“The goal is not to be the best women’s professional sports club,” said Alexis Ohanian, “The goal is to be the best sports franchise in the world.” From day one, Ohanian set this ambitious long-term goal for Angel City when it was launched in 2020, ahead of its on-pitch debut a couple of years later. And why wouldn’t he? After all, the husband of Serena Williams had invested a million dollars in something he truly believed in. Guess how things are today for the NWSL side? Well, how does a valuation of $300 million sound?
Yep, you heard it right. Witnessing a whopping 300x growth within the following years evidently showcases what the team is capable of. But from the looks of it, we don’t think the Los Angeles, California-based club will ever stop setting huge milestones. That’s because Ohanian is looking to achieve a number that hardly any women’s soccer dreams of; A billion-dollar mark! Well, that’s how confident he is about his team.
Interestingly, the assertion was made during the chat with Emma Graham at the recent Web Summit. Ohanian shared a minute-long clip on X where he shared his story of Angel City and how he aims to etch more history. The American entrepreneur began by recalling a time when an NWSL team had been sold for a mere $3 million. This was before Angel City FC had even been launched. In fact, at that point, Ohanian didn’t even used to follow the sport.
Yet, he was aware of Megan Rapinoe, one of the league’s star players, due to the dominance of the USWNT. What baffled him was the stark contrast in valuation, insisting that Rapinoe alone was worth at least that much annually in marketing alone. Hence, the idea that an entire franchise could be valued so low simply didn’t make sense to him. That realization led Alexis to take a pledge to own a professional women’s soccer team.
Had a blast with @themmagraham at @WebSummit talking about spotting business opps others overlook
Five years ago, I paid $1M to start a franchise in the @NWSL: @weareangelcity. Today, it’s worth ~$300M—the highest-valued team in women’s sports (so far).
In the next 5-6 years… pic.twitter.com/VuvDDJsNyr
— Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) February 26, 2025
And boy, did he follow through—driven by a single bold conviction: “One day, I believe, it can be worth a billion dollars,” said Ohanian. Having made such a big claim, this had to fire back at Serena Williams’ significant other. “The amount of pushback I got for saying that a women’s professional team could one day be worth a billion dollars looked so different from the response I got to saying that I believed Bitcoin could be a store of value.”
“And it just goes to show in this industry, venture capital, we get paid for being early and right. But there are still certain prejudices that hold people back from opportunities that could have done very well,” added Ohanian.
Today, the Reddit owner can look back and proudly say he made the right call. After all, Angel City is not just the most valuable team in the NWSL but throughout the women’s professional sports in the world.
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