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Venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian has revealed the monumental viewership the ATHLOS track meet garnered across all partnering media platforms, which is more than Caitlyn Clark's WNBA debut record for Indiana Fever.
Business mogul Alexis Ohanian is basking on the success of the first edition of his ATHLOS Track meet, of which the number of viewers across all media platforms surpassed the record-breaking viewership of Caitlyn Clark's WNBA debut for Indiana Fever.
The inaugural ATHLOS track meet took place on September 26 at the Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City and was a one-night-only event that had some of the fastest women in the world including Olympic champions and World Record holders meet for a track showdown unlike any other.
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Offering the largest-ever purse for any women-only competition, it was sponsored by Ohanian- cofounder of Reddit and husband to tennis legend Serena Williams. The women-only competition modernized the sport by combining "competition with entertainment, including a performance by top musician Megan Thee Stallion after the last race, and drew “near-universal praise” from participants and fans globally.
With six races lined up, the 100mH, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m, saw each race winner take home $60,000, second-place earners $25,000, and third place claiming $10,000, with $8,000 for fourth, $5,000 for fifth, and $2,500 for sixth place.
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Following the smashing outcome, Ohanian announced via his X page the groundbreaking media viewership the meet garnered across all media platforms equivalent to 3 million views - making it one of the highest in track and field history and significantly more than WNBA debut of Indiana Fever's star player Clark, watched by 2.1 million viewers.
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For context, ESPN’s broadcast of the Connecticut Sun’s game against Clark and the Indiana Fever had the highest viewership for a WNBA game on the network. The Sun’s 92-71 win over the Fever in Clark’s WNBA debut on the league’s opening night drew an average of 2.1 million viewers on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+, including a high of 2.3 million viewers between 7:45 p.m. and 7:59 p.m.
This topped ESPN’s previous mark of nearly 1.5 million viewers for a Phoenix Mercury-Connecticut Sun game on May 22, 2004, in Diana Taurasi’s rookie season.
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13:21 - 04.10.2024
'It's disappointing' - ATHLOS boss Alexis Ohanian calls out Michael Johnson on upsetting 'athlete-friendly' option given to female participants
An unhealthy option by Michael Johnson given to some athletes that competed at the inaugural ATHLOS meet in New York didn't sit well with ATHLOS founder Alexis Ohanian.
Announcing the monumental achievement by his team with a video post, Ohanian captioned:
"3 MILLION. That's right—3 *million* viewers saw @Athlos around the world, across our streaming partners @ESPN, @dazngroup, @YouTube, & @X. Amazing job. Credit to these incredible athletes. To the team that put this together. To everybody for watching and supporting."
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Also, in the video, the venture capitalist said fans should anticipate phase 2 next year, which will be bigger and better.
Top athletes such as Paris Olympic champion's Gabby Thomas, Faith Kipyegon, and Marileidy Paulinho competed at the meet with many more stars expected to join next year.
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