According to a Nielsen research study, 84% of sports fans are interested in watching women’s sports. But are sports bars taking advantage of that fandom?

We polled our subscribers of The Daily Rail newsletter and the SportsTV Guide (all sports bar & restaurant owners, operators and managers), to find out that answer.

Women's Sports in Sports Bars Infographic

Most Sports Bars Show Women’s Sports

The good news is that sports bar operators and owners are taking advantage of the women’s sports fanbase. The majority of sports bar operators (82%) said they show women’s sports at their bar or restaurant.

How often varies greatly in the industry, however. A third of sports bars reported showing women’s sports several times per week while another third said they only show women’s sports a handful of times per year. Fewer than a quarter of sports bar (22%) reported that they show women’s sports daily – a far cry from the several men’s games shown per day.

Of the 18% of sports bars that aren’t showing women’s sports on their TVs, “guests not being interested” was listed as the biggest reason (81%) while another 63% of operators say they give other games or events priority over women’s sports. A handful of sports bar also said they don’t know when women’s games are on TV (9%), an obstacle easily overcome by subscribing to the SportsTV Guide.

So, while sports bars are showing women’s sports, there’s plenty of room for growth.

Soccer Reigns Supreme

When it comes to what women’s sports are being shown, the results aren’t too surprising. Soccer (football) was the most popular among operators polled (66%). With the rising popularity of soccer in the United States as well as the consistent strong performance of the US women’s national team

Gymnastics and softball (55% each), which tend to get a lot more airtime on major networks, rounded out the top three.

What Does This Mean for Sports Bars?

First off, it’s important to note that it’s not just women who are interested in watching women’s sports. In fact, according to the Nielsen study, 51% of general sports fans who are interested in women’s sports are men. So even if your bar’s demographic leans heavily toward men, you should still consider showing women’s sports.

As noted earlier, while the majority of sports bars do show women’s sports, it’s not done on a very consistent basis. This means it’s still a relatively untapped market that savvy operators can take advantage of with some smart marketing and getting in on the ground floor.

“As women’s sports leagues and teams look to further establish themselves, attract fans and generate more commercial momentum at an elite level, there is also an understandable desire to promote and increase participation at the grassroots,” the Nielsen report reads. “For brands, women’s sport can present a chance to engage fully with all aspects of a sport and play an integral part of a sport’s development from the ground up.”

To know for sure what you should show on your TVs, we suggest polling your guests to see what they like and don’t like. Even if your guests say they don’t really care about women’s sports, it won’t hurt to put a few games on during the month to test the waters ed-hrvatski.com. We also highly recommend promoting when you plan on showing women’s games, so fans know when to show up to your bar.

It’s often easy to fall into showing the same events over and over again; however, being willing to show sporting events that other bars won’t not only gives you a point of differential from your competitors, it also shows that your business is serious about sports.