Alexis Ohanian supports the Premier Volleyball League

Alexis Ohanian is expanding his investment portfolio in women’s sports with a new stake in women’s professional volleyball.

League One Volleyball (LOVB) announced Wednesday that Ohanian’s investment firm, Seven Seven Six, will lead the ownership group of a new professional team, LOVB Los Angeles Volleyball. The investment comes at a time when volleyball has seen rapid growth at all levels of play.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are excited to make LOVB the third jewel in the Seven Seven Six sports family in Los Angeles,” Ohanian said in a statement. “Volleyball is a natural addition to Southern California, which has already proven its embrace of new professional sports teams.”

Ohanian is also an investor in two other California teams: the NWSL’s Angel City FC and TGL’s LA Golf Club.

LOVB was founded in 2020 and features youth and professional volleyball. The league has media rights deals with ESPN and Comcast spinoff Versant, as well as notable sponsors like the Skims.

LOVB has raised more than $160 million through November from investors including gold medal skater Lindsey Vonn, former WNBA champion Candace Parker, and Boardroom Sports Holdings, founded by Kevin Durant.

Ohanian, A Reddit The co-founder and husband of tennis legend Serena Williams has become one of the biggest investors in women’s sports in recent years.

His fast-growing sports portfolio also includes a minority stake in the Chelsea Women’s Soccer Club as well as Athlos, a women’s track and field startup he founded in 2024. He is also a major donor to the women’s basketball program at his alma mater, the University of Virginia. Ohanian’s wife, Williams, is also an investor in the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo, which will begin play in 2026, and the 3-on-3 Unrivaled women’s basketball league.

Ohanian’s investment in volleyball comes at a time when the sport has seen an uptick in participation and viewership.

At the high school level, more than 479,000 girls participated in volleyball during the 2023-24 season, an all-time high, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

ESPN set record viewership for some women’s volleyball matches.

During LOVB’s inaugural season, the league sold out several games and merchandise sales exceeded $1 million, the league said.

Ohanian told CNBC in August that he believes women’s sports represent a tremendous business opportunity.

“We’re just starting to see what happens when these leagues and these teams and these athletes get the investment of resources and exposure and dollars,” Ohanian said.