LOVB got SPANX.
More on that later, but it’s a really big deal for the fledgling pro volleyball league that begins play in January.
League One Volleyball has franchises, six of them, in Austin, Atlanta, Houston, Madison, Omaha, and Salt Lake City, all — not coincidentally — tied in with at least one of its youth volleyball clubs.
LOVB has coaches and players, including nine of the 12 women on the USA Paris Olympics roster.
It’s full steam ahead for a venture that will offer America two competing women’s pro volleyball leagues positioned to go head to head in 2025.
No wonder chief operating officer Rosie Spaulding is excited.
Women’s sports, especially volleyball, are on an all-time high in every possible way, and LOVB is positioned to capitalize in a big way.
“We feel that now even more than four years ago when we thought that was the right time when there was a small handful of us working on the idea,” Spaulding said.
“I was excited about it then and even more so now that women’s sports — and one day I hope you don’t have to say women’s sports — are doing so well and that volleyball is the leading game.”
While the Pro Volleyball Federation got underway this past January, LOVB continued to methodically prepare for its launch.
“We’ve built this very intentionally, from the beginning in 2020 when we started, this idea of building a grass-roots community league,” Spaulding said. “The club community is thriving. We’ve got 54 clubs — the number is changing — across 22 states. As soon as we got into January 2024 I was so excited, because, yes! This year!”
Indeed. LOVB will have exhibitions in 2024 and start its 16-match season in January. In between, at the high-level, prestigious Triple Crown girls club tournament in Kansas City in February, the teams will convene for an in-season tournament.
We visited with Spaulding earlier this month in Arlington, Texas, at the Volleyball Nations League stop.
“The goal is to make this a sustainable league and we want to be around for the long haul,” Spaulding said. “There’s been a lot of intentionality around the way we built it.”
Spaulding said the 10-year LOVB plan was “to expand in year three with another two teams, and at that point go into a more traditional home and away match schedule.”
So six teams in 2025, the same six in 2026, and then eight in 2027.
“That could accelerate,” Spaulding admitted.
The recently concluded inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation season included seven franchises, including ones in Omaha and Atlanta.
While PVF, which has an entirely different ownership/corporate structure, might have gotten a head start, LOVB got to observe and learn.
“It’s very encouraging to see multiple entities jumping into this space,” Spaulding said, noting as well the fall Athletes Unlimited women’s volleyball season. “One thing that was good to see for PVF is that people were showing up for matches.
“For sure it was good to see that. It shows some level of proof of concept for pro volleyball that we thought was there that was good to see.”
Of course, are there enough fans to support both teams in Omaha and Atlanta?
“We started this a long time ago and were pretty intentional about where we put our cities,” Spaulding said. “I think there were 28 criteria that we looked at and we looked at many, many cities and fairly quickly got down to a short list of 13.
“And from that 13 came the six. We looked at many different criteria, whether it was the commercial viability of other sports, other women’s sports, volleyball, that kind of thing. Logistics and importantly our clubs.”
Spaulding was not prepared to say where the teams will play in their respective cities, but said it will be announced “soon. It’s not far off. We have venues contracted for the six cities and now we’re nailing down the schedule.”
Some of the matches on that schedule will be shown on ESPN outlets. That is one of many advantages LOVB has over PVF. The two leagues are modeled remarkably differently, with PVF franchises controlled and run by owners, while LOVB owns all the teams. LOVB has investors — some quite notable, on both the club and pro side — but the league owns the teams.
“We think it’s an advantageous way to start, when you look at MLS and many other leagues that have started this way. PWHL (Pro Women’s Hockey League) is a good recent example. Many modern leagues start out as a single entity and branch out from there,” Spaulding said.
“That’s the approach we’ve taken. Again, that’s the way we believe is best to start to be sustainable for the long haul. I don’t say that might not change in the future, but we wanted to start out that way.”
Salaries for the new league will vary. Veteran stars, for example, will make more than rookies. There will also be a prize pool.
“I can’t speak to what that sum will be, but there will be positional bonuses and MVP awards,” Spaulding said.
Another LOVB vs. PVF advantage is star power.
Those nine Olympians — setters Jordyn Poulter and Lauren Carlini, middles Haleigh Washington and Chiaka Ogbogu, outsides Jordan Larson and Kelsey Cook, and opposites Jordan Thompson and Annie Drews, and libero Justine Wong-Orantes, plus alternates Micha Hancock and Anna Stevenson Hall — give LOVB instant international player name recognition.
And some of the other signees are quite impressive, including current and former national-teamers Danielle Cuttino, Zoe Fleck, Kayla Haneline, Madi Kingdon Rishel, Carli Lloyd, and Sarah Wilhite Parsons.
Former NCAA stars include Madi Bugg, Dani Drews, Logan Eggleston, Audrianna Fitzmorris, Serena Gray, Alexis Hart, Amber Igiede, Claire Hoffman Tia Jimerson, Roni Jones-Perry, Mary Lake, and Lauren Stivrins. There are international standouts, too.
(Click here for the players page on the LOVB website.)
All six coaches have been named, including two current USA Olympic assistants in Matt Fuerbringer (LOVB Madison) and Tama Miyashiro (Salt Lake). Former Kansas State coach Susie Frtiz will coach LOVB Omaha, and internationals will guide the other three, Massimo Barbolini in Houston, Marco Bonitta in Houston and Paulo Coco in Atlanta.
(Click here for more on all six coaches.)
There are, of course, sponsors and partnerships. LOVB will wear Adidas and play with a Mikasa ball.
And then there’s SPANX, which, as LOVB noted in a news release, “marks SPANX’s first partnership in professional sports. The partnership will kick off with a series of initiatives aimed at supporting LOVB athletes through various stages of their journeys, from youth to professional. As part of this collaboration, LOVB pro athletes will be outfitted in SPANX apparel for pre-season events and public appearances beginning this summer.
“As we set out to change the game for the girls and women who play volleyball, we’re proud to partner with a brand like SPANX that has long championed women to live their lives confidently,” said Katlyn Gao, CEO and founder of LOVB. “We share a collective mission to invest in, elevate, and empower women, and we look forward to working together to provide our athletes with the support and visibility they deserve.”
Most significant is that SPANX is a sponsor from outside volleyball, a sport notorious for staying solely within itself for marketing and promotion. SPANX describes itself as a “brand for women, by women.”
So it’s T-minus six months for LOVB, which appears on track for a blockbuster beginning.
“Things come up every day. As you can imagine, there’s a lot when you start thinking about it all,” Spaulding said.
“The commercial side, sponsorships, media, merchandise, ticketing, and all the sport things. There’s a lot and on any given day there are things that pop up and bumps in the road, but mostly I’m excited to be in the place where we are able to start sharing all the great work that’s been going on for months and years, so that feels really good.
“And to be building the teams, as well.”
