Bar for women’s sports shoots for 2025 opening in Atlanta

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Caitlin Clark might be the most popular athlete in North American sports. Yet, if someone wants to watch WNBA games, it’s not always easy to find places to do so.

Former college soccer player Chelsea Fishman wants to change that, at least in Atlanta.

“I mean, my favorite sport to watch is soccer,” Fishman said.

She came of age in the ‘90s during the famous ’99 Women’s World Cup. Names like Chastain, Hamm and Scurry punctuate her childhood.

“Like any women’s sports fan, we’ve always been wanting a place that’s like a sports bar but for women’s sports,” Fishman said.

Fishman set out to do just that, prepared to bring a sports bar for women’s sports to Atlanta with an appropriate name.

“Jolene / Jolene / Jolene / Joooleeeeene,” Fishman belts, not quite in the same key as Dolly Parton in 1973.

Named after her cat and the iconic hit, Fishman is working through the final details of the specific location for the bar, but she’s eyeing a March 2025 opening.

“I would love for it to be the place that when you think of women’s sports, you think of ‘Jolene Jolene,’” she said.

Naturally, there are haters. She hears “Why?” a lot.

“Some people, they just, I guess, don’t see the value in celebrating women’s accomplishments,” Fishman said.

But the cool thing about sports is its ability to break barriers and forge new frontiers. Fishman wants Jolene Jolene to be a place for the masses.

“Jolene Jolene is for everyone,” she said. “No matter what kind of fan you come in as, hopefully, you leave a women’s sports fan.”

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