Serena Williams has significantly enhanced the popularity of women’s tennis via her astonishing 27-year-long career. Her husband, Alexis Ohanian, on the other hand, is taking noteworthy steps to increase the popularity of another sport, women’s soccer. The Reddit cofounder has always been a women’s soccer fan and thus he decided to invest in the NWSL team, Angel City FC. Recently, he talked about the future of the NWSL has after its TV deals in 2023.

He focused on the numbers and the rise in viewership of women’s soccer, which has brought a lot of traffic, ensuring further lucrative TV deals in the future.

Alexis Ohanian vouches for NWSL amidst its rising popularity

The Reddit co-founder showed faith and confidence in the rising viewership and popularity of women’s soccer. The NWSL had signed a deal with CBS in 2020 and it was one of the very few American leagues that did not get affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, at the inaugural Challenge Cup, the viewership was 572,000. The top investor and joint-owner of Angel City FC stated, “When we were given CBS as the stage, we either competed with – matched or even outperformed – the MLS.” 

Moreover, instead of making any false claims, he relied on the numbers and stated, “Facts over feelings. When we’re put on that stage, the fans show up.” Furthermore, Ohanian confidently stated, “So I think we’re going to have a lot of good ammo to go into that negotiation.”

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Women’s soccer has gained a lot of popularity in recent times. Sponsorship is also increasing and the quality of matches has given a rise to the popularity of the sport.

How did Serena Williams contribute to the rise of women’s tennis?

In this matter, tennis leads by example. It is one of the few sports where the women’s category can rival, and at times, outperform men when it comes to viewer preference. Obviously, it was not like this since the inception of the sport. However, legendary women tennis players like Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Venus, and Serena Williams have contributed to the rise in popularity of women’s tennis over the years. Particularly, the epic rivalry between Navratilova and Evert started to shift the trend when it came to viewership and fan interest.

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Serena Williams, on the other hand, enhanced the popularity of the sport through her sheer dominance for more than two decades. Very few players could rival her for the biggest trophies, particularly when she was at her best. Moreover, she did not let others’ opinions dictate her performances and always gave her best on the court. She cemented her legacy after securing 23 Grand Slam titles, the most by any player, male or female, in the Open Era.