroit, while aiming to be open for the Women's World Cup in mid-2027. In the new year, Bar IX plans to start crowdfunding as the team works toward opening that brick-and-mortar women's sports bar.

For now, pop-up events will continue around the city. To find Bar IX's next event, check their Instagram or sign up for email alerts.