"Dragged NCAA about how dumb it was" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recalls criticizing no support for Caitlin Clark-led women's basketball
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently shared a post to say he had criticized what he termed the NCAA's failure to support women's basketball in the past, amid other criticisms of the organization. The Reddit co-founder shared a clip to back his claims.
The WNBA's popularity is significantly growing of late. For instance, the 2024 State Farm WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION saw a 133% increase in average viewership compared to 2023, with the network drawing 23.37 million unique viewers across its games and wrap shows. The presence of rising stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has also played a vital role in boosting the league's popularity.
Ohanian, a strong advocate for women's sports, has been highlighting the growing popularity of the WNBA and college basketball while also criticizing the NCAA. In 2021, for instance, he had made a barbed comment following news of the women's March Madness operating at a loss.
The tech entrepreneur recently shared a segment from his conversation with Fred Taylor, Ryan Clark, and Channing Crowder at the Super Bowl on X (formerly Twitter). Ohanian's caption read,
"In the age of social, female athletes have the edge. I've been saying this for 4 years when I dragged the NCAA about how dumb it was to not support women's basketball – here's another clip from the Super Bowl (before this current record-breaking @WNBA season) when I broke it down on @thepivot with @FredTaylorMade, @realrclark25, & @OfficialCrowder"
In the video, Ohanian spoke about female athletes thriving on social media, adding that they often outperform their male counterparts. He said,
"In the age of social if you look at the up-and-coming athletes in college and... let’s use college basketball right now. Run the numbers on followers. None of this is about what feels good, none of this is about charity. This is democracy. This is people clicking "follow" on the largest social network in the world and saying ‘ I would rather follow her, for instance, than this dude.’
"Female athletes have such an edge in social, because they create content, they create memes. We know women overperform as content creators than men. And they are going to be able to bring that in the market now with NIL. And it's an exciting time. But it's gonna look different, it should look different than the men's game. And it's going to take a little bit of entrepreneurial spirit to set them up for success."
Clark made a significant impact during her NCAA career. In the 2020-21 season, she averaged 26.6 points and 7.1 assists per game, earning the Big Ten Freshman of the Year title. In 2021, the 22-year-old also led the United States to a gold medal at the Under-19 World Championship, where she was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Meanwhile, Reese made her debut for Maryland on November 27, 2020, scoring a season-high 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 94–72 victory over Davidson at the Gulf Coast Challenge. Although she suffered a fracture during the season, she made a successful return in 2021, contributing to Maryland's Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. By the end of the regular season, she earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
Alexis Ohanian's wife, 23-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams, has previously expressed her interest in investing in a WNBA team in the future.
"It's on the women" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian on investing on women's sports based on social media trends
Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, recently discussed his interest in investing in women's sports, inspired by emerging internet trends. The Reddit co-founder asserted that the internet operates as a free market for attention, where women are increasingly capturing that attention. Ohanian said in an interview with Adweek,
"The internet is the free market of attention. Follower counts don’t care about your feelings. Every day you have to wake up and fight for attention, and where is it online? It’s on the women.”
Serena Williams' husband also leads the venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, which seeks to foster positive change in the women's sports industry. The firm is sponsoring the 776 Invitational, a women’s track event scheduled for September 26.