Tennis legend Serena Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have reportedly “submitted a bid to the [NFL’s] request for proposal seeking investors” for its planned pro flag football leagues, an NFL spokesperson told Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.
That spokesperson added that the NFL has received plenty of “interest and enthusiasm” in the venture.
Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal, meanwhile, reported that ten companies thus far have reportedly responded to the NFL’s request for “invest and operationalize” proposals regarding its flag football league.
One of those companies is Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture capital firm.
“It’s clear there’s a lot of interest in a pro flag league,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said during the league’s annual meeting. “We have been getting bids from people who want to invest in that, either financially, or invest in the operation of that. We’re hard at work, and I expect there will be progress soon.”
McCarthy noted that the NFL plans to invest in its proposed flag football league and sell its media rights, but wants to have external partners operate the league.
“[NFL owners are] seeing what’s happening with NWSL, and WNBA… and it’s like, Hold on a second, why would we give this up? If we don’t own it, we better develop it, and create an ownership, and I think that’s what you’re going to see,” Kansas City Chiefs president Mark Donovan told reporters. … You’re going to see us get aggressive in establishing the organizing bodies, the accreditations, so that someday there’s a professional flag team—I want to own that franchise if it’s Kansas City, right? I don’t want somebody else having that.”
As for Williams, the 43-year-old already has ties to the league as a minority owner of the Miami Dolphins alongside her sister, Venus. She also spoke to NFL owners and executives at the league’s annual meeting regarding women’s sports, taking part on a panel that also included WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, former NFL quarterback Eli Manning and Denver Broncos minority owner Mellody Hobson.
