Business
Women’s Sports to Take Center Stage at New Wrigleyville Bar
A new sports bar coming to Wrigleyville is aiming to change the game by putting women’s sports front and center.
The space is still under construction but will soon become a hub dedicated entirely to women’s sports — something owner Clarissa Flores said is long overdue.
“The norm is now walking into a sports bar and it’s a men’s game, and you have to ask for the women’s game,” Flores said.
At Level Sporting Club, women’s sports won’t be an afterthought but the main event.
Flores said the name reflects her mission.
“I went through a lot of different names,” Flores said, “but for me, ‘Level’ stood out the most because I’m here to level the playing field for women’s sports.”
The bar is slated to open later this month at 3343 N. Clark St., just a few blocks from Wrigley Field.
“Wrigleyville is the entertainment district of Chicago, and I want to take my seat where we belong,” Flores said. “I didn’t want to be in the outskirts. People don’t realize this, but the majority of the fans that go to Wrigley are women.”
Flores is no stranger to competition. A former Division I basketball player at Northwestern University and current director of operations at TAO Chicago, Flores is combining her experience in sports and nightlife to create something new.
The bar will feature two different experiences. The first floor will serve as a high-energy sports bar, complete with music, food and wall-to-wall TVs. Downstairs, a more intimate lounge will offer a different vibe.
“This is going to be my lower-level Key Club,” Flores said as she gave WTTW News a tour of the space. She noted the lounge would be candlelit with a piano player. “If you’re trying to do a date night, you come down here. If you want all the fun and excitement, you go upstairs.”
Flores said she is backed by a strong and diverse group of investors, including coaches and former collegiate athletes.
That group includes Ashleen Bracey, head coach of University of Illinois Chicago women’s basketball; Jennifer King, the first female coach for the Chicago Bears; Pat Dull, a former Philippines national team soccer player; Tiffany Hudson, a former Illinois State University player; Trinity Gao, a former MIT basketball player; Janae Smith, a former University of Alabama at Birmingham standout who spent a decade playing professionally overseas; and Amanda Barnes, culinary partner and executive chef at Le Colonial.
“What I’m doing now is for the communities, the LGBT community, the women’s sports community,” Flores said. “That’s the culture I’m trying to build up now.”
She hopes Level Sporting Club will inspire the next generation by showing them that women’s sports can sustain a business and that people can make a career out of women’s sports.
