As interest in women's sports grows, new bars in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh reflect the shift

On a Sunday afternoon in late September, the scene inside the newly opened Philadelphia sports bar Marsha’s resembled that of any other sports bar in the area—with one notable exception.

The game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams game was on, of course, but only on three of the six TVs mounted inside the cozy South Street bar. On the other screens, the WNBA playoff game between the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces was showing, with the volume up.

“At first people were like, ‘What’s going on?’” said Marsha’s owner, Chivonn Anderson. “And I was like, ‘This is a women’s sports bar. I love the Birds, but this is a regular season game against the WNBA semifinals.’ People understood, and were really excited to watch the WNBA and the Eagles at the same time. The WNBA game got sound, because they are actually what we are promoting.”

In a city where it’s not uncommon to hear an E-A-G-L-E-S chant break out at a sports bar even when the Birds aren’t playing, Marsha’s stands far apart from the pack as Philadelphia’s first queer-focused women’s sports bar. It joins Title 9 in Pittsburgh, which opened earlier in the year, as part of a steadily growing community of women’s sports bars across the US, a movement that began when The Sports Bra opened in Portland, Oregon in 2022, and continues to pick up steam as professional women’s sports leagues like the WNBA expand and gain more media attention.



https://keystonenewsroom.com/2025/10/22/as-interest-in-womens-sports-grows-new-bars-in-philadelphia-and-pittsburgh-reflect-the-shift/