September 10, 2026 • 34 mins
Sports bars are a $2 billion industry, and women’s sports overall are now a $3 billion global industry. But there was a major gap in the market where the two intersected: Until 2022, there weren’t any dedicated sports bars solely dedicated to playing women’s sports on the TVs. Jenny Nguyen set out to change that.
In this episode of The Deal, Jenny tells Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly how she founded The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, and why she decided to open the business to franchising across the country. They also talk about what she’s doing to create new fans from the barstool and how she was able to get major investors like Alexis Ohanian and Renee Montgomery on board.
You can also watch this interview on the Bloomberg Podcasts YouTube page.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
News. Welcome back to The Deal. I'm Jason Kelly alongside
my partner, Alex Rodriguez. All right. I feel like, Alex,
this week, it's truly back to business. We're post-Labor Day.
You have come back from the beach. You know, not
that you weren't working, but I like business, Alex Pax.
(00:28):
Let's get some stuff done.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
And you visited me on that beach.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I did. I did. We had a great time out there.
We recorded an episode of this show, which will be
coming out in a few weeks. But listen, this is
one of my most favorite times of the year when
it comes to sports. U.S. Open is happening. Shout out
to Jessica Pagula, who was a guest on our show
earlier this year. She has gone deep into the U.S. Open.
I've been watching that avidly. You've been keeping an eye
(00:54):
on the Yankees.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
They're looking pretty good. Aaron Judge coming back this week.
Yankees have been keeping their head above water and hopefully
ready to make a nice push. And it's been exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well, speaking of a push into the playoffs, the Minnesota Lynx,
your team, of which you are the governor, what a season.
The playoffs start at the end of September. Vibes have
got to be good.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
The vibes are good, not only for the Lynx, but
also for the W overall. It's been an incredible year.
Great viewership. Popularity continues to growth. And the one thing
we continue to witness every day is the appetite for
investors to enter the space of W. and women's sports overall.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Which leads right into this week's episode. Jenny Nguyen is
the co-founder of The Sports Bra. This is a place
that a lot of people probably have heard of if
you are at all interested in women's sports. This is
an iconic location, currently just one place in Portland, Oregon.
They have unbelievably ambitious expansion plans. I loved talking to
(01:52):
her about her vision for the future.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Very ambitious expansion. great investor that she's been able to recruit,
and certainly a place that when I go see, when
I go to Portland, I'm definitely going to visit and
check it out.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, and there could be an outlet there in Minnesota
before too long. As you mentioned, investors, Renee Montgomery, Alexis Ohanian,
others have sort of come in to really fuel that growth.
It's something you're deeply invested in. So a lot to
catch up with. Coming up, Jenny Wynn. All right, welcome
(02:30):
back to The Deal. I'm Jason Kelly, alongside my partner,
Alex Rodriguez. What a fun conversation we're in for today
with Jenny Nguyen. She is the CEO and founder of
The Sports Bra. She joins us from The Sports Bra
in Portland, Oregon. So first of all, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Lovely to have you on the show. I played in
Seattle for seven years as a Seattle Mariner, and I
got there in 94 and exited 2001. But one of
the kind of dirty little secrets is how passionate sports
fans are in the Pacific Northwest. And Jason and I
were talking about that offline a little bit when we
saw the Seahawks trade for a really big number. And
(03:07):
my question to you is Portland, another great market. I mean,
great fans.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Massive.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Why the bar business? You could have gone anywhere else.
I love it because I love sports bars, but why
the bar business?
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, it's fascinating. So I was born and raised here
in Portland. This is my hometown.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
I've spent 40 of my 46 years living here. And
while growing up here, I witnessed folks showing up for
women's sports from a super young age. And this was
normal for me. And it wasn't until I got a
little bit older that I realized that we had something
special here in Portland. And then my background, I graduated college.
(03:47):
While in college, I started working at Rev Robbins. And
fell in love with the back of house and with
kitchens and fire and tickets and pressure. So I came
back to Portland, went to culinary school and just had
been working in kitchen for about 15 and a half years.
And so I was very familiar with kind of back
of house food. I'm really hands on. I love doing
(04:08):
things with my hands, you know, and I like to
I like to hang out with my friends. And we
always went to go to traditional sports bars to watch games.
And it was super challenging every single time. And so
there was just this moment where I was just like, man,
every time we go to a sports bar, it lets
us down in some way or multiple ways. And I
was just like, the only way we're ever going to
(04:29):
watch women's sports the way it deserves is if we
opened our own place. And then the pandemic happened in 2020.
At the time, I had been unemployed for about four
years by choice. And I watched the WNBA play in
the bubble. And that really It shook me. It inspired me.
Watching these 144 women play in quarantine, doing the job
(04:53):
that they came to do and that they loved, but
they also changed the game and changed the narrative around
everything from politics to human rights to police violence. I mean,
they just stood on business. They linked arms and they
made change. And so during that time, I was just like,
what am I doing with my life? How can I
(05:14):
make And that's when I really thought about my background
in food and Bev and my passion for basketball and my.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Love of this town.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
And that idea of, you know, this, this dedicated sports
bar popped back up and it just was an idea
that I couldn't shake.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Well, my love is really around chicken wings and a
good beer.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
We got both those. We got you covered, Alex.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So, Jenny, help us understand the business of it. I've
been in the gym business for about 20, 25 years,
and you're in real estate and the hospitality business. You know,
we're in a very similar business, real estate, and we're
trying to host, you know, thousands of members that come
in daily. Help us understand the CapEx. So to build
one unit, right, in Portland— Or if Jason and I
(06:02):
wanted to open one, how much capex do we put
in and what kind of return ROI do we expect,
cash on cash return, over the next five years?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, it's difficult. It's really, really hard.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
The market is hard and it's harder than it's ever
been right now. Especially in Portland, we've got increasing food costs.
We've got increasing gas prices. We've got increasing utilities, increasing
labor costs. Everything's increasing. And with the economy the way
it is, there's decreasing, like people with.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
expenses. They're just spending less. It doesn't mean the fandom
is any less.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I know we were just talking about how we're seeing
great numbers coming through, but their average check size is
going down.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And how do we meet people where they're at?
Speaker 4 (06:44):
How do we meet our community where they're at by
still delivering them great service, great food, great beverages? and
a great atmosphere and a community and a home to
build it in to pair up with this increased fandom.
I mean, in Portland alone, we introduced three professional women's
teams just this year.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And so there's more for us to celebrate here. But
how do we meet the community? How do we meet
the economy where it's at?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
And when it comes to build out costs or initial costs,
we're franchising right now. So we have kind of these
nationwide numbers and it's anywhere starting out between 400,000 and
1.2 million.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And that's just like the median.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
That's not talking about cities like New York City or
Los Angeles, or even places like Boston, which we're building
out in right now. And those costs can be upwards
of double what that is. Ideally, right now, we're looking
for a second generation location, which could cut those costs
in half, if not more. Looking at a spot that
(07:42):
used to be a former sports bar would be ideal,
a former restaurant, Even a tap house would be great.
And then, you know, then it's got built in taps.
It has a walk in refrigerator, grease trap hood system,
all of the really high dollar items for a full
build out. But yeah, it really depends. And a lot
of it also has to do with the location that
you're in, because we're talking to Indianapolis and St. Louis,
(08:05):
where we have two other franchises opening. And man, their
food costs and their labor costs are drastically different than
what we're looking at here in Portland.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So, you know, the turnaround, much, much lower.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
So the turnaround on things like that is going to
be very different from what we have, like say in Boston, however,
you know, you price it right. And like, there's, there's
math for it to work, but yeah, it really depends.
And when you talk about why did I do it here?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Really?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
This is my hometown.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
And it's also the main reason why I chose franchising
versus corporate expansion, which is what I thought at the beginning.
I was like, no one knows or understands or loves
the sports bra as much as I do. Only I
can build this in other cities.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And that's what I thought I was going to do.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
And the more I traveled, the more I went to
these cities and talked to brokers, talked to investors, looked
at where in the community the sports bra could thrive,
the more I realized that I didn't know jack about
what communities needed in a really authentic way. Like without
even knowing it, I had built a space for my
home town here. Like this feels very connected. I was
(09:10):
already connected in the sports community here in Portland. I've
lived here my whole life. It feels super authentic. If
I tried to open the sports bra, let's say in
the Bay area, I think it'd be okay, but it
would feel like the sports bra Portland in the Bay area,
which might be fine. But the missing piece to me
is that authentic connection to the community and that an
(09:32):
owner has. Another thing I kind of debated was can
a general manager or can somebody love the sports bra
the way an owner could love it? And it's just,
it's really difficult to find that person. And so when
I thought more and more about franchising, the more it
really felt aligned with how we started the place. Like
(09:54):
I opened the sports bra, I opened the doors on
this restaurant through a Kickstarter campaign. Like clearly I'd been
unemployed for five and a half years before we opened
the doors to this place. So I had little to
no dollars to throw at it. And it really took
a Kickstarter campaign that, and it was so built by community.
And so the opportunity to take this dream and take
(10:14):
this vision and franchise it and hand it to somebody
in a community that they love, to make their dreams
come true, just felt like a great way to kind
of continue to build community around it.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So let's talk about the national expansion because it's beyond ambitious.
I think to say the least, our understanding is, you know,
40 locations by 2030 is sort of your stated goal.
Help us understand an ideal market and how do you
solve that math problem in the best way possible that
you were describing?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Yeah, I love that question, and it's fascinating because I
learned it as we looked for it, right? So right
away when we decided to franchise, we hired a site analytics,
data analytics team. They used 20,000 points of information gathered
from cell phones and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Oh my God, you are speaking Alex's language. This is like,
this is how he thinks. Go on, go on.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I love this.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
I mean, when you're in real estate, that's kind of
what you're looking at, right? But what we had to
do was, so we opened four years ago. We have
a tiny footprint in Portland. At the time when we
started this franchise idea, which was 2024, there weren't as
many women's sports bars. So we had a data set
(11:30):
of one for a little while. And then we grew
that data set. So we added three or four or
five more by the end of 24. Now we have
a couple dozen women's sports bars that continue to add
to the set. What's interesting is that the demographics point
in so many different directions that, you know, there's very
(11:53):
clearly this idea that if there are pro women's sports teams,
particularly kind of the big three or the big four,
That those are going to be the cities that have
the best markets for the sports prop.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Big three or big four, basketball, soccer.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Basketball, soccer, hockey is a big one.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And then a pro volleyball team at this point.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Volleyball, right.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
So like.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
When we think about pro women's sports teams, that adds
a big, big dot onto a city. However, we did
this same analysis, laid it over the top of St. Louis. Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
We laid it over the top of Portland, Maine.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
And the brightness of the red, which is like the
hit was just as bright. And how do you explain
that when you don't have pro teams? Now this is
based on per capita and a bunch of other information.
So it adjusts for population size and whatnot. So what
it's saying is that women's sports fandom exists in a
(12:56):
lot of places and pro women's sports teams, are just
catching up. There is plenty of space. And one thing
that we witnessed in St. Louis is that when folks
don't have a home team, they don't have an opportunity
(13:16):
to go to a venue. So that is a built
up fandom and they need an outlet. And so what
we're hearing and seeing a lot of is folks who
are fans of other teams from elsewhere, wherever it is.
It could be the New York Liberty. It could be
in the sort of links. It could be the Portland Fire.
(13:36):
It could be the up and coming teams. And they
all live in St. Louis and they don't have a
place to go to. So that creates a whole other thing.
What's also interesting is we have demographics that are very
strong around underrepresented communities. That's something that we've leaned into
from the beginning. So LGBTQ plus communities are and strong
(13:59):
BIPOC communities. So those kinds of things also create these
really glowing red dots on these maps. And these maps
are just a tool. They're not a be all end
all of where we're going to set the sports bra.
Because we've also heard from different folks around how there
are a lot quieter pockets of towns that are much
(14:21):
more reasonably priced. And if you put the bra there,
People are going to come. It's a destination more than
a convenience. However, it's always a balancing act too.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, so Jenny, I want to talk a little bit
about starting a business and then bookending it with exiting
the business. And I've been involved in franchise business for
a long time. And what I've learned is sometimes, I
guess the first question is, is part of your challenge
at the beginning is to educate your local partners that
(15:03):
sometimes they think the business may be broken, but what's
really broken is the capital stack, meaning they have too
much debt or the money they raised is too expensive.
And with the real estate, you know, sometimes the business
is great, but you're in the wrong real estate or
in the wrong corner, or you're paying too much for
the real estate. Therefore, the perception is the business is
(15:24):
not working, but it is truly working. And then on exit,
are you thinking about being an asset-free business with a franchise?
You're going to get a much higher multiple than if
you had to put up all the CapEx and you're
more asset-heavy versus asset-light?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, I'll take this in sections.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
So the first part, I absolutely agree. I mean, at
this point, we're looking for franchisees with great capital. And
if they can buy the building, I mean, that is...
That is leaps and bounds, way better, a way better
place to be in. In fact, when we're looking in
Portland right now, we're looking for second gen. And if
it's possible, we'd love to buy the real estate. I mean,
that was nothing that I was thinking about four years ago, right?
(16:05):
So Alex, you're speaking into the future of like what
I'm learning now. One thing about me coming into this is, yeah,
I worked in kitchens for 15 years, but I was
literally the chef.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So no, not really any business acumen. So everything I'm learning,
I'm learning on the fly. I have really great advisors.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
I have a really great team, super strong, but constantly
learning about all the things. So real estate is a
huge part. And when it comes to kind of getting
into the right or the wrong businesses, whether it's a
lease or a poor negotiation, you know, we have a
really strong legal team as well as a really great
real estate representative or advisor on our side that can
(16:42):
help our franchisees make sure that things are lined out
appropriately for the right deal. On the back end, when
it comes to exiting, you know, the franchise model for
us was really about building spaces and really about building
the community spaces with.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
The four walls.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And when we started down that track in 24, that
was where I saw the business growing. But what has
happened over the last couple of years, and really, if
we think about it since day one, is that the sports.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Bra is much bigger than just a bar.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
It's much bigger than just the four walls or all
the activities or events or the food and Bev or
the fandom that's held within it.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
The sports browse become a brand.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And so when we talk about assets and value, we're
leaning into a lot of other avenues now to build
and grow that so that we do actually have more
assets that can diversify our revenue stream. We understand franchise businesses.
is a low, slow, hard grind. When people ask me
how things are going, I was just like, it's how
(17:45):
you would expect pushing a 50-ton boulder up a hill
would be going.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
But it is moving in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
And at some point, we'll hit the top of this
hill and the ball will start rolling and really gaining momentum.
Till that happens, we're still needing to raise money. We're
still bringing on investors. We're still creating assets and developing
assets and building partnerships that will what we imagine is
(18:11):
continue to grow the brand and the sports bra in
a way that's much bigger than just the four walls
of the bar and restaurant. And so those are the
kinds of things I'm leaning into. So when I think
about exiting, it's not just the franchise system, but it's
the brand and what it can represent and the IP
that it brings with it, as well as the partnerships
that we're creating.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Well, and to that end, Jenny, let's talk about some
of the investors you brought on. It's people we know well,
Renee Montgomery, Alexis Ohanian, folks who... believe not just in
the concept of a place where everybody knows your name,
but obviously sort of this growing ecosystem. There is this
sense of investing in the whole, investing in the ecosystem
(18:52):
that is building that, you know, the sports bra was
such a, I don't know, a little bit of a
canary in the coal mine of like something very special
is happening here. that is manifested in a bar, but
is actually, again, as Alex is seeing right there in Minneapolis,
something that's candidly bigger than all of us. Talk to
(19:14):
us about bringing those investors on board, what they bring
and sort of what you're looking for as you expand
that part of the team, as it were.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
I mean, I will say that Alexis Ohanian came in
at the very beginning before I even knew what was happening.
You know, the guy like can sense things from a
mile away. He pinged me probably March of 23. So
we weren't even a year in. And I thought it
was a joke. I thought a friend of mine had
pranked me with a tweet, you know, and I was
(19:48):
just like, nope, that's fake.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
But yeah, you know, it.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Was not only awesome and like very humbling to have
somebody like him, but he has been investing in women's
sports for a long time.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
It wasn't just a flash in the pan. So I
loved that.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
I also loved that he brought some validity to the
business of women's sports, to the business of the sports
bra Because as much as I hate it, I read
the comments on things and there's like a handful of trolls,
handful of haters that are.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Going to continue to talk.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Every single time a women's sports bar opens, no matter
where it is, it's the same narrative. And so to
have somebody like him come in, it really helped to validate,
you know, what we were doing.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
So those two things felt really great.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Obviously having somebody in the space that could advise and
like kind of lean in and a big thinker, a
big dreamer. Here I was thinking I had like a
moonshot idea. And he was just like, oh no, let
me know when you're ready to go big. And I
was like, didn't I already go big by just opening
a restaurant? And since then, a lot of folks have
been asking how involved is he? And he is so
(20:52):
low key.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
He's very casual.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
I'm more doing outreach to him when I need something
or when I have questions around something. And then he
checks in every now and again. And then with Renee Montgomery,
this is almost bookend because Alexis was at the beginning.
Renee is probably one of our kind of latest big investors.
And To me, she is exactly who the sports bra
(21:15):
would love to have on board. She has been in
so many different facets at the very top, the top
of her game in basketball. She's an executive, is part
owner of a team.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
She is in business.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
So she is just an entrepreneur herself in so many ways.
And she's in media and content and is the face
of a lot of things on TV and outspoken. And
exactly the right demographic around who and why we're here.
And she's also just incredibly passionate and sharp as a tack.
(21:48):
Like the two of us, we get in a room
and it's just like, I feel like a mic or
a camera might explode because we just kind of feed
off of each other's energy. And so the two of us,
we cook up a lot of different ideas. And so
the opportunity to build and grow, like I said, outside
of the franchise model You know, I think Renee is
one of those great advisors around strategy and creativity to.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Grow the brand. A lot of our investors are angel investors, too.
They just believe in what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
They want to continue to grow whatever it is we
have in mind. They're just like, I want to be
a part of what you're building.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
I support you. And they throw it in.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So, Jenny, I want to talk about Alex O because
he's not only a friend of Jason and I personally,
but a friend of the podcast here. And he's one
of the best investors. But I want to go back
to something you said about the trolls in the comments.
The higher you go, the more they'll be. They'll be louder.
But I always say the haters hate and then they copy.
So don't worry about it. They'll catch up. But as
(22:55):
far as Alex O, I know that when I was
reading your bio and prepping for this interview, conversation, I said, oh, wow.
I said, Jason, she has Alex. That's a great pickup.
How do you put that deal together? How do you
get him from that text to actually writing a check
and at what value?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yeah. I can't talk about value, but I will tell
you how it kind.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Of played out.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
It feels like a dream now that it's years behind me.
But yeah, I got that kind of first tweet. I
was in the back doing the dishes, of course. I
was doing the dishes. I feel my phone. I look
at it and it's a friend of mine who had
screenshotted a tweet from Alexis and it was just like, Hey,
at the sports bra, let me know when you're ready
to go big. And I just like laugh. Cause I
(23:36):
think my friend had photoshopped it and put them in pocket. Um,
I'm done cleaning up the restaurant. Everything's closed. I'm, you know,
doing bookkeeping downstairs and I pull out my phone and
I text my friend.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I was like, haha, good one. And she was like, no,
it's real. Check it out.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
And so I look at it and sure enough, he
was responding to somebody else who was just like, Hey,
have you heard of the sports brother doing some pretty
cool stuff out in Portland?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
And that was his response. And so I read it
and I freaked out.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
So I told my inner circle and I decided to
sit on it for 48 hours so I didn't act
too thirsty. I like let it chill for a full
48 hours. And then I just I just it's like
that first date situation. And I just DM him and
I was just like, Hey, thanks for the shout out. Um,
(24:24):
you know, we're just getting started. I'm not really sure,
but if you want to email me, we can continue
this conversation. And within about four hours from that DM,
he emailed me and it was just, you know, a
simple one line, be like, love what you're doing out
there in Portland, really interested in how you want to
grow this.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Keep me posted.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
And I was just like, Oh my God, what am
I doing? And, um, you know, then things would happen
because things were crazy here. It was that we were
getting a ton of attention. We were doing a ton
of deals, lots of events. Um, and I would forget.
And so every couple of months.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And you're like selling merch, like people are super into that.
I mean, I remember this like momentum that's happening, right?
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Like people are paying attention. There was a lot going on.
There was a lot going on.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Almost immediately we were we were just doing business and
getting partnership deals. I mean, Buick, I got an email
from Buick and I had to text a friend of
mine who's in PR. And I was just like, is
this real? Or am I being like cranked?
Speaker 1 (25:21):
And she was like, no, this is definitely real.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
And like Buick came out and did a watch party
where they brought in, you know, six all-stars and Sue Bird,
Diana Taurasi took shots in here with some of our fans.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
And it was just, it was mayhem. Like, and this
was all right, kind of at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
So anyway, yeah. things got crazy and I'm trying to
run a restaurant, trying to figure out who's going to
staff the bar, like all of the regular stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And I would forget.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
And so every couple of months, Alexis would reach out
and just really simply being like, Hey, just checking in.
How are things going? And I was just like, Oh man, sorry.
I haven't given anything much thought. I'm just trying to
figure life out. And so that happened for a while.
And I finally was like, okay, I got some breathing
(26:04):
room in late 2023. And I was just like, Okay,
what am I going to do? I think I'm going
to expand, corporate expansion. And so I started taking these
trips to LA because I truly believed that Los Angeles
was going to be my second location.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I wanted to go big and I knew LA was
a giant part of it.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
So I started to take these trips to LA and
started doing all kinds of, you know, poking around. And
I was telling Alexis like, hey, I'm heading down to LA.
And we never met up, but he was just like,
keep me posted. And I was just like, this isn't it.
Something feels off. And then I took a five day
trip out to the Oregon coast. And I often go
(26:42):
to the coast to clear my head. And I tried
to like empty all expectations out of my brain and
just decide, did I really want to do this? Or
was I doing this for the people? Was I doing
this for the fans? Was I doing this for myself?
Was I doing, you know, whatever it is? Or did
I just want the one spot in Portland and be
happy with that? And that's when I started to think
about communities, authenticity, how I didn't know Jack about L.A.,
(27:07):
And how there were like 10,000 communities that I could
have put it in. And I didn't know which one
to start with. And that's when I kind of landed
on franchising. So for the next couple months, I read
books on franchising. I talked to a bunch of people
in town. We have some really successful business owners here
that have done both. So I brought on some unofficial
advisors that were ecstatic to help. Which has been one
(27:32):
of the greatest joys of the sports bra is that
it taps into something that is very core to people's beliefs,
whether they're a woman or whether they're a sports fan
or none of the above, there's something about the sports
brow that is just very, it almost feels essential. So
there were people in the business world here that are
(27:55):
very successful and or have learned a lot of lessons.
And so I talked to a bunch of those and
then I was like, this is it. And the more
I was reading about franchising and more I was talking
to people, the more I was discovering this is definitely
the way I want to go. And once I kind
of decided on it, I reached back out to Alexis
and I was like, hey, I.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Think the path is franchising. And he immediately was like,
I am so glad you chose that. Like, I agree.
I think that that's the way. And he goes, let's talk.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
And after I decided on what I was doing, the
rest happened really quickly. I did what I thought was
all of the legwork on what I felt like to
launch franchising would be.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I came up with a number. I doubled it.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
And then I asked for it. And he had me
pitch to him and his team. I think there was
like seven or eight people on that call. And the
entire time people were just smiling and nodding. And it
felt as if I didn't have to pitch it. You know,
it just felt like they were there to support and
they were ready. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
And it was really just me figuring out how I
wanted to do it or what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
And what I needed.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
That's amazing. All right. So we're going to wrap in
just a second, but I feel like We would both
be negligent if we didn't do our occasional feature, which
I call asking for a friend.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
And I'm asking for my friend Alex.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I love it. Which is I have watched Alex really,
you know, as the governor of the Minnesota Lynx, embrace
women's sports at the highest level. And part of it
is because he's got an incredible team, you know, with
both veterans and rookies.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
And an unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Fan base. So the question asking for a friend is,
what else does he need to do to be even
more a part of this like exploding women's sports ecosystem
as the leader of one of the best teams across
all of women's sports?
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Is that a good.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Question, Alex?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
You beat me to it and you asked it much
more eloquently than I would have.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
That's the question. That's the question.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
I mean, so many folks are talking about investing, investing
in women's sports. And when we talk to investors, we
hear a lot of folks talking about investing in teams, leagues,
media rights, all of these brands investing seven, eight, nine
figures into the top. What I'm interested in is what
we're building at the bottom for the fans, for the community.
(30:30):
Because I can't tell you how many fans we've created
in just our 40-seat bar. I can't tell you how
many fans we're creating by opening spaces like this across
the country.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
So it's not just about giving the people what they want.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
It's about creating more fandom, which feeds the pipeline into
the ROI at the very top. So... I would tell
your friend that maybe they should be investing in spaces
like the sports bra to build in these communities to
create the groundswell from the grassroots up. And these figures
could be five, six figures, seven if you're feeling generous.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
And I'm biased, right?
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Because I'm sitting in the barstool. I'm not sitting in
the C-suite like at the top of, you know, the stadium.
I'm sitting in the barstool talking to fans and the
fans are Between the fans and the players, that's what
really this is all about.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
And if we're talking about ROI, I mean, you start.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
From the ground floor and you can ride that wave
all the way to the top. So when I talk
to people who own teams or own stadiums, I'm like, yes, great, awesome.
But how do you continue to fill that funnel? You
start by creating brand new fans. And we're also seeing
a ton of reports... on how women's sports fans are very,
(31:49):
very different from any other sports fan. And that loyalty,
that authenticity, the values and the vision and the mission
of what women's sports represents, it starts right here in
places like the sports bra.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
I love that. And let me just put a button
on that. If you don't mind me making just one
quick edit, Jenny, and thank you. I wrote some notes
with some of your great tips because no one knows
the ecosystem of of women's sports than you, so thank
you for that. But you said if I felt generous
or if Jason felt generous, I wouldn't invest because I
feel generous. I invest because it's a great investment and
(32:27):
it's both doing good and also making the world a
better place and a more balanced place. As a son
of a single mother and a father of two daughters,
I think it's an incredible investment, so much so that
the Lynx, for me personally, has been the greatest investment
I've ever made, both financially and what it's done for
my family. and the role models that we have and
really impacted by this incredible community, as Jason mentioned earlier.
(32:51):
So it's been incredible, but give yourself more credit than
that because there's all this conversation at the very top, right?
At the executive suites, as you mentioned, of teams are
going up in value, private equity's in, so they get
to make great returns, sovereign funds, institutions. But we can't
forget about the most important part of that pie is
(33:12):
our partners, the fans. And I remember when I was
10 years old and my mother, who was in food stamps,
couldn't afford to go watch Dan Marino, my favorite player.
So I had to watch at home. So what you've done,
if you're creating a place, a safe place that people
like my mother and I, when I was 10, can
go to, maybe not a bar, but maybe eat chicken
wings and go watch my favorite team. So you're doing
(33:33):
great work.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Keep it up.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
But please take that word generous because. You're the one
being generous, giving people like us an opportunity to learn
from you and also maybe invest from you. So that's
my final question.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
You win.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Thank you, Alex. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Congratulations on your success so far and keep on going. Thanks, Jenny.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Appreciate it. Thanks for your time, you guys.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
The deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.
The deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me, Jason Kelly.
This show was produced by Stacey Wong. Our senior producer
is Anna Mazarakis. Original music by Blake Maples. Our booker
is Paige Keffer. Our executive producers are Amy Keene, Kelly LaFerriere,
and Ashley Zingaro. Our head of podcast is Cheryl Brumley.
(34:28):
Special thanks to Rachel Carnevale, Elena Sosangelis, and Nick Silva.
You can also watch this episode of The Deal on
YouTube and subscribe to The Deal and leave us a
review wherever you get your podcasts. It helps other people
find the show. Thanks for listening.
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
News. Welcome back to The Deal. I'm Jason Kelly alongside
my partner, Alex Rodriguez. All right. I feel like, Alex,
this week, it's truly back to business. We're post-Labor Day.
You have come back from the beach. You know, not
that you weren't working, but I like business, Alex Pax.
(00:28):
Let's get some stuff done.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
And you visited me on that beach.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I did. I did. We had a great time out there.
We recorded an episode of this show, which will be
coming out in a few weeks. But listen, this is
one of my most favorite times of the year when
it comes to sports. U.S. Open is happening. Shout out
to Jessica Pagula, who was a guest on our show
earlier this year. She has gone deep into the U.S. Open.
I've been watching that avidly. You've been keeping an eye
(00:54):
on the Yankees.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
They're looking pretty good. Aaron Judge coming back this week.
Yankees have been keeping their head above water and hopefully
ready to make a nice push. And it's been exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well, speaking of a push into the playoffs, the Minnesota Lynx,
your team, of which you are the governor, what a season.
The playoffs start at the end of September. Vibes have
got to be good.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
The vibes are good, not only for the Lynx, but
also for the W overall. It's been an incredible year.
Great viewership. Popularity continues to growth. And the one thing
we continue to witness every day is the appetite for
investors to enter the space of W. and women's sports overall.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Which leads right into this week's episode. Jenny Nguyen is
the co-founder of The Sports Bra. This is a place
that a lot of people probably have heard of if
you are at all interested in women's sports. This is
an iconic location, currently just one place in Portland, Oregon.
They have unbelievably ambitious expansion plans. I loved talking to
(01:52):
her about her vision for the future.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Very ambitious expansion. great investor that she's been able to recruit,
and certainly a place that when I go see, when
I go to Portland, I'm definitely going to visit and
check it out.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, and there could be an outlet there in Minnesota
before too long. As you mentioned, investors, Renee Montgomery, Alexis Ohanian,
others have sort of come in to really fuel that growth.
It's something you're deeply invested in. So a lot to
catch up with. Coming up, Jenny Wynn. All right, welcome
(02:30):
back to The Deal. I'm Jason Kelly, alongside my partner,
Alex Rodriguez. What a fun conversation we're in for today
with Jenny Nguyen. She is the CEO and founder of
The Sports Bra. She joins us from The Sports Bra
in Portland, Oregon. So first of all, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Lovely to have you on the show. I played in
Seattle for seven years as a Seattle Mariner, and I
got there in 94 and exited 2001. But one of
the kind of dirty little secrets is how passionate sports
fans are in the Pacific Northwest. And Jason and I
were talking about that offline a little bit when we
saw the Seahawks trade for a really big number. And
(03:07):
my question to you is Portland, another great market. I mean,
great fans.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Massive.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Why the bar business? You could have gone anywhere else.
I love it because I love sports bars, but why
the bar business?
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, it's fascinating. So I was born and raised here
in Portland. This is my hometown.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
I've spent 40 of my 46 years living here. And
while growing up here, I witnessed folks showing up for
women's sports from a super young age. And this was
normal for me. And it wasn't until I got a
little bit older that I realized that we had something
special here in Portland. And then my background, I graduated college.
(03:47):
While in college, I started working at Rev Robbins. And
fell in love with the back of house and with
kitchens and fire and tickets and pressure. So I came
back to Portland, went to culinary school and just had
been working in kitchen for about 15 and a half years.
And so I was very familiar with kind of back
of house food. I'm really hands on. I love doing
(04:08):
things with my hands, you know, and I like to
I like to hang out with my friends. And we
always went to go to traditional sports bars to watch games.
And it was super challenging every single time. And so
there was just this moment where I was just like, man,
every time we go to a sports bar, it lets
us down in some way or multiple ways. And I
was just like, the only way we're ever going to
(04:29):
watch women's sports the way it deserves is if we
opened our own place. And then the pandemic happened in 2020.
At the time, I had been unemployed for about four
years by choice. And I watched the WNBA play in
the bubble. And that really It shook me. It inspired me.
Watching these 144 women play in quarantine, doing the job
(04:53):
that they came to do and that they loved, but
they also changed the game and changed the narrative around
everything from politics to human rights to police violence. I mean,
they just stood on business. They linked arms and they
made change. And so during that time, I was just like,
what am I doing with my life? How can I
(05:14):
make And that's when I really thought about my background
in food and Bev and my passion for basketball and my.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Love of this town.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
And that idea of, you know, this, this dedicated sports
bar popped back up and it just was an idea
that I couldn't shake.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Well, my love is really around chicken wings and a
good beer.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
We got both those. We got you covered, Alex.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So, Jenny, help us understand the business of it. I've
been in the gym business for about 20, 25 years,
and you're in real estate and the hospitality business. You know,
we're in a very similar business, real estate, and we're
trying to host, you know, thousands of members that come
in daily. Help us understand the CapEx. So to build
one unit, right, in Portland— Or if Jason and I
(06:02):
wanted to open one, how much capex do we put
in and what kind of return ROI do we expect,
cash on cash return, over the next five years?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, it's difficult. It's really, really hard.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
The market is hard and it's harder than it's ever
been right now. Especially in Portland, we've got increasing food costs.
We've got increasing gas prices. We've got increasing utilities, increasing
labor costs. Everything's increasing. And with the economy the way
it is, there's decreasing, like people with.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
expenses. They're just spending less. It doesn't mean the fandom
is any less.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I know we were just talking about how we're seeing
great numbers coming through, but their average check size is
going down.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And how do we meet people where they're at?
Speaker 4 (06:44):
How do we meet our community where they're at by
still delivering them great service, great food, great beverages? and
a great atmosphere and a community and a home to
build it in to pair up with this increased fandom.
I mean, in Portland alone, we introduced three professional women's
teams just this year.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And so there's more for us to celebrate here. But
how do we meet the community? How do we meet
the economy where it's at?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
And when it comes to build out costs or initial costs,
we're franchising right now. So we have kind of these
nationwide numbers and it's anywhere starting out between 400,000 and
1.2 million.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And that's just like the median.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
That's not talking about cities like New York City or
Los Angeles, or even places like Boston, which we're building
out in right now. And those costs can be upwards
of double what that is. Ideally, right now, we're looking
for a second generation location, which could cut those costs
in half, if not more. Looking at a spot that
(07:42):
used to be a former sports bar would be ideal,
a former restaurant, Even a tap house would be great.
And then, you know, then it's got built in taps.
It has a walk in refrigerator, grease trap hood system,
all of the really high dollar items for a full
build out. But yeah, it really depends. And a lot
of it also has to do with the location that
you're in, because we're talking to Indianapolis and St. Louis,
(08:05):
where we have two other franchises opening. And man, their
food costs and their labor costs are drastically different than
what we're looking at here in Portland.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So, you know, the turnaround, much, much lower.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
So the turnaround on things like that is going to
be very different from what we have, like say in Boston, however,
you know, you price it right. And like, there's, there's
math for it to work, but yeah, it really depends.
And when you talk about why did I do it here?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Really?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
This is my hometown.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
And it's also the main reason why I chose franchising
versus corporate expansion, which is what I thought at the beginning.
I was like, no one knows or understands or loves
the sports bra as much as I do. Only I
can build this in other cities.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And that's what I thought I was going to do.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
And the more I traveled, the more I went to
these cities and talked to brokers, talked to investors, looked
at where in the community the sports bra could thrive,
the more I realized that I didn't know jack about
what communities needed in a really authentic way. Like without
even knowing it, I had built a space for my
home town here. Like this feels very connected. I was
(09:10):
already connected in the sports community here in Portland. I've
lived here my whole life. It feels super authentic. If
I tried to open the sports bra, let's say in
the Bay area, I think it'd be okay, but it
would feel like the sports bra Portland in the Bay area,
which might be fine. But the missing piece to me
is that authentic connection to the community and that an
(09:32):
owner has. Another thing I kind of debated was can
a general manager or can somebody love the sports bra
the way an owner could love it? And it's just,
it's really difficult to find that person. And so when
I thought more and more about franchising, the more it
really felt aligned with how we started the place. Like
(09:54):
I opened the sports bra, I opened the doors on
this restaurant through a Kickstarter campaign. Like clearly I'd been
unemployed for five and a half years before we opened
the doors to this place. So I had little to
no dollars to throw at it. And it really took
a Kickstarter campaign that, and it was so built by community.
And so the opportunity to take this dream and take
(10:14):
this vision and franchise it and hand it to somebody
in a community that they love, to make their dreams
come true, just felt like a great way to kind
of continue to build community around it.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
So let's talk about the national expansion because it's beyond ambitious.
I think to say the least, our understanding is, you know,
40 locations by 2030 is sort of your stated goal.
Help us understand an ideal market and how do you
solve that math problem in the best way possible that
you were describing?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Yeah, I love that question, and it's fascinating because I
learned it as we looked for it, right? So right
away when we decided to franchise, we hired a site analytics,
data analytics team. They used 20,000 points of information gathered
from cell phones and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Oh my God, you are speaking Alex's language. This is like,
this is how he thinks. Go on, go on.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
I love this.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
I mean, when you're in real estate, that's kind of
what you're looking at, right? But what we had to
do was, so we opened four years ago. We have
a tiny footprint in Portland. At the time when we
started this franchise idea, which was 2024, there weren't as
many women's sports bars. So we had a data set
(11:30):
of one for a little while. And then we grew
that data set. So we added three or four or
five more by the end of 24. Now we have
a couple dozen women's sports bars that continue to add
to the set. What's interesting is that the demographics point
in so many different directions that, you know, there's very
(11:53):
clearly this idea that if there are pro women's sports teams,
particularly kind of the big three or the big four,
That those are going to be the cities that have
the best markets for the sports prop.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Big three or big four, basketball, soccer.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Basketball, soccer, hockey is a big one.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And then a pro volleyball team at this point.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Volleyball, right.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
So like.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
When we think about pro women's sports teams, that adds
a big, big dot onto a city. However, we did
this same analysis, laid it over the top of St. Louis. Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
We laid it over the top of Portland, Maine.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
And the brightness of the red, which is like the
hit was just as bright. And how do you explain
that when you don't have pro teams? Now this is
based on per capita and a bunch of other information.
So it adjusts for population size and whatnot. So what
it's saying is that women's sports fandom exists in a
(12:56):
lot of places and pro women's sports teams, are just
catching up. There is plenty of space. And one thing
that we witnessed in St. Louis is that when folks
don't have a home team, they don't have an opportunity
(13:16):
to go to a venue. So that is a built
up fandom and they need an outlet. And so what
we're hearing and seeing a lot of is folks who
are fans of other teams from elsewhere, wherever it is.
It could be the New York Liberty. It could be
in the sort of links. It could be the Portland Fire.
(13:36):
It could be the up and coming teams. And they
all live in St. Louis and they don't have a
place to go to. So that creates a whole other thing.
What's also interesting is we have demographics that are very
strong around underrepresented communities. That's something that we've leaned into
from the beginning. So LGBTQ plus communities are and strong
(13:59):
BIPOC communities. So those kinds of things also create these
really glowing red dots on these maps. And these maps
are just a tool. They're not a be all end
all of where we're going to set the sports bra.
Because we've also heard from different folks around how there
are a lot quieter pockets of towns that are much
(14:21):
more reasonably priced. And if you put the bra there,
People are going to come. It's a destination more than
a convenience. However, it's always a balancing act too.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, so Jenny, I want to talk a little bit
about starting a business and then bookending it with exiting
the business. And I've been involved in franchise business for
a long time. And what I've learned is sometimes, I
guess the first question is, is part of your challenge
at the beginning is to educate your local partners that
(15:03):
sometimes they think the business may be broken, but what's
really broken is the capital stack, meaning they have too
much debt or the money they raised is too expensive.
And with the real estate, you know, sometimes the business
is great, but you're in the wrong real estate or
in the wrong corner, or you're paying too much for
the real estate. Therefore, the perception is the business is
(15:24):
not working, but it is truly working. And then on exit,
are you thinking about being an asset-free business with a franchise?
You're going to get a much higher multiple than if
you had to put up all the CapEx and you're
more asset-heavy versus asset-light?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, I'll take this in sections.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
So the first part, I absolutely agree. I mean, at
this point, we're looking for franchisees with great capital. And
if they can buy the building, I mean, that is...
That is leaps and bounds, way better, a way better
place to be in. In fact, when we're looking in
Portland right now, we're looking for second gen. And if
it's possible, we'd love to buy the real estate. I mean,
that was nothing that I was thinking about four years ago, right?
(16:05):
So Alex, you're speaking into the future of like what
I'm learning now. One thing about me coming into this is, yeah,
I worked in kitchens for 15 years, but I was
literally the chef.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So no, not really any business acumen. So everything I'm learning,
I'm learning on the fly. I have really great advisors.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
I have a really great team, super strong, but constantly
learning about all the things. So real estate is a
huge part. And when it comes to kind of getting
into the right or the wrong businesses, whether it's a
lease or a poor negotiation, you know, we have a
really strong legal team as well as a really great
real estate representative or advisor on our side that can
(16:42):
help our franchisees make sure that things are lined out
appropriately for the right deal. On the back end, when
it comes to exiting, you know, the franchise model for
us was really about building spaces and really about building
the community spaces with.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
The four walls.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
And when we started down that track in 24, that
was where I saw the business growing. But what has
happened over the last couple of years, and really, if
we think about it since day one, is that the sports.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Bra is much bigger than just a bar.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
It's much bigger than just the four walls or all
the activities or events or the food and Bev or
the fandom that's held within it.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
The sports browse become a brand.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And so when we talk about assets and value, we're
leaning into a lot of other avenues now to build
and grow that so that we do actually have more
assets that can diversify our revenue stream. We understand franchise businesses.
is a low, slow, hard grind. When people ask me
how things are going, I was just like, it's how
(17:45):
you would expect pushing a 50-ton boulder up a hill
would be going.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
But it is moving in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
And at some point, we'll hit the top of this
hill and the ball will start rolling and really gaining momentum.
Till that happens, we're still needing to raise money. We're
still bringing on investors. We're still creating assets and developing
assets and building partnerships that will what we imagine is
(18:11):
continue to grow the brand and the sports bra in
a way that's much bigger than just the four walls
of the bar and restaurant. And so those are the
kinds of things I'm leaning into. So when I think
about exiting, it's not just the franchise system, but it's
the brand and what it can represent and the IP
that it brings with it, as well as the partnerships
that we're creating.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Well, and to that end, Jenny, let's talk about some
of the investors you brought on. It's people we know well,
Renee Montgomery, Alexis Ohanian, folks who... believe not just in
the concept of a place where everybody knows your name,
but obviously sort of this growing ecosystem. There is this
sense of investing in the whole, investing in the ecosystem
(18:52):
that is building that, you know, the sports bra was
such a, I don't know, a little bit of a
canary in the coal mine of like something very special
is happening here. that is manifested in a bar, but
is actually, again, as Alex is seeing right there in Minneapolis,
something that's candidly bigger than all of us. Talk to
(19:14):
us about bringing those investors on board, what they bring
and sort of what you're looking for as you expand
that part of the team, as it were.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
I mean, I will say that Alexis Ohanian came in
at the very beginning before I even knew what was happening.
You know, the guy like can sense things from a
mile away. He pinged me probably March of 23. So
we weren't even a year in. And I thought it
was a joke. I thought a friend of mine had
pranked me with a tweet, you know, and I was
(19:48):
just like, nope, that's fake.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
But yeah, you know, it.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Was not only awesome and like very humbling to have
somebody like him, but he has been investing in women's
sports for a long time.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
It wasn't just a flash in the pan. So I
loved that.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
I also loved that he brought some validity to the
business of women's sports, to the business of the sports
bra Because as much as I hate it, I read
the comments on things and there's like a handful of trolls,
handful of haters that are.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Going to continue to talk.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Every single time a women's sports bar opens, no matter
where it is, it's the same narrative. And so to
have somebody like him come in, it really helped to validate,
you know, what we were doing.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
So those two things felt really great.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Obviously having somebody in the space that could advise and
like kind of lean in and a big thinker, a
big dreamer. Here I was thinking I had like a
moonshot idea. And he was just like, oh no, let
me know when you're ready to go big. And I
was like, didn't I already go big by just opening
a restaurant? And since then, a lot of folks have
been asking how involved is he? And he is so
(20:52):
low key.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
He's very casual.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
I'm more doing outreach to him when I need something
or when I have questions around something. And then he
checks in every now and again. And then with Renee Montgomery,
this is almost bookend because Alexis was at the beginning.
Renee is probably one of our kind of latest big investors.
And To me, she is exactly who the sports bra
(21:15):
would love to have on board. She has been in
so many different facets at the very top, the top
of her game in basketball. She's an executive, is part
owner of a team.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
She is in business.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
So she is just an entrepreneur herself in so many ways.
And she's in media and content and is the face
of a lot of things on TV and outspoken. And
exactly the right demographic around who and why we're here.
And she's also just incredibly passionate and sharp as a tack.
(21:48):
Like the two of us, we get in a room
and it's just like, I feel like a mic or
a camera might explode because we just kind of feed
off of each other's energy. And so the two of us,
we cook up a lot of different ideas. And so
the opportunity to build and grow, like I said, outside
of the franchise model You know, I think Renee is
one of those great advisors around strategy and creativity to.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Grow the brand. A lot of our investors are angel investors, too.
They just believe in what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
They want to continue to grow whatever it is we
have in mind. They're just like, I want to be
a part of what you're building.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
I support you. And they throw it in.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So, Jenny, I want to talk about Alex O because
he's not only a friend of Jason and I personally,
but a friend of the podcast here. And he's one
of the best investors. But I want to go back
to something you said about the trolls in the comments.
The higher you go, the more they'll be. They'll be louder.
But I always say the haters hate and then they copy.
So don't worry about it. They'll catch up. But as
(22:55):
far as Alex O, I know that when I was
reading your bio and prepping for this interview, conversation, I said, oh, wow.
I said, Jason, she has Alex. That's a great pickup.
How do you put that deal together? How do you
get him from that text to actually writing a check
and at what value?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yeah. I can't talk about value, but I will tell
you how it kind.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Of played out.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
It feels like a dream now that it's years behind me.
But yeah, I got that kind of first tweet. I
was in the back doing the dishes, of course. I
was doing the dishes. I feel my phone. I look
at it and it's a friend of mine who had
screenshotted a tweet from Alexis and it was just like, Hey,
at the sports bra, let me know when you're ready
to go big. And I just like laugh. Cause I
(23:36):
think my friend had photoshopped it and put them in pocket. Um,
I'm done cleaning up the restaurant. Everything's closed. I'm, you know,
doing bookkeeping downstairs and I pull out my phone and
I text my friend.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
I was like, haha, good one. And she was like, no,
it's real. Check it out.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
And so I look at it and sure enough, he
was responding to somebody else who was just like, Hey,
have you heard of the sports brother doing some pretty
cool stuff out in Portland?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
And that was his response. And so I read it
and I freaked out.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
So I told my inner circle and I decided to
sit on it for 48 hours so I didn't act
too thirsty. I like let it chill for a full
48 hours. And then I just I just it's like
that first date situation. And I just DM him and
I was just like, Hey, thanks for the shout out. Um,
(24:24):
you know, we're just getting started. I'm not really sure,
but if you want to email me, we can continue
this conversation. And within about four hours from that DM,
he emailed me and it was just, you know, a
simple one line, be like, love what you're doing out
there in Portland, really interested in how you want to
grow this.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Keep me posted.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
And I was just like, Oh my God, what am
I doing? And, um, you know, then things would happen
because things were crazy here. It was that we were
getting a ton of attention. We were doing a ton
of deals, lots of events. Um, and I would forget.
And so every couple of months.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And you're like selling merch, like people are super into that.
I mean, I remember this like momentum that's happening, right?
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Like people are paying attention. There was a lot going on.
There was a lot going on.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
Almost immediately we were we were just doing business and
getting partnership deals. I mean, Buick, I got an email
from Buick and I had to text a friend of
mine who's in PR. And I was just like, is
this real? Or am I being like cranked?
Speaker 1 (25:21):
And she was like, no, this is definitely real.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
And like Buick came out and did a watch party
where they brought in, you know, six all-stars and Sue Bird,
Diana Taurasi took shots in here with some of our fans.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
And it was just, it was mayhem. Like, and this
was all right, kind of at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
So anyway, yeah. things got crazy and I'm trying to
run a restaurant, trying to figure out who's going to
staff the bar, like all of the regular stuff.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And I would forget.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
And so every couple of months, Alexis would reach out
and just really simply being like, Hey, just checking in.
How are things going? And I was just like, Oh man, sorry.
I haven't given anything much thought. I'm just trying to
figure life out. And so that happened for a while.
And I finally was like, okay, I got some breathing
(26:04):
room in late 2023. And I was just like, Okay,
what am I going to do? I think I'm going
to expand, corporate expansion. And so I started taking these
trips to LA because I truly believed that Los Angeles
was going to be my second location.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
I wanted to go big and I knew LA was
a giant part of it.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
So I started to take these trips to LA and
started doing all kinds of, you know, poking around. And
I was telling Alexis like, hey, I'm heading down to LA.
And we never met up, but he was just like,
keep me posted. And I was just like, this isn't it.
Something feels off. And then I took a five day
trip out to the Oregon coast. And I often go
(26:42):
to the coast to clear my head. And I tried
to like empty all expectations out of my brain and
just decide, did I really want to do this? Or
was I doing this for the people? Was I doing
this for the fans? Was I doing this for myself?
Was I doing, you know, whatever it is? Or did
I just want the one spot in Portland and be
happy with that? And that's when I started to think
about communities, authenticity, how I didn't know Jack about L.A.,
(27:07):
And how there were like 10,000 communities that I could
have put it in. And I didn't know which one
to start with. And that's when I kind of landed
on franchising. So for the next couple months, I read
books on franchising. I talked to a bunch of people
in town. We have some really successful business owners here
that have done both. So I brought on some unofficial
advisors that were ecstatic to help. Which has been one
(27:32):
of the greatest joys of the sports bra is that
it taps into something that is very core to people's beliefs,
whether they're a woman or whether they're a sports fan
or none of the above, there's something about the sports
brow that is just very, it almost feels essential. So
there were people in the business world here that are
(27:55):
very successful and or have learned a lot of lessons.
And so I talked to a bunch of those and
then I was like, this is it. And the more
I was reading about franchising and more I was talking
to people, the more I was discovering this is definitely
the way I want to go. And once I kind
of decided on it, I reached back out to Alexis
and I was like, hey, I.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Think the path is franchising. And he immediately was like,
I am so glad you chose that. Like, I agree.
I think that that's the way. And he goes, let's talk.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
And after I decided on what I was doing, the
rest happened really quickly. I did what I thought was
all of the legwork on what I felt like to
launch franchising would be.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I came up with a number. I doubled it.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
And then I asked for it. And he had me
pitch to him and his team. I think there was
like seven or eight people on that call. And the
entire time people were just smiling and nodding. And it
felt as if I didn't have to pitch it. You know,
it just felt like they were there to support and
they were ready. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
And it was really just me figuring out how I
wanted to do it or what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
And what I needed.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
That's amazing. All right. So we're going to wrap in
just a second, but I feel like We would both
be negligent if we didn't do our occasional feature, which
I call asking for a friend.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
And I'm asking for my friend Alex.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I love it. Which is I have watched Alex really,
you know, as the governor of the Minnesota Lynx, embrace
women's sports at the highest level. And part of it
is because he's got an incredible team, you know, with
both veterans and rookies.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
And an unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Fan base. So the question asking for a friend is,
what else does he need to do to be even
more a part of this like exploding women's sports ecosystem
as the leader of one of the best teams across
all of women's sports?
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Is that a good.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Question, Alex?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
You beat me to it and you asked it much
more eloquently than I would have.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
That's the question. That's the question.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
I mean, so many folks are talking about investing, investing
in women's sports. And when we talk to investors, we
hear a lot of folks talking about investing in teams, leagues,
media rights, all of these brands investing seven, eight, nine
figures into the top. What I'm interested in is what
we're building at the bottom for the fans, for the community.
(30:30):
Because I can't tell you how many fans we've created
in just our 40-seat bar. I can't tell you how
many fans we're creating by opening spaces like this across
the country.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
So it's not just about giving the people what they want.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
It's about creating more fandom, which feeds the pipeline into
the ROI at the very top. So... I would tell
your friend that maybe they should be investing in spaces
like the sports bra to build in these communities to
create the groundswell from the grassroots up. And these figures
could be five, six figures, seven if you're feeling generous.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
And I'm biased, right?
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Because I'm sitting in the barstool. I'm not sitting in
the C-suite like at the top of, you know, the stadium.
I'm sitting in the barstool talking to fans and the
fans are Between the fans and the players, that's what
really this is all about.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
And if we're talking about ROI, I mean, you start.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
From the ground floor and you can ride that wave
all the way to the top. So when I talk
to people who own teams or own stadiums, I'm like, yes, great, awesome.
But how do you continue to fill that funnel? You
start by creating brand new fans. And we're also seeing
a ton of reports... on how women's sports fans are very,
(31:49):
very different from any other sports fan. And that loyalty,
that authenticity, the values and the vision and the mission
of what women's sports represents, it starts right here in
places like the sports bra.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
I love that. And let me just put a button
on that. If you don't mind me making just one
quick edit, Jenny, and thank you. I wrote some notes
with some of your great tips because no one knows
the ecosystem of of women's sports than you, so thank
you for that. But you said if I felt generous
or if Jason felt generous, I wouldn't invest because I
feel generous. I invest because it's a great investment and
(32:27):
it's both doing good and also making the world a
better place and a more balanced place. As a son
of a single mother and a father of two daughters,
I think it's an incredible investment, so much so that
the Lynx, for me personally, has been the greatest investment
I've ever made, both financially and what it's done for
my family. and the role models that we have and
really impacted by this incredible community, as Jason mentioned earlier.
(32:51):
So it's been incredible, but give yourself more credit than
that because there's all this conversation at the very top, right?
At the executive suites, as you mentioned, of teams are
going up in value, private equity's in, so they get
to make great returns, sovereign funds, institutions. But we can't
forget about the most important part of that pie is
(33:12):
our partners, the fans. And I remember when I was
10 years old and my mother, who was in food stamps,
couldn't afford to go watch Dan Marino, my favorite player.
So I had to watch at home. So what you've done,
if you're creating a place, a safe place that people
like my mother and I, when I was 10, can
go to, maybe not a bar, but maybe eat chicken
wings and go watch my favorite team. So you're doing
(33:33):
great work.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Keep it up.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
But please take that word generous because. You're the one
being generous, giving people like us an opportunity to learn
from you and also maybe invest from you. So that's
my final question.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
You win.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Thank you, Alex. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Congratulations on your success so far and keep on going. Thanks, Jenny.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Appreciate it. Thanks for your time, you guys.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
The deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.
The deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me, Jason Kelly.
This show was produced by Stacey Wong. Our senior producer
is Anna Mazarakis. Original music by Blake Maples. Our booker
is Paige Keffer. Our executive producers are Amy Keene, Kelly LaFerriere,
and Ashley Zingaro. Our head of podcast is Cheryl Brumley.
(34:28):
Special thanks to Rachel Carnevale, Elena Sosangelis, and Nick Silva.
You can also watch this episode of The Deal on
YouTube and subscribe to The Deal and leave us a
review wherever you get your podcasts. It helps other people
find the show. Thanks for listening.
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