Australia’s first-ever women’s sports bar The Ladies League has shut its doors just four months after opening, its closure attributed to challenges with “how people are choosing to spend their money” amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Rose Valente, 34, opened the Oxford Street bar on August 30 last year after selling her investment property and turning to crowdfunding when a bank labelled her business idea “too risky”.
“I have 100 per cent faith that I’m going to, at the very minimum, get my money back: that’s how much faith I have in the women’s sport community,” she told the ABC in an article published on the bar’s opening day.
“That’s how confident I am that women’s sport needs a space like this. I’m willing to put every single dollar I have into it. I don’t care that I couldn’t get a loan for it; I knew I had to do it and needed to make it happen.
“Banks don’t see passion.
“If you want change, you need to go and do it yourself. That’s always been my attitude. The Ladies League may not always get things right, people may not understand why we do what we do or our direction, and that’s fine. But we know what we’re about and so do the people who will come here.”
The venue became a haunt for many women, including lesbians, who visited it to watch the Women’s Super League or National Women’s Soccer League matches.
The bar also played other sports and codes, especially when they featured Sydney teams like the Swifts (netball), Flames (basketball), Sixers (cricket), Roosters (NRLW), and Swans (AFLW).
In a post on Instagram on Wednesday, the bar said it would not be reopening its doors.
“As a women’s sports bar, we excelled,” it said. “Anyone who attended a Matildas, Sydney FC, Grand Final etc game day at our venue knows what a show we can put on.
“Unfortunately it is outside of live games that we felt the struggle as much as many other hospitality venues in this economic climate.”
The Ladies League said that while it knew going in that cost-of-living pressures have impacted how patrons spend, launching the bar was “something we wanted to do for women’s sport visibility”.
“We knew we had a fantastic product on offer but unfortunately as a small business, we couldn’t hold on any longer to try any new approaches,” it said.
“We had full belief we would not be in this position at this early stage. We have nothing but gratitude for everyone that supported us and apologise for this result.
“We hope this doesn’t discourage anyone from opening a similar concept in the future.
“The support we felt from the community was amazing. It’s unfortunately a hard reality of how people are choosing to spend their money at this stage.
“Thank you each and everyone who has visited us or showed support online.”
Gay Sydney News editor