Women’s sports bars around the United States were packed with cheering fans as the Minnesota Lynx defeated the New York Liberty at the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Commissioner’s Cup Championship on June 25. The merriment came courtesy of Coinbase, which also sponsored the game.

Coinbase takes a new spin on sponsorships

At the Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, the bar was filled to its capacity of 56 people, who enjoyed bar food and one free glass of beer or wine — no free cocktails, not even for Cointelegraph — and received a free T-shirt after they responded to invitations from the WNBA or Coinbase. Similar scenes unfolded in bars in New York City, St. Paul and Seattle.

Coinbase has supported the NBA and WNBA for the last three years as part of a multiyear deal. 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.

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Coinbase approached Sports Bra owner Jenny Nguyen to suggest the watch party, Leedy said, and the bar’s management coordinated the event directly with the crypto exchange. Coinbase chief marketing officer Kate Rouch told 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.”

A booming market

The Sports Bra, which opened in February 2022 and claimed to be the world’s first women-only sports bar, is booming along with women’s sports. Nguyen reportedly made $1 million in revenue in the first eight months of its operation after funding its creation through a Kickstarter campaign.

The bar is planning to expand nationwide through franchising after an investment from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s 776 Foundation.

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