The last overtly masculine space in the pub – the sports bar – is becoming more female friendly.
There’s been a big macrotrend over the last two decades to move Aussie pubs away from the very blokey, hyper-masculine spaces that for a long time we associated with your local boozer. Gone are the days of the six o’clock swill, two beers on tap, and a meat pie if you’re lucky.
Savvy publicans quickly realised they were missing out on capturing the spend of half the population, and that, in fact, women are generally the decision makers when it comes to where couples, families and groups frequent for a meal or a night out.
As such, we’ve seen pubs become sleek, aesthetically pleasing venues that have light-filled and chic bistros, beer gardens and cocktail bars that are more appealing to women.
The one great holdout from that trend has been the sports bar component. These have been upgraded to have the latest tech, their own menus and drinks lists, but they’ve remained decidedly masculine spaces, with dark furnishings and dim lighting.
But no longer.
Perhaps it kicked off with the nation-wide fervour of the Matildas World Cup campaign on home soil, but people have realised that not only is women’s professional sport a crowd-pleaser, but that women like watching sport. Slowly but surely, new sports bar designs are taking this into account.
Take for instance The Winston in north-west Sydney. This suburban pub – which for decades has catered to an Anglo-Australian, Baby Boomer/Gen X working class demographic – had a massive makeover a few months back to completely change its offer. This included a huge overhaul of its sports bar, Taffy’s, which now is well-lit and has a fun and colourful retro aesthetic. The sports broadcast has changed too, with more women’s sports being shown as well – everything from NRLW to women’s cricket.
Publican Andrew Thomas said the changes were made to make Taffy’s a more inviting space to women and younger demographics.
“A lot of women weren’t comfortable in the old sports bar, but we get a lot of women in Taffy’s now, especially when we show women’s sport,” stated Thomas.
And it’s not just a metropolitan trend either. Slowly over the last four years, The Gateway Tavern in Mildura has been undergoing a staged transformation, including the renovations of its sports bar at the end of 2022. While still retaining a darker aesthetic than other spaces in the pub, The Club Bar refresh included more premium furnishings, that CEO Gordon McIlwaine believes has attracted a lot more women to the space.
“Interestingly, it’s been very well received by the female market. They’re comfortable. It’s not a blokey sports bar,” McIlwaine states.
Like most revolutionary ideas, once undertaken they look like the simplest and most obvious changes to be made. Making a whole new demographic feel welcome in a profit-generating part of your pub? That’s a slam dunk if I’ve ever seen one.