Maddie Moran
Sports Editor
Major league volleyball is trying to make its start recently and I am all for it — however, I am not loving the way that leagues are going about it. For a while, the highest level of elite volleyball advertised to the masses was Division I collegiate volleyball. With Athletes Unlimited launching its inaugural season in 2021, more and more leagues have been pouring onto the professional volleyball scene.
Following the “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” movement and a rise in viewership, more leagues emerged, averaging one new league per year from 2024-2026. The Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) launched in January of 2024, followed by League One Volleyball (LOVB) and now a fourth league called Major League Volleyball is set to debut in 2026.
PVF has 8 teams: Omaha Supernovas, Atlanta Vibe, Orlando Valkyries, Grand Rapids Rise, Vegas Thrill, San Diego Mojo, Columbus Fury and their newest addition this year: Indy Ignite. LOVB has 6 teams: LOVB Atlanta, LOVB Houston, LOVB Madison, LOVB Salt Lake, LOVB Austin and LOVB Omaha. If the two leagues themselves weren’t split enough, two teams from opposing leagues share Atlanta and another two share Omaha.This is leading to a division of support.
A post by TOGETHXR, the minds behind the “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” movement, reads, “Women’s volleyball has skyrocketed in the U.S., with a historic rise in popularity, visibility, and investment making it one of the fastest growing sports in the country.” With this rise in popularity comes all of these leagues intending to support women’s professional volleyball, but in my experience, it only seems to be splitting their fanbase rather than building it.
If we keep expanding to different leagues, it doesn’t feel like major league volleyball anymore. Yet, if we were to combine and expand, adding more teams within one league, maybe this would be enough for the leagues to truly do what they originally intended for the sport and the young girls who grow up in this era.