Sports athletes investing in businesses is nothing new. Some of the biggest names in sports have lent their name and image to food and drink establishments over the years, not always with a huge degree of success. There have even been examples in Brooklyn, including the much-missed Earth Wellness Café on Graham Avenue, which was owned by former Olympian basketball athlete Nestor Cora.
Just like sports fans will check the latest SportsBetting.ag review to see whether they should visit the bookmaker to back their favorites, a good review of a restaurant or bar can work wonders for business. That might be just one of the reasons why Blazers, which opened in Williamsburg just last year, has proved so popular.
Another sports bar in Brooklyn might not cut through the noise of new openings and pop-ups in the area, but Blazers is providing a service that has been hitherto sorely underserved across the city. That’s because Blazers is Brooklyn’s first-ever women’s sports bar – and its clientele could not be happier.
Williamsburg, and Bedford Avenue in particular, has been at the center of many of Brooklyn’s innovative new enterprises over the last few decades, so it might come as something of a surprise that women’s sports fans have not been catered for until very recently. Like most trailblazers, the owners only decided to open the bar because there was nowhere else they could go to watch their favorite teams.
Debany Dávila, Caroline Kane, and Chandler Robertson are the women behind Blazers, with the name chosen as a nod to the trailblazers of women’s sports. Their partnership initially began through a dating app but talk turned to the need of a place to watch women’s sports when Dávila turned up at a bar to cheer on the New York Liberty WNBA team and was met with TV screens tuned exclusively to Mets and Yankees games. This was, by far, not the first time it had happened, and, to make matters worse, she had already checked with the bar in advance to make sure that it was showing her game.
After further meet-ups, the enterprising trio decided to live the dream and open up a sports bar that would prioritize showing women’s sports. A couple of years of intense research and preparation were undertaken before the first watch party was announced for an NWSL game in 2025. That proved to be an unqualified success, and now Blazers proudly advertises its schedule that includes WNBA, NWSL, World Cup games, and more.
For those familiar with the area, Blazers is located on the site of the Old Man Hustle Bar at 308 Bedford Ave. Anyone who regularly visits the neighborhood will already know that Blazers has quickly become an important fixture in the community, as well as a hub for women’s sports. The three owners had always stated that Blazers was not a female-only bar, and that it welcomed anyone who was a fan of women’s sports – or wanted to find out more. With the Barclays Center only a few subway stops away, the bar is used to welcoming fans catching the game or fitting in a pre-game drink.
Cocktails with names such as Put Me In, Coach, The Trailblazer, and The Offseason reference the clientele’s love of sports, and there is a good selection of draft beers and cans, as well as an extensive wine list. There are also a few mocktails on offer, including the humorously-named Take Me Out, Coach. As with any good sports bar, there is a wide range of food on offer too. There are shareables, as well as bespoke hot dogs, wings, and smash burgers, all to be had at a very reasonable price. With murals on the wall honoring famous names from women’s sports, and a colorful décor throughout, Blazers is ensuring that it doesn’t get missed with everything else that is going on at Bedford Ave.
Although opening a women’s sports bar seems like something of a no-brainer, there is no doubt that Blazers has cornered the market at a particularly good time. Liberty games are consistently sold out, and women’s sports has been growing at a much faster rate than men’s sports in recent years. NWSL and WNBA games are attracting ever-larger TV audiences, with the recent pay deal negotiated for female athletes in the WNBA proving that there is more interest in investing in all areas of women’s sports.
Figure 2 Blazers is a good example of the audience for women’s sports – Source: Pexels
Women’s sports has enjoyed something of a boom time in recent years, with media coverage – although still far below the scope of men’s sports – growing to unprecedented levels. With more chances to watch women’s sports, there will be more young girls and women believing that they are being catered for and growing the sector yet further. Blazers might have been the first bar in Brooklyn to show that a women’s sports-first policy can be successful, but it seems obvious that it will not be the only place to go in the years to come.
Blazers was envisaged as a place for anyone who ever turned up at a bar and wondered why the game they wanted to watch wasn’t being shown. Sports bars routinely screen multiple sports and leagues at any one time, so the fact that women’s sports were left out seems ridiculous. Blazers has proved that there is definitely an audience for women’s sports in Williamsburg, so don’t be surprised if more bars like this colorful, inclusive beacon begin to pop up soon.
