Co-Founder of Reddit and venture capitalist, Alexis Ohanian has set his sights on the challenge of changing the narrative around women’s football. While some may overlook women’s football, Ohanian sees the potential in the ever-growing game and wants to change its current perception for not only this generation, but the women and girls in the past and the future, who dedicate and have dedicated their lives to the game they love as well as the fans, who find joy in the sport.
Although Ohanian admits he’s not a dedicated English football fan, he found himself fully immersed in the excitement of the Women’s World Cup in 2019. He recalled having a discussion with former No.1 ranked tennis player and wife, Serena Williams regarding their daughter and how great it would be for her to play football at the highest level. Williams said:
“Not until they pay her what she’s worth.”
This comment goes to show how much women’s sports has consistently gone unnoticed, while players and athletes work tirelessly to perform at a high standard. Following this conversation, Ohanian saw this as a point of change, which led to his investment in Angel City Football Club making him the largest shareholder before the club was sold in 2024 for £192.3m.
However, his investments have not stopped there. In May of this year, Ohanian bought a £20m stake in Chelsea Women’s Football Club who are dominating the Women’s Super League with 8 titles to their name. Chelsea Executive, Aki Mandhar believes that:
“This investment is validation of the club’s past success but more importantly it is yet another proof point in the market of the persistent growth and potential of women’s football.”
Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea Women’s manager, explained the potential impact that this venture can have, by saying that not only does it support their on-field ambitions, but it also enables them to become role models to other clubs on the positive results that come from supporting their women’s team. Not only does this mean getting on-field results, but also being a model to young girls, so that when they look at Chelsea, they dream of being one of their players in the future.
As much as capital investments can make a difference to the way in which women’s football teams operate, that is just one component of his mission to change the narrative. Ohanian actively shows his support by attending Chelsea’s games. Simply making a physical effort shows he is committed to his objective. Ohanian is a figurehead of men supporting women’s sports which sets a good example to others whose opinions on women’s sports may differ.
Moving on to matters off the pitch, Alexis Ohanian has involved in initiatives that support women’s health. In particular, the conversation around menstrual and hormonal cycles. His firm Seven Seven Six has partnered with Aavia- a women’s health company that provides tools to help individuals to manage their hormone health.
He has also shed light on studies that link the menstrual cycle with the risk of injury to female athletes. It is clear to see that these topics resonate with him as his wife Serena Williams was a phenomenal athlete and wants to lead by example for his daughter’s generation too. Speaking on these topics that some may consider “taboo”, proves that he is not only backing women’s sports, he is also backing women
