Crowds flock to new Long Beach bar showcasing women's sports

Jackie “Jax” Diener always had to prove herself. Her shorter stature caused her to be overlooked in sports, and she always had in the back of her mind that she was adopted as a child. She was constantly told she wouldn't succeed, but she was too ambitious. Too athletic. Too driven. She wanted to prove people wrong, and two words quickly became her life mantra:

Watch me.

“What do you say when you have doubts?” said Diener. “You just go out and show them.”

When it came time for Diener to name the business she and her partner and wife, Emme Eddy, had created, they already had the perfect name for it. Watch Me! Sports Bar opened its doors in Long Beach on Friday with a mission to put women's sports in the spotlight.

That mission is evident as soon as you walk through the door — and past the line of patrons gathered around the strip mall where the bar is located — and are greeted by a mural that reads “BE A CHANGEMAKER” in big, bold letters. Signatures from women's sports legends like Penny Toler, the first WNBA player to record a basket for the Sparks; Saskia Webber, a world champion and member of the 1999 U.S. women's national soccer team; and 2023 Pan American Games gold medalist rower Maddie Focht fill in gaps, with plenty of room for future athletes to leave their mark.

“I think it's important for young girls to also think about the possibility of changing the path of the future,” said Corie Mattie, the artist who donated the mural. “If you look at a Megan Rapinoe or even a Billie Jean King, they were the changemakers. … Title IX, standing up for the policies and the current societal climate. That's all we need going forward, and the youth will bring that.”

That's essentially the spirit of Watch Me! A nod to the past and the legends that made this bar – the first of its kind in California – possible, while creating a space for cultivating the next generation of icons.

Watch Me! is one of only five sports bars in the U.S. dedicated to broadcasting women's sports, and that number is expected to grow as others follow the lead of Portland's successful Sports Bra.

It's a space Diener would have loved to have had growing up, a place where she could go after a game on a Sunday and watch her idols on the screen with her teammates and family.

“So it means a lot to us to create a space not only for them, but for the older generation that didn't get what they deserved,” Diener said. “… So we try to celebrate all the sports, the athletes and women that were out there.”

Toler realized the need for a space like Watch Me! when she walked into the California Pizza Kitchen across the street from Crypto.com Arena and saw a collage of Lakers, Kings, Dodgers and Rams posters on the walls. The Sparks, whom Toler helped win three WNBA championships in her 20 years as general manager, were nowhere to be found.

“How [can] … you're downtown and you don't have a Sparks logo?” Toler said. “But I thought it was great. “It's long overdue.”

For Webber, the concept of Watch Me! was a long-held dream and while the grand opening was long overdue, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

The WNBA and NWSL enjoy unprecedented popularity and viewership. Angel City FC, which has a partnership with Watch Me!, is the richest women's sports club in the world, valued at $500 million. Women are making a name for themselves in the NBA, where reigning G-League Coach of the Year Lindsey Harding was recently hired as an assistant coach for the Lakers.

“It's just consistently positive,” Webber said. “So when you have a community place where people can come together, have a good meal and have some cocktails, but also watch their idols on TV … that's great.” You can have those role models and it just helps your community. “It just grows the sport and it grows a fan base.”

With the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on nearly every screen in the house, Maddie Focht beamed with pride as she presented her Pan American Games medals to bar patrons. Her mother told her about Watch Me!'s opening, and she knew immediately they had to support it.

“I'm not only super happy to have a place like this, but also very blessed that something like this has happened,” Focht said. “Because it allows the women's community to show up and be present.”