The Billion Dollar Shift in Women’s Sports (Featuring Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian)

The Rise of Women's Sports Investment

• 💡 Alexis Ohanian's journey into women's sports began with a viral 2019 tweet, identifying an undervalued opportunity in the NWSL due to low team valuations despite popular athletes.
• 🚀 He co-founded Angel City FC, which has become the most valuable women's soccer team in America, demonstrating significant growth and market potential.
• 🎯 Ohanian launched Athlos, a women's-only professional track and field competition, aiming to create a "Formula 1 league" for the sport and elevate its profile beyond the Olympics.

Proving Business Success and Values

• ✅ He counters accusations of "virtue signaling" by highlighting the proven business success in women's sports, citing revenue, attendance, and viewership growth.
• 🔑 Ohanian reflected on his 2020 resignation from Reddit's board, emphasizing his commitment to aligning business with values and advocating for diversity and change.
• 📈 A key lesson learned was his regret over not acquiring the entire NWSL in 2019 to build it as a technology-driven company, recognizing the missed opportunity for efficiency.

Navigating the Digital Content Landscape

• 🧠 He recalled early debates about OpenAI scraping Reddit's data for its non-profit, expressing his instinct that the valuable, structured human data should not have been given away freely.
• ⚠️ Ohanian voiced concerns about the "dead internet theory" and the increasing prevalence of fake or AI-generated content online, posing a challenge for platforms to ensure authenticity.
• 🛠️ To address this, he is partnering with Kevin Rose to resurrect Dig.com, focusing on building a human-first social platform with AI-assisted moderator tools.

Future of Tech and Human Connection

• 🤝 The new Dig.com aims to implement "proof of humanity" features, potentially using user account ratings to help consumers discern between verified human content and less reliable sources.
• 🌌 Ohanian's venture firm, 776, invests in forward-thinking companies like Stoke Space, which is developing 100% reusable rockets to dramatically reduce space travel costs.
• 🎶 He also supports Airbuds, an app for passively sharing music with friends, which he sees as a generational response to the toxic aspects of social media, fostering genuine connection.