Count Alexis Ohanian among the rich alums contributing to their alma mater’s NIL war chest.
The Reddit co-founder turned women’s sports investor, who graduated from Virginia in 2005, has become a major donor to the Cavaliers women’s basketball program in recent years.
The university, in December 2024, announced a “transformational gift in support of Virginia Women’s Basketball” from Ohanian but did not specify the amount. Ohanian and a Cavaliers spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on exactly how much he’s given.
Ohanian joins a long list of notable alumni who have given NIL money to their university including James Harden (Arizona State), Cody Campbell (Texas Tech), Michael Repole (St. John’s), and Phil Knight (Oregon), among others.
“UVA in particular really wanted to follow the rules of the road,” Ohanian told Front Office Sports on a recent episode of Portfolio Players. “We have an honor code, it’s [Thomas Jefferson’s] university. So I will give UVA credit. They really wanted to make sure there were clear rules of the road for how NIL could work. And as soon as that switch was flipped, and the judges ruled, I called up, I said, ‘Hey, I want to make UVA a contender, let me know what to do.’”
The Cavaliers haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2018 and are 3–1 to start the season. Since going 5–22 during the 2021–22 season, the program has hoovered around .500 in recent years, going 17–15 last year, its first winning season since 2016–17. (The men’s basketball program has been in nine NCAA Tournaments since 2014, and won the national championship in 2019.)
Ohanian said he considers NIL a win for women’s sports, but also sees the ramifications it will have along with revenue-sharing on the college sports scene.
“I think it will be a net positive. It has already been a positive in women’s sports, because the free market doesn’t care about your feelings, the free market just wants to put dollars to where it thinks it can generate value.”
On the other hand, Ohanian points out, the extra money for the most lucrative sports will put pressure on smaller sports at colleges across the country: “I think a lot of these smaller, less viable collegiate sports will suffer, and that’s a hard truth,” he said. “I think basketball will flourish. Football will flourish. I think athletics will suffer… I think this will force some universities to really figure out what they are about, what their why is, and for some more heavy sports programs, I hope it sort of resets what that program should be about. But I think long-term it will be positive. Medium-term now, we’re going to feel some pain, but short-term it’s been a huge win for women.”
