Owners Miranda Spencer (left) and Annie Weaver (right) pose for a portrait behind the logo at their new soon-to-open bar The 99ers Sports Bar in Denver on April 16, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post )
In 1999, the U.S. women's soccer team thrilled sports fans around the world by winning the World Cup, becoming the first women's league team to do so on home soil. The championship win was a defining moment for women's sport, inspiring a generation of young girls including Miranda Spencer and Annie Weaver.
“I remember the 1999 World Cup and the Fab Five and the rest of that group, the ’99s,” said Weaver, who was 5 at the time. “This was the first time it was broadcast live and people saw women being extremely successful in a professional sport. Seeing them win, seeing Brandi Chastain take her shirt off was crazy because as a little girl I was like, 'Oh, you can do that?!' It's super empowering.”
That's the kind of energy Spencer and Weaver want to bring to Denver with the opening of the 99ers Sports Bar, named after the World Cup squad that included Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Kristine Lilly and Chastain.
Annie Weaver (left) and Miranda Spencer put everything they have into their new bar, a project they started together after meeting while playing flag football. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
With the opening, the 99ers will join a growing nationwide scene of bars dedicated to women's sports. The 870-square-foot location at 909 E. Colfax Ave. will feature eight televisions showing sports such as basketball, football and hockey, as well as documentaries about the greats. It is expected to open in June.
Neither Spencer nor Weaver ever owned a bar and the two only met a year ago. They are both also new to Denver, but saw an underserved niche in the market and shared a desire to build something tailored to sporty types like themselves.
As a child, Spencer played football as a quarterback. When she couldn't move up to tackle, she played ice hockey, basketball and softball. Weaver grew up playing football and the two met on a flag football team Spencer started in Denver. They only knew each other for a month before they decided to become business partners.
“When we first met, it was very clear to us that there were no opportunities for us to grow up,” Weaver said. “We wanted to create more opportunities for girls and women in a way.”
“I never thought sport would be a career opportunity for me. The fact that it is going this way is both humbling and joyful,” Spencer added.
Spencer comes to hospitality from a career in engineering and Weaver, a former math teacher, comes from an American company. Weaver was looking for a way to do something more fulfilling when she visited Sports Bra in Portland, which was making a splash as the country's first female-focused sports bar.
Weaver immediately felt a calling and the Mile High City seemed like a suitable place to launch a similar concept.
“Denver is a progressive, liberal city and I think it's big enough to support this concept and something of this magnitude. “There’s also just a lack of representation of women in sports in Denver right now,” Weaver said.
While the 99ers are a passion project for both owners, they also see it as a way to spur a nationwide resurgence of interest in women's sports, something they say is long overdue. The long-standing assumption is that the women's games are less interesting and exciting than the men's, but support has increased, thanks in part to former athletes who have shown how fierce the competition can be, Spencer said.
Rising stars like Caitlin Clark of the University of Iowa also demanded attention. Case in point: The recent NCAA women's basketball championship set a viewership record, according to NPR, with an average of 18.7 million viewers tuning in to watch the University of South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the final. In comparison, 14.82 million watched the men's final.
The 99ers is part of a growing wave of sports bars focused on women's sports. Owners Annie Weaver (left) and Miranda Spencer call it a movement inspired by female athletes at all levels – from college to retired – who have risen to the spotlight through games and proven that women's sports are just as interesting as men's sports. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
The enthusiasm has also led to expansions of the National Women's Soccer League and the Women's National Basketball Association. Both plan to add new teams in the coming years, increasing the total to 16 in the NWSL and 14 in the WNBA by 2026. The 99ers' owners want to use their platform to promote expansion in the Mile High City.
“Denver hasn’t really taken advantage of it right now and I think it’s going to explode soon,” Weaver said. “We want to be a part of it.”
Spencer and Weaver also want to give fans a place to support their favorite teams and give them the opportunity to be part of the movement. In addition to showing games, they hope to create fantasy leagues and host special events that welcome women. (empoHer is also the name of the women's flag football league they founded in Denver.)
Construction work is currently underway for the 99ers' opening this summer, which coincidentally takes place 25 years after their legendary victory in the Women's World Cup. The bar serves beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails as well as pre-packaged snacks. Spencer and Weaver collected memorabilia from locals to decorate the space so guests can view the items like a mini-museum.
Although both women identify as queer, The 99ers is not specifically a gay bar. They hope that everyone – regardless of gender – feels welcome there.
“We have a specific focus on women’s sports, but everyone should be involved and involved,” Spencer said.
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