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Portland’s Rose Quarter was flooded this weekend with an estimated 15,000 women’s basketball fans for the March Madness NCAA Tournament. And if they couldn’t catch the games live at Moda Center, they were probably down the street watching on one of the seven screens inside Spirit of 77—or peering through the sports bar’s windows from the ever-growing line outside.
From Oregon State’s win kicking off the Sweet 16 on Friday morning to UConn’s victory Saturday evening, Spirit of 77 remained packed with “College Hoops Watch Party” attendees. The two-day, all-ages pop-up event, co-hosted by the women’s Sports Bra and sponsored by Aflac and women’s sports media company TOGETHXR, featured appearances by WNBA stars Sydney Colson, Theresa Plaisance, Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike, Elena Delle Donne and Aliyah Boston.
Everything at Spirit of 77—the walls, the beer glasses, the napkins, the blue basketballs in the bar’s hoop arcade game—was decked out in the College Hoops Watch Party’s logo. There was even a specialty cocktail menu—a gin-based Slam Duck and a TGXR Buzzer Beater vodka-grapefruit number—although most patrons seemed to stick with beer.
Apart from the widespread Aflac merch—free little duck stuffed animals and trucker hats everywhere—there was no clear fan favorite in the crowd on that Saturday afternoon. Whether it was a squad of the coolest ladies you’ve ever seen repping seemingly vintage Baylor University gear, a woman wearing a “Gay for Women’s Basketball” T-shirt, or a guy who was there to “ask [his] sister’s favorite player a question,” which he did—everyone was there to show their support for women’s basketball.
At halftime during Saturday’s Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Colorado Buffaloes game, which Iowa won 89–68, WNBA athletes Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics) and Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever) answered questions from fans at the bar.
When asked what motivates her, Delle Donne, currently taking a break from basketball, told the crowd: “For me, my light has always been my sister. She has severe special needs—she can’t speak, she can’t see—so, really anything I do along my journey has been to be her voice.”
Delle Donne also voiced her support for the University of South Carolina’s Gamecocks in this year’s March Madness tournament: “They’re gonna go all the way,” she said.
But the real highlight of the watch party was when Las Vegas Aces’ Sydney Colson brought a fan’s baby onstage, held her above her head Lion King style, and presented her to a bar full of cheering fans. Said baby remained onstage in Colson’s arms as they all continued answering questions. It was precious.
If you missed the watch party, you can still catch the rest of the NCAA Tournament madness at The Sports Bra on Northeast Broadway—which is throwing an Elite 8 Watch Party on Monday, April 1, to celebrate the bar’s second anniversary—and at Spirit of 77 now through April 7.