Draft:League One Volleyball

  • Comment: I have merged some of this page into LOVB Pro, but will leave this draft up since it covers the league's owner instead of just the league. JTP (talkcontribs) 01:01, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: This draft has information that is not in the article and should be added to the article. The article has information that is not in this draft. Please compare and combine the draft and the article.
    You may ask for advice about comparing and combining a draft and an article at the Teahouse. Robert McClenon (talk) 06:33, 28 July 2024 (UTC)

League One Volleyball

edit

League One Volleyball (LOVB pronounced “love”) is an American youth-to-pro organization, with a women’s indoor professional league starting in November 2024.[1]

History

League One Volleyball was founded in 2020 by business leaders Katlyn Gao and Peter Hirschmann, and volleyball Olympian Kevin Wong to be a holistic ecosystem for athletes to play volleyball from club to pro, and provide players the opportunity to play professional volleyball in the United States.[2]

LOVB raised $16.75 million in its first round[3], and $35 million in Series B funding led by Left Lane Capital. Other investors include Ares Management, Billie Jean King, Lindsey Vonn, Candace Parker, Jordyn Poulter, Amy Schumer, Amy Griffin, Linda Henry, Jayson Tatum, Chelsea Handler and Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman's Boardroom Sports Holdings. [4]

Youth Clubs

LOVB's youth business includes 58 club locations in 24 states, with over 14,000 youth athletes and 3000 coaches. These clubs provide volleyball coaching and preparation for team competition for youth ages 12-18 interested in playing travel volleyball.[5]

Pro League and Team

The inaugural LOVB season will include six teams, including LOVB Atlanta, LOVB Austin, LOVB Houston, LOVB Madison, LOVB Omaha and LOVB Salt Lake.

For the 2024 Paris Olympics, 9 of the 12 members of the Women’s Indoor Olympic team are LOVB athletes. They include Kelsey Robinson Cook, Justine Wong-Orantes, Haleigh Washington, Annie Drews, Lauren Carlini, Jordan Thompson, Jordan Larson, Chiaka Ogbogu, and Jordyn Poulter[6]

Broadcast

For its inaugural season, all 60 LOVB matches will be broadcast or streamed. ESPN has secured the media rights to broadcast 10 matches and stream 18 additional across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN+.[7]

Sponsors

LOVB commercial partners in its inaugural pro league season include Adidas [8], SPANX [9], Mikasa and ESPN. Skmsail (talk) 02:57, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

  1. ^ "League One Volleyball raised 35M in Series B Funding". The Gist. September 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Feinswog, Lee (June 25, 2024). "Exciting times for LOVB as it approaches inaugural 2025 pro volleyball season". Volleyball Magazine.
  3. ^ Kelly, Jason (September 28, 2022). "Kevin Durant, Billie Jean King Back New Pro Volleyball League". Bloomberg.
  4. ^ Chappell, Bill (October 4, 2024). "Women's Pro Volleyball League Doubles Its Funding Thanks to Big Name Investors". NPR.
  5. ^ Stych, Anne (September 27, 2023). "Pro Volleyball Prepares for Launch with $35 Million in Series B Funding". The Business Journal.
  6. ^ "LOVB Employs 75% of USA Volleyball Roster for Paris 2024". The Gist. June 7, 2024.
  7. ^ Conlon, Sean (May 9, 2024). "ESPN, League One Volleyball sign media deal for inaugural pro season". CNBC.
  8. ^ Pelit, Asli (June 17, 2024). "Adidas, League One Volleyball Ink Multi-Year Partnership". Sportico.
  9. ^ Lockwood, Lisa (June 19, 2024). "Spanx to Outfit Pro Volleyball Players of League One Volleyball". Women's Wear Daily.