The Sports Bra Expands with Franchising and Empowerment: Jenny Nguyen’s Mission to Promote Women in Sport Gains Momentum with Serena Williams, Sabrina Ionescu, and Record-Breaking Viewership

Jenny Nguyen, owner of The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, announced plans this week to expand her business through franchising after just two years since its opening in 2022. Located in Northeast Portland, the bar’s mission is “to make great food and delicious drinks while providing a space that supports, empowers, and promotes girls and women in sports and in the community.” Nguyen shared with The Associated Press that her forecast for growth was exceeded by the rapid speed at which things have happened since opening.
The Sports Bra’s expansion will be supported through funding from a foundation created by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams. Nguyen has already received hundreds of inquiries about potential franchises and shared that what matters most is sharing the brand’s values with future partners.
The surge in interest for women’s sports over recent months can be attributed in part to Sabrina Ionescu, a star athlete from Oregon State University who set records this year for scoring both among men and women while playing basketball. The championship game between Iowa and South Carolina on April 7 drew an average of 18.9 million viewers, surpassing the audience for the men’s title match for the first time in history. A week later, a record-breaking number of people watched Ionescu get selected as No. 1 pick by Indiana Fever during the WNBA draft on April 14th. This week it was reported that she will sign an unprecedented $28 million deal with Nike for women’s basketball endorsements, breaking a new record in sponsorship contracts among female athletes playing this sport.
The Women’s World Cup held earlier this year also saw attendance records being broken as nearly 2 million fans attended the matches played worldwide. Additionally, last August, over 92,000 people watched a University of Nebraska volleyball game that was hosted in a football stadium, setting an all-time record for largest attendance at any women’s sporting event ever recorded.