A House of Glamour & Strength

Photo by Sam Su

A House of Glamour & Strength

"The capitalist in me, not the feminist in me, is why I'm so excited about this"

-Alexis Ohanian quoted in Forbes Magazine

Words Jeff Merrill

In July, an article appeared in Forbes Magazine carrying the byline of the Executive VP of Forbes Media and great granddaughter of the magazine’s founder, Moira Forbes titled: Why Alexis Ohanian Sees Gold in Women’s Track.

The article delved into Ohanian’s bonafides as a founder and venture capitalist with an eye for success, having identified and funded over 40 unicorns (a start-up to reach a valuation over $1 billion). It then highlighted Ohanian’s investments in women’s sports, including an ownership stake in Angel City FC, and a reality show starring NWSL players called: “The Offseason.” Towards the bottom of the article, Forbes included a striking quote from the mogul:

"The capitalist in me, not the feminist in me, is why I'm so excited about this… It goes without saying the feminist side of me thinks this is cool. But it's the capitalist reason that I think is why you're seeing a lot of growth right now."

Last week, we put out a piece speculating track’s entry into an era where m(b)illionaires want to own track meets and don’t really care too much about the return. This quote says otherwise.

In the wake of Athlos, Alexis Ohanian and his team at 776 have seen a wave of appreciation from track fans, industry folks and track-focused coverage outlets, but no one appreciated the work more than the 35 athletes who competed in the female-only track meet that took place under the lights at Icahn Stadium in New York City last Thursday. They had never been treated like royalty at a track meet before. A private reveal party at Tiffany’s for the $25,000 tiara given to event winners, photoshoots in Times Square, Gift baskets with Wyn Beauty products, hair and make-up appointments, an after party (hosted by The Offseason) in New York City.

Athlos is yet another (big) bet made by Ohanian on women’s sports. The Reddit cofounder, venture capitalist and husband of Serena Williams staged one of the most expensive track meets in the world, one which gave over $600,000 to competitors through the prize purse and hosted a Megan the Stallion concert to close out the evening of racing. Celebs like Sean Evans of Hot Ones fame, Flavor Flave, Shonda Rhimes and Nathalie Emmanuel roamed trackside and were found by broadcast cameras, which streamed on ESPN+, Fubo, X and Youtube.

“He [Ohanian] sees Athlos as a platform to build star power and tell compelling stories.”

-Forbes

What has left track insiders scratching their heads is just how his investment, in a single track meet specifically, will be recouped. Track meets are notoriously not monstrous revenue drivers. The main source of income for major sports like football, basketball and baseball are broadcasting deals for live competitions. Broadcast deals are all about leverage. If the network wants the eyeballs your program brings, they will pay you. If you want visibility for your program that the network offers, you pay the network, in some form or fashion. One form is through advertising support from sponsors, who also desire eyeballs. Track, which is not a major sport in the US, has not harnessed the eyeballs of late. It has been reported that NBC did not even bother to bid to keep US streaming rights to the Diamond League, the sport’s current top professional league, that will appear to US audiences in 2025 on the niche streaming platform Flotrack, which costs $30 per month.

The stands at Icahn Stadium were not empty for Athlos, but they were not full either. This is not shocking, as it is incredibly rare for first-time meets to sell out, but the number of people present reflects another truth about track and field currently in the United States - that there are few, if any meets, especially on the pro level, and even paired with a Megan the Stallion concert, that actually do pack the stands.

A sustainable approach typically requires a longer ramp up; a steady investment that coincides with consumer / viewer growth. When it comes to the chicken or the egg question of what comes first: increased interest or increased investment, fans of struggling sports are often advocating for the shot in the arm. But if enough increased interest doesn’t immediately follow, how long does one shovel coal into the increased investment train?

The event has prompted more questions. After a pretty good meet that captured the track world’s attention largely due to the incredible amount of investment, how will Ohanian and his team capitalize on the momentum? Is a game-changing track meet the end goal for this particular offshoot of Ohanian’s big bet on women’s sports? Or is it a part of a greater plan?

An industry insider speculated that Ohanian could eye starting a professional women’s track team of sorts. This is a difficult proposition, however, as track athletes have separate endorsement deals with companies that require them to wear their apparel. If Athlos were to have a team, they would likely have to partner with a sole footwear and apparel company that would outfit all of their athletes, unless Ohanian can persuade the footwear and apparel giants to alter their practices. Who knows what could happen? The track world isn’t used to dealing with big fish from outside of known waters.

Although it would provide an outlet for visibility throughout the year, the ceiling for the team approach still seems too limiting in the impact that it could have on women’s sports.

Far be it from me to tell Alexis Ohanian what to do, he’s the unicorn finder, and he has a lot on his plate and plans already, no doubt… and maybe he’s already in phase 2 of what I think would be a pretty good move for his bet, but if he’s not, maybe he’ll consider.

I think Athlos should become a female-focused sports and talent agency.

Since the rise of social media, there has been an increasing frustration amongst athletes dedicated to pursuing the top level of the sport with the discrepancy in what brands are willing to pay ‘pro’ athletes and what they are willing to pay influencers.

Hannah Belles explored this tension in her article in Trail Runner which featured this tweet from World Champion trail runner Grayson Murphy:

Both influencers and sponsored athletes are paid by a brand for brand exposure, but lately, Olympics aside, brands have been favoring influencers a bit more. Athletes get paid largely through multi-year contracts that run through a brand’s Sports Marketing department. Influencers are paid usually through a different budget, coming out of a Brand Marketing wing, which, as Belles points out, could be an allotment of funds given to a creative agency that is then paid to influencers. Influencers have been paid more because they tend to have appeal that reaches beyond pro track fandom. Pro track athletes have appeal with fans of the pro sport, but that is currently not a big crowd. The athletes can be typecast as one-dimensional and unrelatable to the casual hobby jogger, making it difficult to break out and bridge gaps to new audiences.

The world of athlete contracts is also entrenched and shrouded in secrecy. Contracts are not public, and negotiations are conducted between the large footwear and apparel brands and track-focused sports agencies who represent athletes.

A handful of athletes at the very top of the sport have a sport’s agent who works within the industry to secure running-related contracts and starting line spots in big races, and they also have a talent agent who works to secure deals beyond the sport, in a game of capitalizing on the footholds of fame beyond the track world and trying to grow it.

The sport’s agency world and how brand’s sports marketing departments negotiate with them is primed for disruption, but it will take someone with a foot in both worlds. The disruptive entity could be a valuable tool for the women’s sports movement as a whole.

The women’s sports movement has something that men’s sports do not, it is a real movement with purpose driving growth. Track, relatively speaking, is one of the more gender equal sports out there, with respect to the prize money offered to both men and women, the equal opportunity at top level meets, and the broadcast time allotted to each gender classification. Other sports like soccer and basketball are attempting to bridge enormous gaps between women and men in pay, publicity and coverage. These gaps are likely where Ohanian sees the growth potential. Looking at women’s sports as a whole merges all of the gaps in each respective sport between men and women into one delta between men’s sport and women’s sport.

The push to elevate women’s sports transcends a single sport and it connects them all together in a unifying goal, to raise the status of female athletes to that of men’s and empower the next generation. Athlos as a women’s only track meet was a part of the women’s sports movement as much as if not more than it was a part of the track movement.

“The north star for everything we do, always has to tell the stories of our athletes; every minute they’re not on the track.” - Ohanian to Forbes

With Alexis Ohanian’s connections outside of the track world, not only could he and his partners create more endorsement and appearance opportunities outside of the traditional track world, if they were to represent female athletes of other sports, they could create a mutual support system throughout women’s sports and reshape the value and image of female athletes across the board. WNBA, NWSL, snowboarding and fencing stars could be seen trackside as de facto teammates being represented by the same agency, pushing the women’s sports movement forward, and inviting new and different audiences to jump on the bandwagon. Ambassadors, if you will, of glamour and strength, visible examples of how women and girls can compete and participate in sports in their own unique ways… and be active fans of other sports. The agency could make calculated decisions to get athletes into new spaces and tell their stories, increasing their value and that of the other athletes they represent.

Vogue Magazine covered Athlos. That kind of attention isn’t normal outside of the Olympics. It is not for lack of trying, but it takes someone with power and connections to push the agenda. Dame Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue attended the wedding of Ohanian and Serena Williams. The power to bring a high-end fashion magazine to a track meet is one that can make connections across industries in order to increase value. Bridging industries is what it takes to go mainstream, and turn a track star into an icon.

What is an athlete paid by a brand if not an influencer? It benefits the agency representing the athlete to make them as influential as possible. An influential female athlete increases the visibility and power of women’s sports. Serena Williams had this impact on tennis, bringing new audiences to the court and in turn pushing women’s sports forward. The Caitlin Clark phenomenon in basketball is another example. Attendance at Indiana Fever games this season has quadrupled since Clark’s arrival, and whether you are a basketball fan or not, you know her name. It is linked with greatness.

And what about Athlos as a track meet? It is common practice for sports agents in the track world to act as meet directors, propping up meets to get the athletes they represent visibility and an opportunity to secure qualifying marks. From the buzz generated by Athlos, Ohanian would check those boxes and then some for athletes his outfit would represent. The shift to Athlos the agency would make Athlos the meet a showcase for athletes that have been hyped all year, and a red carpet gala for female athletes of other sports, who could be seen sitting trackside with Sean Evans of Hot Ones fame.

An Athlos Agency would be a unifying force in the movement to elevate women’s sports and a unicorn in sports and talent representation. It would be a way for Ohanian to connect his investments in different sports to create one engine, pushing the movement forward in a bet to make speed, strength and agility fashionable, to portray female athletes as multi-faceted icons, and to build influence in and out of sport(s) that will grow because of increased star power.

I bet athletes would take his calls.