Why Alexis Ohanian Bet on Women's Sports Before Everyone Else | The Deal

Investment Thesis & Origin

• In March 2019, Alexis Ohanian posted a viral tweet arguing that women's soccer teams with top-tier athletes like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan were severely undervalued, noting a valuation of only $3 million despite high global viewership potential.
• Ohanian posited that attention is the primary currency in the modern economy; since women athletes command millions of social media followers, their teams possess inherent market value that traditional ownership structures ignored.
• He launched Angel City FC in the NWSL in January 2020 with an initial investment of slightly over $1 million, projecting a path to a billion-dollar valuation within a decade.

Current Portfolio & Asset Valuations

• Ohanian's portfolio includes Angel City FC (NWSL), the Los Angeles Women's Volleyball team, TGL (men's and women's leagues), and a newly launched track and field league.
• Ohanian stated he expects the aggregate value of his women's sports teams to eventually exceed the market capitalization of Reddit within 10 years.
• The Golden State Valkyries (WNBA) reached a billion-dollar valuation in approximately 1.5 years, becoming the fastest sports franchise to hit this milestone, though this is partially attributed to the Golden State Warriors premium.
• The Valkyries generated approximately $80 million in revenue during their first season, a figure Ohanian notes is significant even before applying standard revenue multiples.

Market Dynamics & Financial Metrics

• Ohanian estimates the U.S. women's sports market is currently in the "third or fourth inning," whereas the global market remains in the "first inning."
• The primary investment metric is player-driven engagement; Ohanian uses the "tattoo test" as a proxy for brand loyalty, where fans tattooing a logo signifies deep attachment to the specific athlete rather than just the franchise.
• Revenue models rely heavily on brand partnerships in the absence of massive legacy media deals, with DoorDash serving as Angel City's first seven-figure front-of-kit partner based on access to high-engagement follower counts.
• Ohanian anticipates that women's teams will reach profitability and cash-flow positivity as operational inefficiencies are resolved through technology adoption, similar to the early growth phases of the NBA and NFL.

Technological Disruption & AI Contrast

• Ohanian identifies women's sports as the "ultimate anti-AI bet," arguing that the human element of live competition and struggle provides value that synthetic content cannot replicate.
• He predicts a cultural shift in the next 5–10 years where audiences yearn more for "in-real-life" (IRL) communal experiences as digital content becomes increasingly synthetic and algorithmically optimized for dopamine.
• Current sports operations suffer from obsolete software stacks; Ohanian cites instances where the "best-in-class" tools for major teams were so outdated he refused to use them, prompting the creation of new infrastructure solutions like the photography/video platform Scoreplay.
• The emergence of women's teams has created a new market for sports tech, as new owners prioritize modern software for fan engagement and operational efficiency rather than relying on legacy systems.

Challenges & Future Outlook

• The primary business challenge is market fragmentation; unlike the "Big Four" men's leagues, women's sports lack a critical mass of unified media inventory, making it difficult for brands to secure broad advertising reach without multiple team partnerships.
• Ohanian is actively recruiting successful operators from the tech sector to serve as owners, aiming to shift the mindset from tax-loss harvesting to building enterprises with high enterprise value.
• He predicts expansion fees for emerging leagues (e.g., volleyball) will rise significantly, noting that current fees are in the "low tens of millions."
• A specific growth catalyst identified is the increasing willingness of major networks (ESPN, ABC) to prioritize women's sports in primetime slots based on viewership data, such as the WNBA game featuring Caitlin Clark which drew 3.2 million viewers, surpassing average Sunday Night Baseball ratings.

Advice for Investors

• Ohanian recommends interested parties start as Limited Partners (LPs) in existing teams to gain education and exposure without the burden of day-to-day operations.
• He emphasizes the necessity of finding owners who view the venture as a profit-driven business rather than a charitable endeavor, citing the mindset shift required to value enterprise value over tax write-offs.
• He notes that the "first mover" advantage is diminishing as established tech entrepreneurs begin to recognize the clear economic arbitrage in the sector.