Alexis Ohanian knows how to build empires. Reddit. Initialized Capital. Angel City FC. Now, he’s turned his attention across the Atlantic. With a $26 million investment, Ohanian has bought a 10% stake in Chelsea FC Women—the most valuable women’s football team on Earth.

The move arrives just as Chelsea capped off a historic season: an unbeaten league campaign, a treble in domestic competition, and another packed Wembley for the Women’s final. But Ohanian’s ambitions aren’t just tied to the pitch.

He wants Chelsea to become “America’s team.” He wants a billion-dollar franchise.

For many in the football world, that phrase doesn’t land gently. The term “franchise” feels dissonant—corporate, clinical, distinctly un-football. To some supporters, it evokes the soulless churn of fast food chains more than the soul of a community club. Yet Ohanian’s words aren’t just bluster. They’re a blueprint.

A billion-dollar bet on visibility

Ohanian isn’t new to women’s sports. He helped launch Angel City FC in Los Angeles, backing it alongside Serena Williams, Natalie Portman, and other high-profile investors. That team sold for $250 million last year—proof that women’s sports can yield both cultural impact and commercial return.

In Chelsea, he sees a different kind of opportunity. A club with a trophy cabinet already bursting, a team with global reach, and a league on the cusp of something bigger. His investment, secured shortly after the club was spun off from the men’s side into its own entity, ensures his dollars go directly to the women’s operation.

“This will be a billion-dollar franchise one day and I hope my dollars, my pounds, can go towards that,” he said after the deal.

Ohanian’s interest isn’t passive. He’s taken a board seat. He went to Wembley with Serena to watch Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-0 in the FA Cup final. He posted photos of Chelsea kits with his children’s names stitched on the back. He’s leaning in.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor called the deal “a game-changing endorsement.” For her, it’s not just about funding, but messaging. “This investment is a game-changing endorsement for women’s game but also for young girls,” she said. “We want to make sure we are in a position to compete for the Champions League.”

Still, the reaction hasn’t been uniformly rosy.

Critics have questioned whether a team as dominant as Chelsea needs more capital when others in the Women’s struggle to stay afloat. Some fans bristle at the American branding strategy and see Ohanian’s involvement as more financial engineering than footballing passion.

There’s also concern about what this level of investment means for competitive balance. Chelsea is no longer just a football club. It’s a business asset with global ambitions—and that kind of clout can warp a league.

But that doesn’t mean the vision is wrong.

Women’s football has long operated on the margins, underfunded and under-promoted. If Ohanian’s money and the visibility that comes with it push the bar higher—if it forces other clubs to invest, if it draws new fans, if it gets girls dreaming—then maybe it’s worth the friction.

The question isn’t whether Chelsea Women can become “America’s team.” It’s whether the rest of the sport is ready to catch up.

As Ohanian put it, “These are the queens of global soccer and they’ve got the trophy case to prove it.” Now, he’s betting they can own the world.