Upcoming Events 🤩

TOGETHXR Trivia

🗓️ Wednesday, Feb. 19
⏰ 6-8 PM

Happy Hour Takeover

🗓️ Thursday, Feb 20
⏰ 5-7 PM

Wear your Everyone Watches Women’s Sports™ gear for a discount on your drink during Happy Hour!

“This community is the best community…So many of our family and friends say, you guys have to be exhausted and, yes, we are — but we don't have bad experiences with the people that come in here. Obviously we're tired, but I'm happy all the time because everybody's just so kind.”

— Miranda Spencer & Annie Weaver, Co-Owners

Hear from the Owners 🙌

Meet Miranda and Annie, co-founders of the 99ers Sports Bar in Denver, Colorado. After bonding on the flag football field, Miranda and Annie decided to take their teamwork to a different venue — their own women’s sports bar. The 99ers Sports Bar opened its doors in December of 2024 and has been flourishing since.

Were you both athletes growing up and if so, which sports were your favorite?

Annie: Yeah, we both were playing a little bit of everything. One of the first bonding moments that Miranda and I had when we met was that we both were the only girls on our flag football teams as kids. We both wanted to play tackle, and both our moms said absolutely not. Both of us loved football a lot, but we had to stop our careers because of how it was back then, but we both play together now. That's how we met. Outside of that, I played a little bit of everything, but basketball and soccer were my favorite. I played soccer in college.

Miranda: I played everything except for soccer. I tried soccer and it just wasn't for me. Growing up, I was the only girl on my ice hockey team as well. I was the only girl on my entire team and I ended up taking a boy's starting position as goalie.I overheard some of the people in here saying [PWHL Takeover Tour] brought in all the girls hockey teams in Denver and put them on the ice. That was so cool to hear, because to have a full girls team is just insane to me. But yeah, I played hockey in college as well and everything, basketball, football, tennis, rugby. We’re competitive people.

What is the biggest challenge that you had leading up to opening that surprised you?

Miranda: Dealing with the city. We weren't getting finite answers. We were getting a lot of work-around answers. We did a lot of our own research and talked to different people — and actually questioned some of the people that were the professionals in their trades, to make things make sense.

Annie: Another big one is that we’d prefer to work with as many women as possible. Finding a woman general contractor was near impossible. Same with electricians and plumbers, which is unfortunate. So, we had to decide to hire some men for some things. I think too, being women, the city did not respect us as much, so we ended up having to hire a male general contractor. We'd talk to the city and get nowhere and he'd call them and would make things happen so quickly, which was so infuriating. It definitely felt like a gender issue.

What’s one of the most rewarding moments you've had since opening?

Miranda: Seeing our generation is really cool, but to hear the generation that's 20, 30 years older than us, is so cool. I mean, they started this movement, right? Their movement was kind of in the shadows, and now it's at the forefront of a lot of conversations. A lot of things are coming to light when it comes to the experiences that they had. I think that's really cool, to be able to connect with people that are two and a half times our age and we’re able to give them a space that they’re happy about.

Annie: The older generation has been so much fun. Some of the stories they've told, too. Obviously we're a women's sports bar, not necessarily a lesbian or queer bar, but like we draw a lot of [the LGBTQIA+] population in. Before, they were having to go to places underground where they had to be hidden. Now, we’re helping to create a space where they feel like they can truly be their authentic self and it’s really, really freaking cool. Another insane moment was when the PWHL Takeover Tour came to Denver. We did our opening differently than the other women’s sports bars; we did reservations so that we wouldn't have people waiting outside in a line in the middle of winter. We never wanted people to have to wait in line for our space, but it's also cool to see that people are willing to do that. We missed out on that in our opening, but we had a line after the PWHL Denver match and people were so cool with waiting, which was fun to see. People are just so excited, and happy to wait to be able to experience it.

Miranda: We get so much great feedback. I would say that this community is the best community. Yesterday we were slammed, shoulder to shoulder, and nobody cared. People were letting other people get up to the bar and order drinks in front of them. So many of our family and friends say, you guys have to be exhausted and, yes, we are — but we don't have bad experiences with the people that come in here. Obviously we're tired, but I'm happy all the time because everybody's just so kind.

Do you have any advice for someone else who might be inspired to try to start their own women's sports themed establishment in their city?

Miranda: There's never too many questions — always ask questions. It's really important to be able to feel comfortable learning. We're in a group chat with people that are starting out as well. If somebody doesn't know the answer, somebody will find the answer, somebody might know somebody that knows the answer.

Annie: And this community is fantastic. Everybody just wants to help and collaborate. Another thing I would say is just don't give up. There were many times in this process that we were down. I went to Miranda a few days before we signed our lease and said, I can't do it anymore. We signed our lease five days later. So just don’t give up. Lean on your community, lean on the people who are also doing it.

Few Favs:

Favorite item on your menu?

Annie: It’s a jalapeño and tequila canned cocktail from Mad Lemon. It's a women-owned, local brand here and it's delicious. It's a little spicy. It kicks the tequila and I love it.

Miranda: Mine's been any of the ciders that we do. I'm not a beer drinker, but I grew up in Washington so it's kind of nostalgic for me. We have Locust Cider, which is out of Walla Walla, and we did Seattle cider for a little while. It’s been fun to explore women-owned cider places, because they’re very few and far between.

Favorite women/nonbinary athletes that are playing right now?

Annie: Napheesa Collier. I think she's a badass defender, and I value defense so much. And with starting Unrivaled — just love that. I love Trinity Rodman as well.

Miranda: I'm a big Stewie fan, and Triple Espresso in general is so fun.

Favorite sport to play and your favorite sport to watch?

Annie: To play is flag football, and to watch is basketball.

Miranda: Those are my same answers, but also, we’ve been watching college volleyball, which is so much fun.

Annie: Yes! I’ve been getting into women’s hockey too.