“All Americans should experience” – Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian reveals why he got booed in London after becoming Chelsea Women co-owner

 
Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian reveals why he got booed in London | Image Source: Getty

Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, recently shared a story from his trip to London, where he’s currently staying with Serena and their daughters, Olympia and Adira. While handling business for Chelsea F.C. Women, he ended up getting booed at a local pub.

Ohanian, a proud advocate for women’s sports, was chatting with an investor when he started encouraging a few women nearby to become Chelsea F.C. Women fans. That’s when a woman at another table, who happened to be an Arsenal supporter, booed him playfully

The Reddit co-founder later shared the story on X (formerly Twitter), saying the whole exchange was wholesome. What stood out to him was just how passionate people in the UK are about women’s sports, something he wishes was more common back in the U.S.

“At a pub here in London yesterday evening meeting another investor and the ladies beside us asked about our convo (women’s football) and I asked if they were fans of any clubs, they said, ‘No, not really.’ So I proceeded to pitch them on becoming @ChelseaFCW supporters, they were amenable and then a lady at ANOTHER table interjected and made a friendly “boo” gesture. She was an Arsenal Women’s supporter,” Serena Williams’ husband wrote.

“There’s something unique and very special about how HIGH-DENSITY the football fandom is here in England. It’s not just passionate as hell, it’s deep and everywhere. Love that. All Americans should experience this at some point,” he added.

Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian reveals how his wife tried to stop him from investing in women’s soccer


Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams pictured together | Image Source: Getty

Apart from his stake in Chelsea F.C. Women, Alexis Ohanian was also the founding investor of Angel City FC, a Los Angeles-based team that joined the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2022–the top tier of women’s soccer in the U.S. In 2024, the club made headlines by becoming the most valuable women’s professional sports team in the world following a major takeover deal.

However, it wasn’t an easy start for Alexis Ohanian when he first considered investing in women’s soccer. The first person to oppose the idea was Serena Williams herself.

“When I first told Serena I was gonna buy or start a women’s soccer team here in the States, she actually tried to talk me out of it, because I think she had been so exposed to the infrastructure around women’s sports,” Ohanian told CNN Sports.

“Because of her lived experience, she actually was trying to talk me out of it because she had to kick down a lot of doors,” he added.

Since the investment, Ohanian, along with Serena Williams and their daughter Olympia, has actively shown support for Chelsea and attended the Women’s FA Cup final in May, where the club defeated Manchester United.