Philadelphia women’s sports bar Marsha’s to close

Marsha’s, Philadelphia’s first bar focused on women’s sports, will close after its final weekend, owner Chivonn Anderson announced. The bar is open October 16-18, with Sunday, October 18, its final day of operation. Anderson said in an Instagram announcement that the business would close for good after serving the community for a little more than a year. She also said she hoped someone would step in to fill the void. Marsha’s opened on South Street in September 2025 and was named for LGBTQ activist Marsha P. Johnson. The bar was designed as a place to watch women’s sports and serve Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community. Anderson said the idea came after she could not find a local bar willing to show the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Its opening drew strong interest, with a line reportedly stretching around the block. The closure follows public allegations by former manager Olivia Rhodes, who said the workplace was hostile to female and minority employees. Rhodes also alleged that a manager made disparaging remarks about women and nonbinary staff. Anderson called Rhodes’s allegations false and said she disputed her account of the bar’s workplace culture. The reporting provided no...