Serena Williams won’t let her daughter play pro sports until this happens

Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes in American history. But she’ll only let her daughter, Olympia, play American professional sports under one condition: Equal pay.

Speaking at ADWEEK’s Brandweek conference on Monday, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who shares two daughters with Williams, let audience members into the tennis legend’s mindset.

“We were watching the final of the World Cup in 2019 from our rented house in Wimbledon,” Ohanian said, via Hannah Sacks of People. “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, okay, challenge accepted.’ And that’s what motivated me to buy a team and help be a part of the change.”

Recently, Forbes released a study highlighting the gender wage gap in the United States. According to the study, women still earn 16% less than men on average — that’s 84 cents for every dollar a man makes.

There is no better evidence of the wage gap than the WNBA, which has seen a surge in viewership recently. Despite signing billion-dollar television deals, the largest active WNBA contract is owned by Dallas Wings forward Natasha Heyward, who signed a four-year, $898,700 in 2021.

The highest-paid NBA player, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum just signed a five-year deal worth $315 million in July. That’s 350 times what Heyward makes.

Meanwhile, players like Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky guard Angel Reese, the two rookie players who have brought excitement to the league, make between $73,000 and $76,000 this year, respectively.