“Invest in women's sports” - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian urges as Coco Gauff's US Open final gets better viewership than Novak Djokovic's
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently urged his followers on social media to invest in women's sports after learning that the US Open final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka had more viewers than the Novak Djokovic-Daniil Medvedev summit clash.
According to data released by SportsTVRatings for the USA, 3.422 million viewers tuned in for the Gauff-Sabalenka clash on Saturday, September 9, against 2.321 million for the Djokovic-Medvedev contest the following day.
Ohanian is a leading investor in Angel City FC, which plays in the National Women's Soccer League. He used the opportunity to reiterate his viewpoint regarding the female sports industry.
"Facts > Feelings. US viewership of @USOpen finals: Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka: 3.422 million. Novak Djokovic vs Daniil Medvedev: 2.321 million. The free market speaks (again). Invest in Women's Sports. @weareangelcity was just the start for me..." he tweeted.
One of the users on X (formerly Twitter) argued that the number was achieved because an American was playing in the women's final. Ohanian responded to the tweet by writing:
"Spoiler: the US viewership for the women trump the men in the USOpen final Every. Single. Year."
He further strengthened his claim by comparing viewership records of the men's Wimbledon final and the US Open women's decider on Saturday.
"Cope harder, folks. The Wimbledon MEN'S FINAL set records with 3.2M viewers -- trailing only Djokovic-Roger Federer in 2019 (3.83M) as the most-watched Wimbledon singles final in more than a decade. And this USOpen Women's Final was still watched by more Americans," Ohanian tweeted.
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian was inspired by his daughter Olympia to invest in Angel City FC
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian tied the knot on November 16, 2017, a little over a month after they had their first daughter, Olympia. In August this year, the couple welcomed their second daughter Adira River.
Ohanian, the co-founder of social media platform Reddit, recently revealed that his daughter inspired him to co-found and lead the investments in Angel City FC.
"A big part of the reason why I started Angel City FC was because Olympia was running around, this is 2019 in a Alex Morgan jersey," he said.
He recalled that after seeing Olympia wearing Alex Morgan's jersey, he turned to his wife Serena Williams, and said:
"Hey, wouldn't it be nice one day if Olympia played on the national team?' And without missing a beat, Serena said, 'Not until she's paid what she's worth.' And I said, 'Alright, challenge accepted'."