A Bar of Their Own sports bar owner reflects on a remarkable year in women’s sports

NINA MOINI: The year 2024 was defined by many things. Among them, a remarkable, unprecedented year for women's sports. You might be thinking of Caitlin Clark's spectacular effect on college basketball, and her WNBA premiere. But there are so many others that had outstanding years. How about Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and the rest of her Olympic team in Paris this summer, or Minnesota's own Lynx almost clinching the WNBA championship? The WNBA also saw record viewership. I really could go on, but whatever sport you're into, you may have noticed that this year, a larger, mainstream audience started to give women's sports the recognition they deserve.

Jillian Hiscock has dedicated her career to shining the spotlight on women's sports. She made state history too this year when she opened Minnesota's first-ever women's sports bar, called A Bar Of Their Own earlier this spring. And she's here in the studio to talk about this amazing year. Jillian, thanks so much for being here.

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: I felt like you really brought the party when you brought it in. And that's probably what it's like at A Bar Of Their Own. I haven't been, but I'd love to visit. What was this year like for you at A Bar Of Their Own? Like, what a great year to open a women's sports bar?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yeah, we couldn't have picked a better one, especially here in Minnesota. I mean, it's been an incredible year. I think for me to see women's sports getting-- starting to get the attention that they deserve, and to have a space where our community can celebrate those things together in community, is the best thing ever. It's been an incredible year.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, this is something I don't always know. Did you feel like this really was a standout year? Because you said, starting to give women's sports. When are we there? When are we at the point where women's sports are getting the recognition they do truly deserve? Are we closer?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Oh, we're for sure closer. There's no question that we're closer. I think that for me, I think a lot of people are, like, oh my gosh. Women's sports exist. And I was like, yes, they've existed for a long time. So people are just starting, I think, to pay more attention because it's becoming more accessible. And that makes it great. But I really think it's the tip of the iceberg in terms of what's possible. We're just starting to see some media deals come out, players are starting to get more recognition both financially and in the larger scale.

So yeah, no. We're certainly not there. To me, we're there when women's sports is getting equitable coverage and equitable pay as male athletes. And we have a far way to go for that to happen.

NINA MOINI: At A Bar Of Their Own this past year, what has it been like to get so much attention, and just this outpouring of support?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: It's a little overwhelming. I won't lie. I mean, I think it's, I'm so blessed with the team of service industry experts that are absolutely poised and ready for this kind of thing. I'm the newbie joining the club, and kind of being like, is this what it's like all the time? It's not. But it's really been incredible.

And I think it really has gone to show how hungry women's sports fans in general are, not only for a space, but just for acknowledgment of the athletes that we love, following the teams we love following, that they've just been undervalued and underseen for so many years. To start to see them get that appreciation is a really great place to be as a women's sports fan.

NINA MOINI: What was the most fun sports moment for you? We were listing some big names off the top there. But what stood out to you? And could you describe what it was like? If you were in the bar, what was it like?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yeah, I would say, again, Minnesota got-- we got really lucky here with both the incredible season that our Minnesota Frost had with winning the first Walter Cup, and with the Minnesota Lynx game. Game five, I guess, is a sadder game to talk about. But the finals in general, I think were big moments. The moment that will, for sure, stand out to me is game one, actually, of the Lynx series when Courtney Williams made this incredible shot at the end of the game.

I happened to be at the bar. I actually shared the security camera footage on our social media accounts, because you've never seen a group of people collectively have so much disappointment, and then be so overjoyed within a matter of literal seconds. Those, for sure, are some of the really big moments that stand out to me.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and you mentioned the Frost. And just for anybody who doesn't know, they're the professional women's hockey league. They were nameless for that year.

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yes.

NINA MOINI: Then they came out with being the frost. What was so gripping to you about their season?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: I think it's so incredible, because when you think about women's hockey in particular, these are women's athletes that haven't really had good options, or consistent options, post-college to play at an elite level. And there's been some attempts at professional women's hockey leagues in the past. But the PWHL is the first one that is really driven by athletes. Our own captain, Kendall Coyne Schofield, has been a big part of the creation of this league.

It was also helped to be started by what we call the patron saint of A Bar Of Their Own, Billie Jean King. And so there's just some really good momentum behind it that has brought it a lot of great, great attention that they needed to be successful. But those games, if people haven't been, you've got to get to the X. I think the next one is actually Thursday this week at home. There's so much fun. The level of play is so high. And it's just incredible that here in the state of hockey, women's hockey players finally have something to aspire to beyond college play.

NINA MOINI: Cool. And look at that. You also had the Olympics.

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yeah. Low key.

NINA MOINI: Can't really get more lucky than that.

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yeah.

NINA MOINI: What were some of your fans excited about? Obviously Suni Lee, Saint Paul's own. What was it like having the Olympics there?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yeah, again, we kind of hit the jackpot in the year 2024. I think the Olympics were kind of an out-of-body experience for a lot of us because it really shifted our operating hours for our staff, because Paris is not necessarily a client with Minnesota time. So we had a lot of very early morning bar days. So I think by far, some of the most exciting moments were the USA gold medal game for soccer, and then the US women's basketball final, winning that gold medal game.

Those were the two that, for sure, stood out to me. But also, I mean, again, you'd be remiss to not mention Simone Biles and Suni Lee in the gymnastics team. But there were other moments too. We as a team all sat and watched the breakdancing competition kind of become what it was, which was a little media fervor. We watched skateboarding. We watched all of these different sports. And to have a place where people could come in knowing that those games would be on TV is just, it's just a change for people that they're not used to. And it's really exciting to see people's reactions when they come in.

NINA MOINI: You mentioned Billie Jean King, a legend in women's sports. Has she stopped by? Who has stopped by that made you so excited?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: I mean, Billie Jean King did come by last May. A literally out-of-body experience for my staff. I sadly actually wasn't there. That's a story for another time. But honestly, we have a wall inside of our bar that's been signed by all of our professional Olympic athletes that stopped in. And to see that wall, there's probably about 50 signatures on it in the first eight months. So pretty soon, I think all of our walls are going to be Olympic signature walls, it feels like.

But Billie Jean King was obviously huge. The entire Lynx team came in during the Olympics to watch Team USA play. That was an out-of-body experience for me as a huge Lynx fan. A bunch of the Frost players. We've had Olympic sailors, we've had initial Minnesota basketball players that helped create women's basketball in the state of Minnesota. We've been really lucky to kind of become the stopping point when folks are in through Minneapolis. I saw Simone was here last night for the Bears game, but she didn't stop by. So we'll have to have a talk with her.

NINA MOINI: Sure. Yeah. Maybe to tweet her or something. But also, it's not just women, right? It doesn't really matter. I'm struck by how many men. I see so many different ages at these Lynx games and different sporting events. And you don't have to be a sports expert, because I told you that I want to stop by, but I'm intimidated by that I don't really know anything. What do you have for people who are new to women's sports, and maybe just sports in general?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yeah, I think it's one of my favorite parts of the bar is that our fan base, and our community is so wonderful that I would say on any given day, it's probably half people like me who eat, sleep, and breathe women's sports. And it's half people that are curious, and just haven't had the ability to watch in the past because we don't make it easy to be a women's sports fan. You have to have 10 streaming services in order to be able to watch all of these sports.

And so to have a place where people that are like, oh yeah, I've heard something about the Lynx, and can come in, and sit at the bar, and talk to somebody and be like, so what just happened? It's a totally normal thing that happens at the bar. And I appreciate you bringing up the inclusivity point about, everybody's welcome. It's such a huge thing for us. We're not a women's bar. We want people of all walks of life to come into the bar. And we are seeing that with our fan base. So it's been really, really exciting.

NINA MOINI: That's awesome. So what are your hopes coming into 2025 for A Bar Of Their Own and women's sports generally?

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Yeah, I mean, I think for the bar, we're going to keep on chugging, and learning, and adapting. I keep telling my team, we're still very young. We haven't even been open a year yet. And so really, just trying to continue to perfect our operations and make sure that we're doing the best that we can to respond to feedback from our community. But I also think in terms of the broader world. We're seeing, I just literally, as I was sitting in the green room, A'ja Wilson just signed a six-year show deal. And the Lynx just signed a huge media deal.

I mean, there's all these things happening. And just to see where that momentum continues to go is what makes me so excited, because I hope to see a day where we're not the only place in town prioritizing women's sports. I would love to see other, what I call men's sports bars, showing women's sports on a traditional basis without having it to be somebody coming in and asking. And I think that's going to become more the norm because people are expecting more of their sports bars. And they want to see those games.

And so we are, case in point, that the demand is there, and the supply isn't. And so I always challenge existing establishments to consider just turning on women's sports for one day just to see what happens.

NINA MOINI: Awesome. This was delightful, Jillian. Thank you for stopping by. And all the best next year.

JILLIAN HISCOCK: Thank you so much.

NINA MOINI: That was Jillian Hiscock, owner of A Bar Of Their Own in Minneapolis.