Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian on the rise of women's sports

>>> WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY. NOW FOR A LOOK AT INVESTING IN WOMEN'S SPORTS. THE PARIS GAMES AND MUCH MORE. WE'VE GOT ALEXIS OHANIAN, VENTURE CAPITALIST, AND FORMER EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF REDDIT. HE'S THE FOUNDER OF 776. INSTEAD OF JUMPING RIGHT IN WITH WHAT YOUR NEWEST NEWS IS IN TRACK AND FIELD, I REALLY WANT TO BACK THIS UP. I THINK YOU'RE A VISIONARY WHEN IT COMES TO -- >> I'LL TAKE THAT. >> -- WHEN IT COMES TO SEEING THE ABSOLUTE POWER AND STRENGTH OF WOMEN'S SPORTS. YOU'VE BEEN AN ADVOCATE FOR A LONG TIME. YOU'VE BEEN PUTTING MONEY BEHIND THOSE BETS FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND NOW THE REST OF THE WORLD IS STARTING TO CATCH UP WITH YOU. WHY DON'T WE TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW. THE GUESS THE OBVIOUS QUESTION IS HOW DID YOU KNOW WOMEN'S SPORTS WOULD BE BIG? >> 2019 I RAGE TWEETED. IT MADE NO SENSE TO ME THAT A TEAM COULD BE WORTH ONLY A FEW MILLION DOLLARS WHEN THE SPORT WAS GARNERING INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION EVERY FOUR YEARS, HOW COULD YOU KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING. THE ANSWER WAS MY INITIAL INVESTMENT IN ANGEL CITY, WHICH HAS ANNOUNCED A LARGE ROUND OF FUNDING FROM BOB AND WILLOW. THE CORE PHENOMENON HERE PROBABLY CAME FROM A CERTAIN SOMEONE I'M MARRIED TO, RIGHT? SERENA WILLIAMS IS THE PROTOTYPE FOR HOW YOU CAN SHOW WOMEN'S SPORTS IS AND CAN BE AND SHOULD BE ON THE SAME LEVEL AS MEN'S. YOU LOOK AT THOSE VIEWER NUMBERS, EVEN TO THIS DAY MORE AMERICANS WATCHED THE U.S. OPEN FINAL FOR THE WOMEN THAN THE MEN, AND THAT'S THE LEGACY, THE WIL WILLIAMS SISTERS, BILLIE JEAN KING AND EVEN ELSE. IT TAKES INVESTMENT, IT TAKES THEM NOT TREATING IT LIKE THE MEN'S VERSION OF THE SPORT. UNDERSTANDING WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE THESE ATHLETES, HOW TO SUPPORT THEM AND HOW TO BUILD. >> I THINK ONE OF THE HUGE PARTS OF THIS IS YOU PUT YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL CAP ON. PART OF IT HAS TO BE THE VALUATION PICTURE. YOU'RE LOOKING AT THINGS THAT ARE UNDERVALUED AND THEN YOU SHAKE THINGS UP A BIT. YOU MAKE IT MORE INTERESTING, MORE EXCITING. YOU CHANGE THINGS. WE COULD TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING IN TRACK. MAYBE THAT'S A GOOD WAY OF KIND OF GOING AT IT. >> FOR SURE. IT COSTS A MILLION DOLLARS TO BUY A FRANCHISE. MOST RECENTLY A TEAM PAID $53 MILLION. SO YOU CAN SEE THAT INCREASE OVER JUST THE LAST FOUR YEARS. PART OF THE UNDERSTANDING WAS WHEN FOLKS FILL AN ARENA AND WE GET 22,000 MAX CAPACITY REGULARLY FOR ANGEL CITY THEIR DOING IT WITH A DICHBFFERENT WHN WOMEN'S SPORTS. IT'S TIED INTO A CULTURAL TREND YOU'LL MORE LIKELY SEE ONLINE THAN THROUGH TRADITIONAL MEDIA, NO OFFENSE. AND THAT WAS OUR THINKING WITH WOMEN'S TRACK. I SAW THE WORLD PRETTY MUCH THE SAY WAY IN '19. HERE'S THIS SPORT WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE PAYING SO MUCH ATTENTION TO. WHAT ARE THEY DOING THE REST OF THE TIME. THERE WAS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO INVEST. THERE WAS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE THE LARGEST PRIZE IN THE HISTORY OF TRACK, OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, AND CREATE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE A CULTURAL EVEN AS MUCH AS SPORTING. >> WHY DID YOU THINK THE INFLECTION POINT WAS NOW? THE REASON I ASK THAT, YOU GO BACK IN TIME WHEN THE WNBA BEGAN, AND WE WOULD TAKE A LOT ABOUT HOW WE WERE AT THIS INFLECTION POINT AND SOMETHING WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. AND THEN IN TRUTH IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT NOW THAT HAS SHIFTED THIS WHOLE DYNAMIC? >> YOU KNOW, THE REDDIT GUY IS GOING TO TELL YOU, IT'S SOCIAL MEDIA, AND I WAS CALLING THIS SHOT THREE OR FOUR YEARS AGO, CHECK THE -- WHEN THE WOMEN WERE GIVEN A PITTANCE IN SUPPORT VERSUS THE MEN. THEY COULDN'T EVEN SAY FINAL FOUR BACK THEN. THE WOMEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA, THE INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS HAD FAR MORE FOLLOWERS THAN THE TOP MEN IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL. THAT WAS OBVIOUS THREE OR FOUR YEARS AGO. THAT IS WHERE ATTENTION IS. YOU GET SUPER STARS LIKE CAITLIN CL CLARK, ANGEL REECE TO LEVEL UP THE ATTENTION. IN THE ATTENTION ECONOMY, WE ARE FIGHTING TOOTH AND NAIL ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO GET SOMEONE TO PAY ATTENTION. YOU LOOK AT FOLLOWER ACCOUNTS AND TELLS YOU THE STORY. >> I THINK THAT'S A HUGE PART OF IT. YOU'RE VERY SMART ABOUT FINDING SUPERSTARS, BUILDING CHARACTERS THAT PEOPLE WANT TO FOLLOW AND GO ALONG WITH. AND YOU USE BUSINESS PRINCIPLES IN THIS, WHICH IS THE INCENTIVE STRUCTURE. YOU PAY EVERYBODY WHO'S GOING TO SHOW UP AT THIS TRACK MEET. >> YES, AND NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS CHARITY NOR SHOULD IT BE CHARITY. THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS, MAYBE THE MIND-SET HAS HELD BACK WOMEN'S SPORTS IN THE PAST. THIS IS ABOUT EXCELLENCE, ABOUT CELEBRATING IT. NOT ONLY IS IT ABOUT RECORD BREAKING PRIZE, BUT ALL THE REVENUE WE GENERATE, 10% WILL GET POOLED AND DISTRIBUTED EVENLY TO ALL 36 OF THE WOMEN WHO SHOW UP. THIS IS JUST STEP ONE, BUT WE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING THAT REMINDED PEOPLE EVEN AFTER THE OLYMPICS. >> $60,000 FOR THE FIRST PLACE. >> YES. >> I MEAN, THAT'S SOME BIG MONEY. >> KEEP IN MIND, THE TOP, TOP PRIZE AT THE END OF A NORMAL PROFESSIONAL SEASON IN THIS SPORT IS $30,000. I WASN'T DOING ANYTHING TERRIBLY CLEVER, JUST DOUBLING THE TOP PRIZE. >> WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE AUDIENCE FOR WOMEN'S SPORTS BROADLY, HOW MUCH DOES IT NEED TO COME FROM WOMEN? HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK IT NEEDS TO COME FROM MEN? THIS HAS BEEN A BIG TOPIC OF CONVERSATION. YOU LOOK AT THE STANDS AT AN NFL GAME, I THINK IT'S 70/30. BASKETBALL IS POTENTIALLY EVEN MORE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THIS IS IN THE U.S. THIS IS. SO HOW MUCH OF THIS -- WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHO'S GOING TO BE SITTING IN THE STANDS FOR WOMEN'S GAME, HOW MUCH IS IT MORE WOMEN IN IN THOSE STANDS AND HOW MUCH IS MORE MEN IN THOSE STANDS? >> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WILL SURPRISE YOU, WE SEE A GREAT REPRESENTATION NOT ONLY OF MEN AND WOMEN, PRETTY CLOSE TO 50/50, BUT ALSO SPREAD ACROSS DEMOGRAPHICS SPREAD ACROSS INCOME LEVELS AND IT'S A REFLECTION OF LOS ANGELES. I THINK WOMEN'S SPORTS BROADLY, THERE'S AN ENTRY POINT FOR WOMEN WHO ARE FINDING MORE AND MORE INTEREST IN SPORTS BROADLY BECAUSE MORE AND MORE CONTENT IS BEING CREATED AROUND IT. I ALSO THINK THERE ARE PLENTY OF MEN AND I KNOW THE GIRL DAD THING COMES UP OFTEN WITH ME, I HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS, BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF MEN WHO LOVE SPORTS WHO ARE FINDING WAYS TO TUNE IN BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ACCESSIBLE BEFORE AND FINDING SOMETHING THAT THEY REALLY LOVE AND THEY'RE GETTING TO SPEND TIME WITH THEIR KIDS, BOYS AND GIRLS AND REALIZING I LOVE SPORTS FOR THE STORIES, FOR THE EXCELLENCE, THE ATHLETICISM AND THE WOMEN'S GAME HAS IT TOO. I THINK YOU'LL SEE MORE AND MORE FOLKS SHOWING UP