Serena Williams teams with Caitlin Clark to talk value of women's sports with NFL owners

Two GOATs, one message: Serena Williams recently teamed up with WNBA star Caitlin Clark to talk up the value of women’s sports to NFL owners.

The two generational talents were in Palm Beach, Fla. last week to speak on a panel at the league’s annual meeting about “the changing face of sports” and its impact on the NFL. But Williams’ chief message to executives was that the talent pool, and skill, of women athletes have not changed at all in the face of increasing windfall for both athletes and teams.

“I think that we’ve had so many amazing women athletes for so long, but you guys just noticed, and that’s all it is,” Williams said, noting that she and sister, Venus Williams, often out-drew men’s tennis in television viewership when they played.

“The men just finally noticed that women have been amazing for 50 years, 60 years,” she said.

Read more: Nine of the Top 15 highest-paid female athletes in 2024 were women’s tennis players

The former world No. 1 and 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year were joined by two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning to also talk about the potential of a professional men’s and women’s flag football league—a non-tackle version of football that will be played at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, for which NFL commissioner Roger Goodell noted “a lot of interest.”

“It’s just investing in us,” Williams continued. “When we see what it does, investing in women, what we can do, there’s an opportunity there for lots of growth.”

Read more: Coco Gauff invests in Unrivaled women’s basketball league

She knows of what she speaks: Since retiring, the 23-time Grand Slam champion has committed to supporting startups to her venture capital firm Serena Ventures, and has also been adding to her sports portfolio. Already a minority owner of the Miami Dolphins with Venus since 2009, Williams, her husband Alexis Ohanian, and their first-born daughter Olympia have been in the ownership group of Angel City FC in the National Women’s Soccer League since 2020. In March, she joined the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, which will begin play in the WNBA in 2026.

And Williams’ personal investments might soon include one of those women’s professional flag football teams Goodell was alluding to, if recent media reports are to be believed.

Read more: Serena Williams joins ownership group of Toronto Tempo WNBA team

According to *Bloomberg*, one of the companies interested is 776, a venture capital firm started by Ohanian and Williams, as are other groups associated with rapper Ice Cube and retired Super Bowl champion turned talk show host Michael Strahan.