Serena Williams Makes Strong Statement About Vision for Equal Pay for Female Athletes

The tennis star and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, are encouraging change across the sports landscape.

Serena Williams / Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Since retiring from professional athletics, tennis icon Serena Williams has made it her mission to level the playing field—just about every playing field, it seems. That mission has taken the form of her eponymous venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, which is dedicated to providing VC funding to women and other underrepresented founders. But it has also taken the form of advocacy for equality in sports.

Much like her Serena Ventures mission (which centers around supporting women, in particular), her messaging around equality in sports is focused on helping to level the playing field for women in professional sporting endeavors. That means, of course, advancing the cause for equal pay across men’s and women’s sports.

Williams isn’t making a half-hearted case for equal pay, either. She’s putting her money where her mouth is, too. Her husband, Alexis Ohanian, proved as much during a speech he gave at Adweek’s Brandweek conference this week. “We were watching the final of the World Cup in 2019 from our rented house in Wimbledon,” he recounted on stage. “Olympia was running around in her Alex Morgan jersey, and I said, ‘Wouldn't it be great if she played on a national team one day?’ And Serena was like, ‘Not until they pay her what she’s worth.’ And I was like, ‘Touché, O.K., challenge accepted.’ And that’s what motivated me to buy a team and help be a part of the change.”

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The former professional tennis player wants nothing but the best for her two daughters, 7-year-old Olympia and 1-year-old Adira. She would, undoubtedly, love if her children followed in her own footsteps where professional sports are concerned—but it appears that she won’t let her children approach the sporting world on unequal footing.

Williams and Ohanian are practicing what they preach, too. In 2020, the entrepreneur and investor co-founded Angel City FC, a National Women’s Soccer League franchise based in Los Angeles (and the team that he referenced in his Adweek speech). Williams is also an investor in the team, alongside Lindsey Vonn, Natalie Portman, Sophia Bush and others.

In other words, the couple are trying to create change from within. Williams has never been one for empty words—she’s as active in her current business endeavors as she once was on the tennis court. We’re hopeful that her efforts in the sporting world and the business world alike will pay off much like her on-court performance once did.