Alexis Ohanian entered the track and field space with a mission to transform how the sport is built, marketed, and experienced. Instead of chasing quick returns, he’s focused on creating a foundation strong enough to sustain a league model over time. With that vision, he collaborated with Sha’Carri Richardson, Tara Davis-Woodhall and Gabby Thomas to build a league for the women athletes. But it’s just an example of Ohanian’s long-term vision that goes beyond short-term losses.

On October 9, in a conversation with Rodney Green and Justin Gaitlin on the Ready Set Go podcast, Ohanian revealed that Athlos hasn’t really been profitable for him. He also claimed that it was highly unlikely for Athlos 2025 to turn profitable for him. He stated, “I know going into it, we have to operate at a loss to start. Our hope would be that by next year, the first year of the league, we are approaching breakeven. So that the following year, we could actually be profitable.” 

It’s not the short-term profit that Alexis Ohanian is after. He’s actually planning how to grow faster, be it with outside funding or adding more meets. Yes, adding more meets will also add more costs to the team. But it would directly reflect on the growth chart of the league. He continued, “It means our teams are very happy with the output. Or we’re increasing the depth. So, instead of making money for just three hours at an event, you’re making money for six.”  

Justin Gatlin shared this conversation on his Instagram. And in the caption, the Olympian penned, “You support people that make personal sacrifices that make others dreams come true!” To make things even more interesting, Ohanian hasn’t really brought in any investors into the game. However, he has welcomed Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and Tara Davis-Woodhall as the advisor-owner partners. 

Alexis Ohanian revealed how Athlos’ advisor-owners empowered the league’s vision

Talking to the media through a press conference, Ohanian had to weigh in on how the equity was shared amongst Richardson, Thomas, and Davis-Woodhall. But he didn’t dive into the specifics right away. Instead, he had a diplomatic answer planned. He said, “I’ll tell you this — we take a lot of inspiration from our friends over at Unrivaled. So, as we roll out the proper league with teams and everything else, you can expect a similar model where we want to make sure these athletes are fully incentivized and onboard.” 

In fact, being the advisor-owners of Athlos, the three Olympians helped with the feedbacks as the league was in the developmental stages. “Gabby, Sha’Carri and Tara represent a new generation of athletes who have put this sport on their shoulders and deserve to be compensated for being standard-bearers,” stated Ohanian.

He pointed out that the company has strong liquidity, able to project a shipload of revenue this year. But even though the team has quite a bit of capital to work with, they operate on one feature that sets them apart from other start-ups and newborn events like Grand Slam Track. Their approach is simple – set clear goals and run the events like a business. 

On top of that, Alexis Ohanian doesn’t really aim at building a successful company with hundreds of employees. What he really desires is building a great culture with a small team of highly efficient employees. And that’s the kind of mindset that has brought success to Athlos.