FILE PHOTO: Alexis Ohanian poses for a photo on the red carpet of the ESPY Awards, in Los Angeles, U.S., July 11, 2024. REUTERS/Rory Carroll/File Photo
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian's latest big bet on women's sports kicks off on Thursday, as his novel, women's-only track event Athlos NYC hopes to open a new chapter for athletics in the United States.
Ohanian was the lead investor behind NWSL side Angel City FC, which became the world's most valuable women's sports franchise four years after its founding this summer with a landmark new ownership agreement that valued the team at $250 million.
He believes he can recreate that success on the track at Icahn Stadium, where he has lured some of the sport's brightest stars for Athlos' inaugural meet with super-sized prize money and an athlete-first approach.
"You just look at the follower counts, you look at the engagement. Women athletes - and in this example, with track - just are way more compelling," Ohanian told Reuters.
"I have a 'spidey sense' for where there are hyper-engaged communities of fans and women's sports has them in droves."
Six events will be contested across the meet, with the winners each pocketing $60,000 - twice the prize offered at the 2024 Diamond League finale - with a purse totaling $500,000. On top of that, 10% of all event revenues will be distributed to participants.
"I asked these women, I was like, 'Hey, so what is your top prize at the end of a season for winning?' And they said $30,000. And I said, 'Great, I'm going to double it for one single race'," Ohanian said.
Athlos arrives amid a broader push to better compensate athletes in the sport. World Athletics paid Olympic champions for the first time at the Paris Games, with $50,000 going to each gold medallist.
The Diamond League, long seen as the standard-bearer for professional athletics, announced last week that it would raise prize money for the 2025 season as rival events muscle in.
Retired American sprinting great Michael Johnson's new Grand Slam track - which was announced almost immediately after Ohanian's event - offers enormous paydays ranging from $100,000 to $10,000 for the circuit launching next year.
"It's a great sign when there are other people seeing what you're doing and racing to be a part of it too," Ohanian said.
'BIGGER THAN MYSELF'
Workers at Icahn Stadium were setting up for a party atmosphere on Wednesday , assembling the stage where Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion will perform at the meet, and competitors told reporters they expected something special.
"We have a stage right in the middle of the track – that’s not very typical for a track meet and I think it’s really exciting," said 200 metres Olympic champion Gabby Thomas.
"It's going to be an experience for the spectators. I think track really needs that."
Thomas is among the headliners, along with 1,500m world record holder Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, Dominican 400m Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino and American Masai Russell, who won the 100m hurdles in Paris.
Thomas, who also helped the United States to gold in the 4x100 and 4x400m relays in Paris, may have had an extraordinarily busy season but said she had no hesitation about adding one more meet to her agenda.
"This is bigger than myself and it’s bigger than this race," Thomas said.
"It’s about what we’re doing for women’s sports and what this event, in particular, means for women’s sport and for track and field."
Athlos NYC is set for Thursday at Icahn Stadium in New York.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)
