"Stop treating women's sports as a charity" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian
Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams' husband, stood up for women's sports, saying that it generates profit and attention and should thus not be treated as a charity.
Ohanian made the statement on Twitter accompanied by a screenshot of an article from The Hill that discussed bigger viewership for the women's category compared to the men's in the finals of last year's US Open.
"Last year. The men are awesome, too. But stop treating women's sports as a charity and treat it like the profit or attention-center it is," said Ohanian on Twitter.
Breaking: @weareangelcity owner triggers a bunch of folks 😁😁😁 #InvestInWomensSports because facts don't care about feelings and more Americans watch the @usopen women than men... Football is next... twitter.com/espn/status/15…
This came as a response to criticism that stemmed from his message to his wife Williams in a video posted by ESPN on the same social media platform.
In the video, Ohanian started by saying that he was recording it for the sports network because of a promise it made to cover more women's sports, then proceeded to congratulate the six-time US Open champion.
"I'm recording this for ESPN because they promised me they are going to cover more women's sports. Congratulations, Serena. You changed the world. This is just the start," said Ohanian.
ESPN posted the video with the caption, "Always striving to be better."
Always striving to be better 🤝
@alexisohanian also had a message for his wife, #SerenaWilliams ❤️ https://t.co/OsZH0lof1L
Ohanian then reposted the video on his own Twitter account, saying that "he triggered a bunch of folks." He then backed up his stance by using the hashtag #InvestInWomensSports before adding his reasons: "facts don't care about feelings" as more Americans tune in to watch the women more than the men in the US Open.
Breaking: @weareangelcity owner triggers a bunch of folks 😁😁😁 #InvestInWomensSports because facts don't care about feelings and more Americans watch the @usopen women than men... Football is next... twitter.com/espn/status/15…
Ohanian also expressed his appreciation to ESPN for posting his video and encouraged them to "break another record" in the US Open viewership this year.
@espn I appreciate y'all posting this! And the coverage keeps soaring! I want you to break another record with USOpen viewers this year https://t.co/uxAjhinBcL
Husband Alexis Ohanian and daughter Olympia show support to Serena Williams in US Open 1R match
Serena Williams' fans came in droves, supporting the soon-to-retire legend in the last Grand Slam of the year.
The 29,402-strong crowd, the largest attendance ever recorded for an evening session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, included a former American president, A-list actors and sports stars. But none probably mattered more to Serena than the ones sitting in her box - her family.
Her husband Alexis was present along with their daughter Olympia, who sported a similar bejewelled black outfit as her mom and a beaded hairstyle reminiscent of Williams' look when she won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 1999.
Like mother, like daughter ❤️
Olympia channeled @serenawilliams at the #USOpen https://t.co/pOxGbWYB4o
In a post-match interview with Gayle King, Serena emphasized her family as the reason she is evolving away from tennis.
"I think now is the time. I have a family and there's other chapters in life. I call it evolution," Serena Williams said.