“Saw disparities in women's soccer”-Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian opens up on his decision to support women's sport as well as launch Athlos

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently shared his reasons for supporting women’s sports, including women’s soccer and athletics. Notably, Ohanian is the primary shareholder of Angel City FC, having acquired a stake in July 2020 alongside his wife and tennis legend Williams.

Founded in 2020, the football team debuted in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2022 and has since become the most valuable professional women’s sports team after Willow Bay and Bob Iger signed as controlling owners, completing a transaction that reportedly valued the club at $250 million this year.

Meanwhile, to promote the women’s track, Alexis Ohanian announced the launch of the 776 Invitational, later renamed Athlos NYC, in April 2024, which is the first women-only premier track competition.

Ahead of the commencement of the Athlos NYC, Alexis Ohanian joined the pre-race show, hosted by Serenity Douglas, Aisha Praught-Leer, and Talitha Diggs, via Citius Mag. The Reddit co-founder explained that while he wasn’t initially a fan of women’s sports, his thoughts changed when he started dating Serena Williams. He said: (54:10 onwards):

“What was so compelling was women's tennis was so exhilarating, so exciting, not just because I'm married to the GOAT (Serena Williams), but because it was actually just an amazing sport. You don't think twice. Of course, women's tennis is just popular in America as men's. But then I saw these disparities in things like women's soccer, where the women suddenly disappeared outside of the World Cup, but I still knew their names,” he said.

Following his investment in women's soccer, Alexis Ohanian eventually decided to invest in women's track to promote excellence through his platform as female athletes often don't get recognition beyond the Olympics, saying:

“So now imagine a year ago, I'm watching folks like Talitha [Diggs] going viral and I'm like, wait a minute, why? American women are known for a legacy of greatness. Full stop, right? I can market greatness all day long just like with women's soccer and for some reason, they seem to disappear outside of the Olympics. So, it was just pattern recognition,” Alexis Ohanian pointed out.

“But I was a sports fan first who found an amazing business opportunity that also happens to align with my values. But once you start getting into these sports you can't look away and part of it's because of the personalities that play. The actual humans doing it are awesome,” he further mentioned.

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A look into the inaugural edition winners of the Athlos NYC launched by Alexis Ohanian

Brittany Brown at Athlos NYC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Athlos/Getty Images for Athlos)

The women-only track meet, Athlos NYC, launched by Alexis Ohanian concluded at Icahn Stadium in New York, featuring six disciplines. Clocking a time of 22.18s, Brittany Brown claimed the title in one of the most anticipated races, 200m, producing an upset over the reigning Olympic champion Gabby Thomas (22.21s) in a close contest.

Since the Paris Olympics 200m bronze medalist Brown had earlier finished second in the 100m after losing to Ivorian sprinter Marie Josée Ta Lou-Smith, she took home the highest prize money at the Athlos NYC, collecting $85,000 - $60,000 from 200m and $25,000 from 100m.

In the 400m and 1500m, Marileidy Paulino and Faith Kipyegon lived up to their reputation, securing convincing wins by clocking times of 49.59s and 4:04.79. Former Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn took home $60,000 in the 100m hurdles. Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics silver medal winner Tsige Dugume bested the bronze medalist Mary Moraa to win the inaugural Athlos NYC in the 800m.