Alexis Ohanian’s £20m bet on Chelsea FC Women: a new era for women’s football

May 18, 2025

(Image: Alexis Ohanian, Founder of VC firm Seven Seven Six)

Alexis Ohanian’s back on the pitch — this time in West London.

The Reddit co-founder and founder of venture capital firm Seven Seven Six has acquired a 10% stake in Chelsea FC Women for over £20m, valuing the club at more than £200m. It’s a headline-making investment that puts Chelsea at the top of the global table in women’s sports.

And this isn’t a one-off.

Ohanian is quickly emerging as one of the most visible investors in women’s sports - bringing capital, community, and culture to a field long undervalued by the market.

This stake isn’t just a show of support. It’s a calculated bet on the future of the women’s game. And it’s raising the bar for what investment, visibility, and value can look like in this space.

And for Ohanian, the power lies in building from first principles:

“…one of the great advantages of investing in women’s sports, you can invest from first principles, as it is a greenfield opportunity…”

Why Chelsea FC Women?

According to The Times, Ohanian beat out three rival bids — including one led by merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners - to secure the deal.

Chelsea FC Women’s decision to partner with Ohanian was likely driven by his strong track record and deep commitment to advancing women’s sports.

The women’s team was recently spun out as a standalone business under parent company BlueCo. All of Ohanian’s capital will go directly into the women’s side: infrastructure, talent, facilities, and staff. He’s also joining the board, focusing exclusively on growing the women’s business.

And as he recently shared in a podcast conversation with Chelsea FC Women CEO, Aki Mandhar:

“…When I think of what is to come, I get very, very excited. You all made it very easy on me, because as I said, Chelsea stands head and shoulders above… And I think that legacy of excellence is very, very compelling. And so I obviously want to be partnering with the very best to do it.. Chelsea Women is it…”

From Los Angeles to London

This latest move follows a winning streak. In 2020, Ohanian became a founding investor and lead backer of Angel City FC, the LA-based NWSL team he helped scale into a $250m+ powerhouse.

Speaking at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in March, Ohanian reflected:

“Five years ago, investing in women’s sports was unthinkable. Everyone told me I’d lose all my money - that it would never work. I’m very happy to prove them wrong.”

He’s also launched Athlos, a women-only track and field event, scheduled to return in October 2025.

The undervalued asset class

For decades, women’s sports have been underfunded and underestimated. That’s changing.

Kara Nortman, co-founder of Angel City FC and managing partner at Monarch Collective - which recently raised a $250m fund focused on women’s sports - puts it plainly:

“You’re buying into a market that’s heavily depressed… Women’s sports make up less than a tenth of a percent of the men’s sports ecosystem. So even if we grow to just 1%, that’s 10x upside…”

The billion-dollar club opportunity

Ohanian believes billion-dollar women’s football clubs are coming - and soon. The data backs him up.

In 2024, TV ad spend (US) on women’s sports hit $244m: a 139% year-over-year jump. And the fanbase isn’t just growing - it’s digital-first, highly engaged, and fiercely brand-loyal.

That’s why Ohanian believes we’ll see entirely new monetisation models emerge. And why the next wave of growth will be driven by creative, community-powered revenue streams.

Speaking at a Wall Street Journal panel at Cannes Lions last year, Ohanian put it plainly:

“Women control all consumer spending. They buy all the things…”

To him, women’s sports are more than a cause - they’re a tremendous business opportunity: an undervalued market hiding from view.

Brands targeting women

Women drive the majority of global consumer spending - from health to financial services and entertainment. They are the economy’s power base.

Ohanian sees women’s sports as the ultimate intersection of culture and commerce. For brands, this isn’t just about sponsorship - it’s strategy:

As he said at Cannes:

“Why else is the NFL trying to remind everyone how many female fans they have?”

Women’s sports offer brands a direct route to the most influential consumer segment- authentic, passionate, and loyal.

And the numbers don’t lie. On CNBC, Ohanian pointed to Chelsea FC Women:

“Look at the follower accounts of Chelsea FC Women: 4 million+ people have signed up. That’s community impact. That’s brand opportunity. If you’re another brand looking at this, there’s a lot of revenue opportunity…”

The digital-first fanbase

Women’s sports fans are mobile-led, content-driven, and community-minded. They don’t just watch - they stream highlights, follow players, create content, and rally online. This isn’t passive viewership; it’s participatory culture.

That culture hit a turning point in 2019 when the U.S. Women’s National Team won the World Cup and sparked a global equal pay movement. By 2022, they had secured a landmark agreement with the men’s team - a historic win that shifted not just policy, but global perception and investor interest.

Now, clubs like Chelsea FC Women are harnessing that momentum - not just to grow the game, but to redefine what success, influence, and value look like in sport.

Chelsea’s leadership edge

Aki Mandhar was appointed CEO of Chelsea FC Women in September 2024, following the club’s strategic separation from the men’s team.

A seasoned operator with leadership roles at The Telegraph, The Athletic, and MediaCom, she brings deep experience in brand-building, audience growth, and digital strategy - exactly what the next era of women’s football calls for.

Her mission is bold and ‘unapologetically ambitious’:

“It’s to be the number one sports team in women’s history. It’s not (just) about soccer—it’s about showing up. And we do it on the pitch, every day… It’s about the role we have within women’s sports and the access we give to young girls and boys.”

Mandhar is bringing a first-principles approach to the business of sport - placing high-performance health and athlete wellbeing at the core. Chelsea FC Women became the first UK club to hire a menstruation doctor, setting a new benchmark for innovation in the game.

But reshaping the future of women’s football takes more than elite infrastructure. It demands storytelling, digital innovation, global partnerships - and a platform built to connect with the next generation of fans and sponsors.

That’s where Mandhar’s background becomes a real advantage. She’s not just running a club - she’s scaling a modern sports business with cultural relevance and commercial reach.

Chelsea FC Women may be part of a legacy institution, but its trajectory is anything but traditional.

Investing in women, backing his daughters

In 2020, Ohanian invested $250,000 from a trust for his wife, Serena Williams (tennis champion & investor) and their daughters, Olympia and Adira, into Angel City FC - making them the youngest owners in professional sports.

When the club hit a $250m valuation, his daughters became multi-millionaires.

For Ohanian, this isn’t just about sport - it is about ownership, equity, and building long-term economic power for the next generation:

“Yes, proud girl dad, and yes, married to the GOAT, but the thing that drives my motivation here is just celebrating, rewarding and investing in excellence.”
— Forbes 30/50 Summit, March 2025.

And the timing couldn’t be better.

Just today, Chelsea FC Women clinched the Women’s FA Cup with a 3–0 victory at Wembley - securing a historic, unbeaten domestic treble. It’s a powerful validation of the club’s momentum on and off the pitch.

Ohanian knows how to pick the winners.

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

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