Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian is a passionate advocate for women’s sports. He believes his wife is the “prototype” for “how one can show what women’s sports is and can be and should be on the same as men’s.” According to him, women athletes are now much more hungry and motivated and this is what makes people realize why women’s sports are so compelling and worth investment. Talking about investments, well recently, Alexis Ohanian has made the largest donation in Virginia women’s basketball history. How much is he going to invest in each year, though? Well, here lies an interesting fact!

According to various reports, The Virginia women’s basketball team will receive $776,000 from Alexis Ohanian in each of the next 4 years (i.e. $3,104,000). For those who are unaware, Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian graduated from the UVA McIntire School of Commerce in 2005 soon after which he co-founded Reddit. Interestingly, his association with his alma mater has continued to remain strong. Even last month he was spotted sitting courtside at John Paul Jones Arena for the Virginia women’s basketball season opener.

Being a graduate of this university, Alexis Ohanian now wants to help the Cavaliers restore their place near the top of the women’s college basketball world. During an interview with ESPN, the school revealed that the main goal of this donation is to establish Virginia’s women’s basketball program as a top destination for female athletes while meeting the financial and competitive challenges of college athletics. But why did Ohain choose to donate this amount? Is there any significance behind these numbers?

Playing with the numbers! Well, the number 776 has a special significance in his life. It is basically Ohanian’s venture capital firm which was founded in 2020. Seven Seven Six aims to drive positive change in the women’s sports industry. Through his firm, he organized an exclusive event for female athletes called, ATHLOS NYC which was held in September at Icahn Stadium. Not only that, even in April, Seven Seven Six made an investment in the Sports Bra, a Portland, Ore. sports bar focused on elevating events, to finance their expansion franchises.

Now, that we’ve understood the significance of investing this particular amount, let’s take a look at the history that’s hidden behind this name. Well, the name of his Seven Seven Six firm is inspired by 776 B.C.E, the year the Olympics started. Since the Olympics are the pinnacle of sports and equity so to be an Olympic champion is the closest thing in any industry to achieving an objective measure of greatness. So, the interest of capturing the same ideal that fueled the first Olympics, to achieve greatness but with the perspective to truly embrace equity, Seven Seven Six was born.

Speaking about his firm, Serena Williams‘ husband once said, “Seven Seven Six will be my legacy, and I hope all of you will join me and our team on this journey. We won’t be perfect, but we will keep striving to be better.” Surely, this massive investment in UVA’s Women’s basketball team is a prime example of seeking to get better with every coming year. What did Alexis Ohanian say about this investment?

“I am proud” – Serena Williams’ husband shares his pride in supporting this incredible initiative 

It’s a very emotional moment for Alexis Ohanian. During an interview with ESPN, Serena Williams’ husband was heard saying, “It’s probably the question I get the most often these days – When are you going to make moves in women’s basketball? I am proud to support the women’s program at my alma mater with this donation. It’s time to bring the nation’s best hoops talent to Charlottesville and win some championships in the next four years.” 

Even the official IG page of the University’s Basketball team shared a heartfelt note thanking Ohanian for his massive contribution. It said, “This is a game-changer. This is the transformation of the game which is the first of its kind, in the history of women’s basketball here at UVA that will help us recruit, retain, and also close the gap between current and future student-athletes. Thank you for all you do, you are someone who champions women’s sports and women in general. So Blessed to have you in our corner and in our family!“

Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian has been taking some really long strides on his mission to uplift women’s sport. However, his success story in this field also has another interesting chapter and that’s NWSL’s Angel City FC. He believes starting the journey with Angel City has helped him see the wave of investments in women’s sports more closely. Ohanian finds this very “interesting” and women’s basketball has been on his radar for quite some time now. So, he’s now very happy to have finally gotten the chance to accomplish his mission. Share your thoughts on this massive development in women’s basketball.