Angered over a.m. WNBA Finals tip-off, Chicago bar owner opens early to fans anyway, to "cause a ruckus"

Babe's Sports Bar, a Chicago bar that shows only women's sports, is calling the WNBA's 11:30 a.m. weekday tip-off for Game 6 of the Finals "disrespectful and out of touch," and it's opening early Thursday to host fans anyway.

The bar, in Logan Square, will open at 9 a.m. as "Babe's Café" for the game between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries. The bar shows only women's teams. It called the start time a surprise, one that makes a weekday morning game tough on working fans and local small businesses, and said the game could be the championship game.

"Moving a championship game to mid-morning on a weekday is a disservice to the fans and the momentum of women's sports," Nora McConnell-Johnson, the bar's owner, said.

She said fans can sip a drink at the bar while "talking with other fans about how they would never do this to a professional men's league."

The bar's Instagram post announcing the change was even blunter. Being able to pivot "doesn't mean we're happy about it," the bar wrote, and it said it plans to "cause a ruckus."

The post drew thousands of likes and comments, according to the release, and many commenters said they plan to come. Several echoed the anger. One said a potential clinching game should not be played during business hours on a weekday. Another pointed to the league's recent surge in interest and criticized its leaders for seeming content to keep it a low-tier league.

McConnell-Johnson invited people to call in "working from Babe's," or to take the day off, since the bar will be open either way. The bar said it will set up a coworking space for fans who want to watch while they work.