Alexis Ohanian’s new bet on women’s track has one thing in common with his Angel City investment
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Kim Kardashian's private equity firm is slow to raise funds, the Supreme Court considers emergency abortions, and Alexis Ohanian backs another women's sport. Have a wonderful Wednesday!
- Race is on. Investor and Angel City owner Alexis Ohanian's latest bet is on another sport: women's track. The Reddit cofounder, who invests in early-stage startups through his firm Seven Seven Six, is backing female runners with a commitment to build a new kind of U.S.-based competition.
The 776 Invitational will be a new (for now, one-time) competition with a record purse: $60,000 for first place finishers, $25,000 for second place, and $10,000 for third place in each event. (The current largest first-place prize in the U.S. is $30,000.) Seven Seven Six says the size of the total investment will reach at least $500,000, with the exact total to be confirmed as all events are announced.
Ohanian's investment is inspired, in some ways, by his investment in the Los Angeles-based women's soccer team Angel City. Like women's soccer, women's track is a sport where the players aren't competing for resources and attention against better-known American male athletes. While the WNBA often gets compared to the NBA on everything from ticket sales to salaries, track and U.S. soccer are two sports that can grow without the pressure of that comparison.
At the Business of Women's Sports Summit in New York yesterday, Ohanian told me he realized in 2019, before founding Angel City, that he couldn't "think of American soccer greatness without thinking of women." "That was why women's soccer was so attractive," he added. "And it's similarly why doing a track event in America makes so much sense. Because we know that audience is hungry."
Ohanian started paying close attention to women's track around a year ago. "The emotional roller coaster happens in seconds," he said of the sport's appeal.
In partnership with Olympian Gabby Thomas, Ohanian envisioned a track event that would attract people outside of the Olympics every four years—and not only for the competition on the track. The 776 Invitational will have music and DJs and a focus on the attendee experience. He compares it to the Kentucky Derby: "I realized people go all over the world to see little dudes on horses that don't even care outside of that one day because of the vibes. Because they want to drink mint juleps and vibe...So what if we created an event that if they weren't into running, they would want to go to just because it's fun?"
Ohanian has been a major booster of women's sports over the past few years, from his investment in Angel City to his public support of his wife, tennis legend Serena Williams. This week, his firm also announced an investment in Portland-based women's sports bar the Sports Bra, which will pursue a nationwide expansion.
"I felt the same way with starting Angel City," Ohanian said of his track investment. "I can market greatness all day long to America."
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
