The Virginia women’s basketball team is getting what the school calls a “multi-year transformational gift” from entrepreneur and philanthrop ist Alexis Ohanian.
Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams and was the founding control owner of the Angel City FC team in the NWSL, has a history of support for and investment in women’s athletics. He is also an alumnus of the University of Virginia, graduating in 2005.
The specific dollar amount of the gift was not released, but it is the largest in the history of the Virginia women’s basketball program. It will allow the program to be “a premier destination for female student-athletes while addressing the financial and competitive demands of this new era of college athletics,” the school said.
“Starting Angel City and seeing the wave of investment in women’s sports really has been inspiring,” Ohanian told ESPN. “Women’s basketball has popped up constantly on my radar, and lots of folks have been asking me about it.
“It’s my alma mater. I am in New York a lot for work and I live in Florida, so Charlottesville is an easy stop in between, so I’ll be catching quite a few games.”
Ohanian has been bullish on the potential of women’s sports for several years. He points out that as recently as 2019, it cost approximately $1 million to buy an expansion team in the NWSL. Contrast that to controlling stake in Angel City FC being sold in July to Willow Bay and Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, at a $250 million valuation.
“There was an under-investment in women’s sports, but also a mindset that it was not about excellence or business returns, it was about ‘charity,’ ” Ohanian said. “The curse of those low expectations really hampered the growth.”
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