Chivonn Anderson says she was first inspired to open a women’s sports bar back in 2019, when she couldn’t get a bartender to change the channel.

She had returned to Philly from a trip to Europe, where she and her friends had caught some of the Women’s World Cup games happening in France that summer. 

On the day of the final, they went to a sports bar on South Street — she wouldn’t say which one — and asked the bartender to put on the game. He refused, because a Phillies’ regular season game against the Mets was already on.

After some arguing, the bartender eventually switched to the final. More people came in till the bar was packed with a crowd watching the United States women’s national team defeat the Netherlands to defend their title.

Anderson was still irked, though.

“It blew my mind that I had to argue with the bartender in a sports bar to put the Women’s World Cup on,” she said. “I’m just like, ‘This isn’t right.’ And that just planted the seed that we need to have a space where women — that have dedicated their lives to these sports — have a spot where they can truly be honored and highlighted with them being on these televisions and having all these amazing people that support them come and watch them do what they love and what they’ve dedicated their lives to.”

Chivonn Anderson standing outside Marsha’s, at 430 South Street. (Harry Smith/Courtesy of Marsha’s)

On Friday, September 19, Anderson’s seed will become a reality with the grand opening of Marsha’s, Philly’s first-ever women’s sports bar.

Serendipitously, the bar is on South Street, where Woolly Mammoth used to be. Anderson said that when she and her business partner Trisha Eichelberger first heard that the space on 430 South St. was going up for sale in late 2024 — building, liquor license and all other assets — she saw it as a no-brainer. Anderson is a licensed real estate agent who also co-owned the Redcrest Kitchen in Queen Village, which closed its doors in June. She said her industry experience and previous failures have taught her what was needed to succeed with this project.

“It’s my second time around and I understand that the only way you can truly be successful and create something that’s going to last is if you own the bricks and you own the liquor license,” she said.

The bar is named after LGBTQ+ activist Marsha P. Johnson. Anderson said that she wouldn’t be where she is now, a queer woman of color who came out at age 15, if it weren’t for the efforts of Johnson and others involved in the Stonewall uprising.

“I just want to give her the praise that she deserves, and hopefully her energy out in the universe can feel what we’re doing,” Anderson said.

While much of the layout from Wooly Mammoth is still in place, Anderson says that the interior has been redesigned with touches that make Marsha’s distinct. Bleachers from an old stadium have been brought in, along with vintage-style sports apparel hanging up and a portrait of Marsha herself over the bar. More will come with time, like plans to gather trading cards submitted by people from their time in youth and recreational leagues and incorporate them into the bar and tabletops.

Chivonn Anderson behind the bar at Marsha’s South Street. (Harry Smith/ Courtesy of Marsha’s)

Anderson said that while the bar primarily highlights sports from women and the queer community, she wants the space to feel inclusive for all sports fans.

“I want people to feel like they’re coming into someone’s home that they feel comfortable, they feel seen, they feel safe, and they can sit there, and they can watch women’s sports, and also local Philly sports, and be around people that will hopefully eventually become family,” she said.

The future plans with the Marsha’s brand is to have multiple locations and eventually franchise. But first, it’s about building a welcoming space for women’s sports and the LGBTQ+ community. Some of that effort will also involve highlighting those communities outside the walls of the bar. Anderson says the bar plans to reach out to local teams at all levels to try and figure out how to help them fundraise through events and get their games on the bar’s screens.

On the professional level, Philly currently has the Philadelphia Surge, a women and gender-expansive pro ultimate frisbee team, which completed its third season in the Premier Ultimate League this year. The WNBA announced in June that Philly will get an expansion team in 2030, co-owned by the Sixers and Comcast Spectacor.

Anderson has also reached out to Watch Party PHL, the group founded by firefighter Jen Leary (a former National Women’s Football Association player) that’s fundraising to open its own women’s sports bar, to offer support in their efforts to find a home in Center City next year. There’s room in this town for more than one women’s sports bar, and Anderson believes “the more, the merrier.”

One of the flags up at Marsha’s South Street. The owner’s goal for visitors: “They feel comfortable, they feel seen, they feel safe.” (Harry Smith/ Courtesy of Marsha’s)

“We can’t have competition, we’ve got to support each other,” she said. “Yes, we’re in a competitive field of where we want people to go, but I feel like Jen has a different idea of what she wants to do for her space than what we’re trying to do with our space. And in this community, it’s not about competition, it’s about collaborating and supporting each other.”

Owning a space on South Street also means a lot to Anderson because it was a space that helped shape her into the person she is today. She described this project as a way she can give back to the area’s future, for the better. 

“South Street has gone through a lot of waves,” she said. “Having the opportunity to buy a space on South Street meant that we could be a part of creating history in Philly, by not only opening the first women’s sports bar, but helping to revitalize South Street and bring her into a new existence, like a new evolution of South Street.”

Marsha’s hours for its opening weekend will be Friday 4 p.m. — kicking things off with a ribbon cutting — to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.