December 1, 2025 • 43 mins
Serve’s up!
Welcome to our exciting new series, She’s Not Next She’s Now. We’ll dig into eight different new and emerging women’s sports, discussing the history of how we got here, the current state of the game, and what comes next.
And it’s not just co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Lauren Tuiskula driving the conversation; we’ll also be chatting with the executives, players, and fans who make these leagues and sports what they are today.
For today’s episode, we’re bump, set, spiking into the world of pro indoor women’s volleyball just as the NCAA volleyball tournament begins. You’ll hear from LOVB Houston star and Olympian Jordan Thompson, four-time Olympian and LOVB Nebraska legend Jordan Larson, two-time Olympian and LOVB Salt Lake standout Jordyn Poulter, LOVB’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Stephanie Martin, and a big volleyball fan from our GIST membership community, Carolina P. Aces all around.
Show notes:
She's Not Next She's Now: The GIST of Pro Women's Hockey
More on The GIST:
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Welcome to our exciting new series, She’s Not Next She’s Now. We’ll dig into eight different new and emerging women’s sports, discussing the history of how we got here, the current state of the game, and what comes next.
And it’s not just co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Lauren Tuiskula driving the conversation; we’ll also be chatting with the executives, players, and fans who make these leagues and sports what they are today.
For today’s episode, we’re bump, set, spiking into the world of pro indoor women’s volleyball just as the NCAA volleyball tournament begins. You’ll hear from LOVB Houston star and Olympian Jordan Thompson, four-time Olympian and LOVB Nebraska legend Jordan Larson, two-time Olympian and LOVB Salt Lake standout Jordyn Poulter, LOVB’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Stephanie Martin, and a big volleyball fan from our GIST membership community, Carolina P. Aces all around.
Show notes:
She's Not Next She's Now: The GIST of Pro Women's Hockey
More on The GIST:
🎧 Subscribe: thegistsports.com/subscribepod
✉️ Email: pod@thegistsports.com
📷 Instagram: @thegistca @thegistusa
🐦 X: @thegistpod
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
What is up, y'all, and Happy Monday. Welcome to the
second episode of our exciting new series, She's Not Next,
She's Now, where we break down the Gist on emerging
women's sports and the leagues that are developing around them.
We're co hosts. I'm Ellen Hislob, co founder of The
Gist and co host of the Gist of It podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
And I'm Lauren Tuscala, the Gist Associate Managing Editor. We
are so pumped to be with you for part two
of this eight part series in case you missed the
first episode. Each week, we will be discussing a different
new and emerging women's sport and the leagues that really
make up that sport. So we're talking about the history
of how we got to where we are now, we're
talking about the current state of the game, and of
course we will take a look at what comes next
(00:50):
and kind of predict what we think could happen in
the future. And the reason that we wanted to launch
this podcast is we are really witnessing so much real
time change in women's sports and we wanted to capture
or what was happening as it's going down. We hear
the phrase all the time. It's not a moment, it
is a movement, and we really wanted to capture what
was happening.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yes, and it won't just be us driving the conversation,
which I love. I feel like we have a good
grasp of what's happening at a high level in the landscape,
but I feel like, especially in these emerging spaces, we
do need to go right to the source to understand
what really is truly going on. And so with all
of these conversations, we've brought in executives, We've brought in players,
(01:30):
We've brought in fans to really figure out from them
what they think is kind of happening with the sport,
where they think the sport's going, what they think the
sport can be improving upon. And so I think having
those voices in these conversations has really enriched I think
even my perspective on so many of these sports that
we're going to be talking.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
About same here.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It's been so cool to hear at firsthand, and oftentimes
they might have a similar take, but just hearing the
way they phrase it and the way they're reacting to things,
it's really cool. It helps shape how you feel about
things and to have those perspectives, so it's super cool
to put them all together in this conversation. So episode one,
we will link it in the show notes. It's already out.
We covered the gist of pro women's hockey and some
of the people we talked to. We talked to Seattle
(02:11):
tour and stars Hillary Knight, we talked to Vancouver Golden
Eyes star Sarah Nurse, we talked to executives, we talked
to fans. It was such a fun episode and to
pull those conversations together, so we will link that in
the show notes. But today for episode two, we're taking
it to the court. We're talking all things indoor pro
women's volleyball, and that is an important stipulation. We're talking
indoor pro. There's a lot to get into in the
(02:33):
volleyball landscape, but we're we're going to narrow down and
focus on that specifically.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, And I think that's such a good distinction because
beach volleyball, I feel like has been around for such
a long time. I think we automatically think of it
from an Olympic perspective, but then I think we can
look at things like the AVP Tour, which has done
so well over decades really, and so it feels like
(02:57):
the beach volleyball side is very different than the indoor
volleyball side of things. And when it comes to women's
sports right now, it's the pro indoor volleyball space that's
seeing this rapid change in growth.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, so we.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Want to narrow there and we'll talk a little bit
about Europe as well, because I think indoor pro has
been around for a while in Europe and some of
the athletes we talked to got into that in their
experience playing overseas and now having the opportunity to play stateside.
So yes, we're putting that caveat at indoor pro women's volleyball.
And of course, again, like we said, it's not just
me and Ellen driving this conversation. We talked to some
(03:31):
absolute volleyball legends for this, not one, not two, but
three Jordans we got to talk to. If you want
your kid to be good at volleyball, Ellen, maybe this
is for you. Name your child Jordan, because they will
be good at volleyball.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I literally was like, unfortunately, this poor girl is going
to be really short a but also I was thinking
the exact same thing Lareen, and as I came in
to record this episode with you today. I was like, oh,
maybe I could name my kid Jordan, but you know
what is Tea. It's actually the name of one of
my em Oh you can't then, so we can't be
doing that. But he very good at volleyball. Wow, actually
(04:07):
really good volleyball players and quite tall. So there's something
about Jordan's and volleyball and being tall that's in the water.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
She could be a libero.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Even if exactly that would be awesome, That could be great.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah, so a lot of Jordan's.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
We talked to AU volleyball champion, Olympian and League one
Volleyball Houston star Jordan Thompson, four time Olympian and Love
Nebraska legend Jordan Larson, and one more Jordan for you,
two time Olympian Love Salt Lake star Jordan Pulter. So
those are the athletes we got to talk to you
for this conversation. They were all fantastic and so generous
with her time and really gave us a lot of
(04:40):
great insights for this conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
All the Jordans, and we also had an opportunity to
chat with League one Volleyball's chief Marketing and Communications officer
Stephanie Martin. Steph Martin is on the executive side. She
is a genius. We've had the opportunity to work with
her through the GIST and she's awesome. And then we
also chatted with the huge volleyball fran from our premium
(05:03):
membership community, the Just Plus Carolina pe So, Carolina, thank
you so much for representing the fans on this one.
And again for anyone listening to the podcast who's not
familiar with the just Plus, go to our website. If
you're a listener of the pod, I think you'll want
to be a part of this membership community. It's really
really fun. So that kind of sets everything up. I
thank Laura for now so without further ado, let's get
(05:25):
into this conversation on pro women's indoor volleyball.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Time for the meat of today's episode.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And as we kind of alluded to at the top,
in preparing for today's podcast, Ellen and I both had
some conversations about what exactly we wanted to focus on,
and we ultimately settled on the pro women's indoor volleyball landscape,
and part of that was because it's a sport that
has really been thriving in Europe for years, as some
of the athletes will talk about once we get into
their clips, but it's pretty nat in the US, so
(06:00):
these leagues are just developing on the pro level. But
volleyball it's an interesting position because volleyball is growing so
rapidly at the youth level in the US. It is
the number one high school team sport for girls, and
it's just been increasing every year since the pandemic. So
it's a cool juxtaposition to have these pro leagues as
the sport is growing so rapidly at the youth level.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Very interesting and I'm so excited to get into that.
And when Laurie you talk about the European side of
volleyball too, My mind also kind of goes to women's
basketball in a certain sense as well, is that there
was the WNBA, but in the off season so many
players before things like Unrivaled or AU Basketball or Project B,
which we're going to get to later interesting series foreshadowing
(06:44):
dropping a hook. It reminds me of that a little
bit in terms of there are just certain sports where
Europe is way further ahead than North America, and volleyball
is one of them. That being said, not on the
college side, and I think so much of that is
because the way the NCAA is set up, with the
scholarships and now name image and likeness and all that
(07:05):
sort of stuff. It has been so wildly popular for years,
and I think that's where the fandom has really started.
I remember vividly lore in twenty twenty three and us
getting to write about the fact that ninety two thousand
and three people attended a match between Nebraska and Omaha
in a football stadium, and this not only set a
(07:26):
D one college volleyball attendance record, but also a record
for a women's sporting event in America period, and this
is college volleyball.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
It was insane.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I remember the pictures from that game and we're writing
the newsletter and we just wanted to put every single
picture in the newsletter because it was.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Just the crowds, the shots.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
It was stunning to see that and to see so
much hype around women's volleyball, and of course those two
schools they are volleyball havens. There's a lot of the
pro teams are based in those states. Because there's just
so much happening, and we're we also wanted to drop
this episode because we're heading into college volleyball tournament time,
so Nebraska is undefeated as of when we're recording this.
(08:05):
They're going to get the number one overall seed. The
selection show is happening the day before this podcast comes out,
So there's a lot of excitement around women's vollyblall right now.
But as you're saying, there's already so much hype around
the college game that these pro leagues are building.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
On, and so many of these college players are going
to go into the leagues that we are talking about.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Too, definitely, and that brings us to the leagues. So
that's where these college players are heading next. And as
we're talking about these college players and where they go next,
I think one of the things this league are offering
to is the chance to play stateside. So two of
the athletes we talked to, Jordan Larson and Jordan Polter,
both talked about having the opportunity to play stateside. Previously,
(08:46):
as you said, l similar to basketball, the only option
was in Europe, and now they have this opportunity. So
let's send it to the clips with Jordan Larson and
Jordan Polter on their experience having the chance to play stateside.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah, it's a little bit unreal. I think sometimes I
catch myself, I'm like, wait, what's happening? You know, I
think for so long, you know, it was very much
just okay, you play the national team and you go
overseas and then you come home for a week and
then you continue. You know, it just was a cycle
that you know, and what was really known here was
college volleyball, right, and it's popular, but like the thought
(09:23):
of professional anything of volleyball here, like it just wasn't.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
They had tried in the past, but.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
It wasn't much of a conversation, and so I don't know,
it seems surreal and I don't know, this feels like
it really is a moment, and I feel like something
that can sustain and people want to get behind it,
which is even more special.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
I think it's amazing for me. I mean, it's what
I had always dreamed up, truly, and I didn't think
that it would happen in my career span.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
And so.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Once this opportunity had presented itself, and you know, our
pro team and our c suite team at Love and
just the vision that they have for this league really
aligned with I think what I value as a human
(10:16):
and as a player, and so now to be able
to I don't know, kind of start my life and
not have to compromise that aspect of it while also
getting to play my sport and help again try to
make this the next major league in the United States
(10:36):
feels like such a worthwhile endeavor. I think so many
of US National team members, I think feel this too,
you know, in just the sense of not only pride
that we have being able to play here and create
this new opportunity for other athletes, not only just coming
(11:00):
out of college, but athletes who have played their entire
career overseas. To be able to come home and still
played really high level volleyball and have a little bit
of a shorter season to give our bodies kind of
a break between the national team season and our pro seasons.
(11:21):
It's only making us more well rounded and I think
just healthier versions of ourselves. It's it's increasing the duration
of I think, our lifespans as athletes, while also just
truly supporting us from the human aspect.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
We also wanted to make sure that the just plus
member Carolina, who's a massive fan of indoor volleyball, was
included in the conversation. This was her take.
Speaker 7 (11:54):
It's so much a labor of love of having to,
you know, keep the schedules on. Most of the leagues
been out of the US, so it's weird times to
follow the matches or you have to watch them afterwards.
So it's you really have to love it to do
the hard work. So the fact that the couple of leagues,
the three leagues that are in the US now, it's
(12:15):
really making it more. It's bringing more opportunities.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And that takes us to the pro leagues that we
will talk about today, and another caveat to put at
the top, the pro indoor woman's volleyball space has gotten
notoriously crowded in the last few years. It's hard hard
to follow what's happening. That's the other reason we wanted
to drop this, because there's so many acronyms and abbreviations
and so many leagues starting up that we wanted to
(12:39):
kind of sort through all of that and lay out
what the leagues are, how they're different, what makes them special,
and just get it out on the table.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yes, so there are three major players that we're going
to be discussing today. League one Volleyball, which is commonly
referred to as love. But when we say love, when
it's actually spelled out, it's l V. So you might
hear people say love be that's so fair on their part,
but they do short form it to love. So League
(13:09):
one Volleyball is love.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
With a silent B.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Let's say the silent B Major League Volleyball, which is
known as MLV, and then athletes Unlimited volleyball or athletes
Unlimited Pro Volleyball. Most of the time this is just
shortened to AU volleyball, right.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So let's define them a bit more. We'll take it
league by league and really laid out there. So let's
start with League One Volleyball, which is where a lot
of our athletes that we spoke to were coming from
and kind of getting into the history. This organization actually
launched way back in twenty twenty and it started as
a network of youth volleyball clubs across the US, so
the organization dates back to twenty twenty, but the league itself,
(13:48):
the Pro League, only debuted in January twenty twenty five,
so earlier this year with six not giral teams.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I am obsessed with this business model. I've talked about
it so much on our regular the gist of it.
But if there's one league in all of sports honestly
that I could fan girl over, it would be League
one volleyball. And that is because I just think that
it is so smart and so brilliant to start off
at the grassroots and at the youth and then grow.
(14:16):
I think that it's so smart for so many different reasons.
I think one, the talent pipeline is incredible, to the
fandom pipeline as a result of that is also incredible.
You get to watch your friends, maybe you're participating as
a young kid. You might not make it pro, but
you still know everything about League one volleyball. And then
I think from a brand, sponsorship and stickiness perspective, it's
(14:38):
so interesting too because you're guaranteed essentially to have all
of these different generations. Because you're not only hitting these
young girls who are playing volleyball and trying to get
in front of them, you're also hitting these young athletes
and all of their fans, who not only include parents
for the most part, but who also include millennial and
(15:00):
Gen zs who are just fans of indoor volleyball. So
they have done exceptionally well from a fundraising perspective, from
a talent and leadership perspective on the business side of things,
and as a result, they've also done incredibly well of
I think, attracting some of the top talent across the
entire indoor volleyball ecosystem, and they are certainly one to
(15:23):
keep a very close eye on.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, it is such a neat business model, and as
you're saying, it's I feel like a lot of women's
sports leagues reaching out to the grassroots, getting involved with youth.
That's part of what they do. It's a massive component
of the league. But this is baked into their business
model from the beginning. So it's super cool to have
that set up. And we talk to Steph Martin about
that setup and what makes that so special for League
one Volleyball, So we'll pass it to Steph.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Right now, we are.
Speaker 8 (15:48):
The only league in the country that is youth to
pro today and that was really important to us because
we knew there is this incredible group of twelve to
eighteen year old girls that play across the country and
we wanted to be able to create something for them
that they could see what they could be someday and
to be able to create a true pathway from playing
(16:10):
youth and then being able to actually play pro and
have a professional career here in the US. That was
like the ethos behind what we wanted to deliver.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
She is so smart. I love that so much and
we should mention here too, Lord. The League One Volleyball
debuted in January twenty twenty five with six teams Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison, Nebraska,
and Salt Lake. So really different locations than I think
we're used to from a sports side, and they've been
really intentional of choosing the white space and choosing those
(16:39):
volleyball markets. And then they're also going to be expanding
to LA in the twenty twenty seventh season is going
to be led by Alexis o'hannion as the owner famous
Lisriena Williams's husband and the co founder of Reddit. And
I mean with the LA Olympics coming up, that.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Is just so smart.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, it's absolute perfect timing heading into the Olympics and
to have so Sohanian leading the way like he is
just doing so much in women's sports, So it's very
exciting to see that addition, and they hope to add
even more teams in the coming years too, So LA
is officially announced, but there's an expectation there'll be more teams. Now,
let's get into kind of how the structure is set
up for the schedule, because that's another unique thing about
(17:16):
Love Volleyball. So unlike a conventional league, where you have
a team they're going to travel to face another team,
you have those home and away games. Each League One
Volleyball week features a head to head match in a
singular city, so they're heading to these neutral sites or
in the signular city, there's that one head to head,
and then on the weekend, it's called a weekend with
(17:37):
League One Volleyball, and the four teams who didn't play
in the head to head all descend upon the same
city to play in that one spot. So it's unique
that way. It's not like a traditional league, and.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I think that's the only part that I do wonder
if they're going to change, because I think from a
fan perspective, driving fan loyalty, figuring out infrastructure, all that
sort of stuff, I don't want them to potentially fall
into some of the issues that we've seen other sports
kind of fall into and then realize, okay, the traditional
(18:08):
team kind of format is the best way to go.
And actually we are coming back to episode one with
the PWHL. I think part of the reason why the
PWHL has been so strong thus far is because they
are really focused on community fandom growing that. League one
Volleyball is still so interested in community and fandom and
growing that. But I think the way in which fans
(18:31):
are able to watch games IRL will evolve over time.
And I think, again, what's so cool about them is
that they do treat themselves like a startup and like
a scale up, so they are constantly listening to their
fans and evolving, and I think that could be something
that could change in the future.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
It's something that it feels like it made sense for
year one to have that innerstarcting place. Okay, they can
all be in the same city, but in the future
years hopefully they iterate. And there's nothing like watching your
hometown team in your hometown arena, so I think to
give that opportunity every single week would be really special.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah, agreed, Let's move on to Major League Volleyball MLV.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Major League Volleyball.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Guess another acronym in the mix, and we have to
sort through a few other ones to get to where
we are now with Major League Volleyball. So Major League
Volleyball is a product of a merger. So in August
twenty twenty five, the Pro Volleyball Federation, which is PVF,
and Major League Volleyball merged together. So MLV was a
separate league that was set to launch in twenty twenty six,
(19:32):
and these two leagues would have been in direct conflict
with each other if they had launched independently.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yeah, and I find it so interesting, Laura. I mean,
mergers and acquisitions happen all the time in sports, outside
of sports, what have you. But I really find it
so interesting that they went with the Major League Volleyball
branding too, because PVF was already set up and instituted
and MLV hadn't fully launched and started yet. So it
feels like this whole brand new thing for me. I
(19:59):
do want to take them in and here too, Lord,
to kind of chat about when we say, mergers and
acquisitions and whatnot happen all the time. Part of the
reason why we wanted to do this podcast is because
these things are happening in women's sports live right now.
Versus These things did happen centuries ago or decades ago
on the men's sports side, and so for an example
(20:20):
here to bring it into the men's sports, before the
NFL was in its current form, there were two rival leagues.
So there was the National Football League and the American
Football League, which operated separately until they merged in nineteen seventy.
And it was in nineteen seventy where they came under
one league under the NFL name, and then they just
(20:41):
reorganized their conferences and came up with the AFC, the
American Football Conference, in the NFC the National Football Conference,
and so well, it might seem like, oh my gosh,
there's so much going on right now and it's hard
to navigate. We've been here before on the men's side,
and to me, it makes me really excited that we're
seeing women's sports do this. We're seeing it with the PWHL.
(21:02):
I'm sure the goal for so many of these emerging
leagues is to figure out how to merge or get acquired,
and I just I don't want it to seem like, oh,
women's sports needs to get their stuff figured out, because
men men have done this, and they did this, and
it's just a part of the growth in the sport.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, it's a really good example to pull in because
I know when MLV was first announced, there was a
lot of drama. It was what's it going to How
is this going to exist with the PVF, How is
this going to exist with love? There was a lot
of tension and it felt like that it was like, oh,
oh God, what's happening in women's volleyball? But that is
such a prime example of this is its competition and
it's going to ultimately lead to the best product because
they'll pull the best from PVF, they'll pull the best
(21:38):
from MLV. So it's a positive to come to this
conclusion and reach that merger. So I think that is
such a good example to pull in here.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
And then who knows what happens in the future with
all of these leagues going on too, right, like this
could just be the first of many. When we talk
about MLV, though, it really is. The history is the
PVF on it and PVF did have a successful first
two seasons, airing their all star match on CBS, which
was really really cool. MLV slash PVF. But we're going
(22:06):
to go with MLV is also starting in January twenty six,
so it does feel like League One Volleyball and MLV
are in somewhat direct competition for each other. There are
eight teams competing this season, with three expansion teams set
to join in twenty twenty seven, so this runs January
till to May and is more of that traditional league
style that we're used to seeing.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah, exactly, I think that's a different diretor here, where
it's home and away matches teams are traveling to face
each other. The other distinction here is Major League Volleyball
is more traditional in the sense of they have team
name and mascot, so it's the Omaha Supernova's, whereas League
One Volleyball is League one Volleyball Houston, League One Volleyball
Salt Lake. So that's just another distinction to throw in
there of it's really MLV is really following that traditional
(22:49):
league set up that we're used to seeing day in
and day out.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
That's really helpful. Who else is non traditional in this space?
I say athletes on limited pro volleyball or volleyball. You
might be familiar with athletes unlimited for their basketball for
softball for their prior Lacrosse League, but Athletes Unlimited outside
of their softball products, is basically a network for women's sports,
(23:14):
but it is a fantasy style format. So essentially what
happens is there is a huge group of players that
descend on a couple of locations throughout a month or so,
and instead of teams specifically winning, it's the players that
are winning. So they're playing team sports, and those teams
actually change week over week, but the players are earning
(23:37):
points based off of what they do on the court.
So in volleyball it might mean winning a point or
acing a serve. In basketball, it might mean a three pointer,
blocker rebound, and so it's really really different than League
One volleyball or Major League Volleyball.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, they are entirely different, and we've covered the AU
format extensively on the podcast.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
But it's a shorter four week season for AU volleyball.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And the other important distinction here is it runs during
the League One Volleyball and MLV off season. So Jordan Thompson,
for example, who we talk to on for today's episode,
she competes in both. She just won AU Volleyball championship
and now she's preparing for her league one volleyball season,
there are fewer players. There's forty four total players in
all of AU volleyball, so it's very different compared to
(24:25):
these other leagues, and it's running in that off season.
It's kind of like giving players a chance to tune
up their skills before they go into their team pro season.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
That's such a good distinction law because when we talk
to the AU Volleyball team, you chat with Ali, their
CMO over there, they really do see themselves as a
additive league in the volleyball space to a League one
Volleyball or to an MLV, and they've been there also
for longer where they just want the entire ecosystem to
(24:55):
thrive because they also know that that's how AU is
going to thrive as well. So I don't know if
I would go so far as they're almost like the
unrivaled to the WNBA, but in that vein, I don't
know if that would be a direct comparison, but the
vibe I think is right.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
I think timing wise, and I feel like the ad
for the players too is similar to that because it's
a kind of a fun thing. They get to be
that team captain if they come top four it's just
a different style of play where you get to be
player first, an individual, but you're also brainstorming. It's kind
of like playground rules where oh, I want this player
on my team and making this selection. So I like
(25:34):
it's I like the comparison because it's kind of just
a fresh way to look at the sport for these
athletes too. Okay, so now that we have all of
that laid out, it's very clear it's a crowded space
(25:54):
in indoor pro women's volleyball, and that kind of begs
the question of what does the future look like these
days going into co exists?
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Can they co exist? What comes next?
Speaker 2 (26:03):
And the other thing to say here is it's hard
to keep track of all of these links, and I
think that's something the players are keenly aware of. And
Jordan Thompson, she had a really great perspective on the
role of the player in this crowded space and their
responsibility here. So I want to kick it to her
clip because I was really what she said I found
really insightful.
Speaker 9 (26:23):
Yeah, I think what's really cool about having love and
au and I think you know, there are other leagues
as well, but having competed in only a you and love.
Those two leagues sort of like compliment each other, and
so it provides this opportunity to just play more volleyball
in the States and in front of our friends and family,
(26:46):
and so I think that's really special to be able
to obviously play at home for longer and you know,
have more opportunity. And I think they're definitely different formats,
and so it's you know, some times that can be
maybe a little bit confusing the casual fan of like, oh,
like what's going on here, Like how you know, how
(27:07):
are these similar?
Speaker 5 (27:08):
How are they different?
Speaker 9 (27:09):
And I think as players, it's our job, you know,
to kind of continue to spread the word of what
each league is, about what we represent, how it operates,
and you know, really providing that framework so people can
gain better understanding and really you know, buy into what
we believe in and the product that we're putting out
(27:29):
on the court and continue to come out and support us,
because I think that's, you know, ultimately, how these leagues
are going to continue to thrive is we want to
grow our fan base and we want to grow our visibility.
And so I think that's something like as players that
we really I think take pride in is trying to
(27:52):
make the leagues that we represent more visible, whether that's
just like through social media and sharing and you know,
talking about the leagues or even and you know, we're
out in public and people have questions about pro volleyball,
really trying to you know, answer questions and have sort
of like this open dialogue because it is a little
bit confusing.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
There's kind of a lot going on.
Speaker 9 (28:14):
The sport's growing super fast, and there's just a lot
of moving parts, and so I think even as a
player sometimes it's a lot to keep track of, and
so I can't imagine as a fan trying to sort
of sift through everything. But I think that's, like I said,
whereas players, we continue to try to do our job
in that area and just provide clarity wherever we can.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I love that tea and I love that take lore,
and I feel like this is also, though so classic
women's sports, where the athletes are almost required to be
marketers at the same time as they are as the product,
just because of the nature of the traditional sports media ecosystem,
and that wasn't necessarily the case on the men's sports side,
(28:56):
and isn't necessarily on the men's sports side. But when
we think about men sports having a century ahead of
women's sports, the media landscape was so different that they
also couldn't do that. But I feel like, especially in volleyball,
with social media and how much people are obsessed with
these volleyball players, their follower accounts on social media are
incredible and the influence that they have, the players are ultimately,
(29:21):
in addition to companies like ours, going to be the
ones responsible for trying to grow the space.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yeah, I was thinking about that because I really like
Shwa Jordan said, but I was like, oh, it sucks
that she has to do that too and be the
one out there. But I think the social media point
is a good one because women, as we know, are
much more savvy with social media too, so they have
those follower accounts and then it turns into brand dollars
for them as well.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
So it's and to be clear, like, I have no
idea what's happening in the men's indoor space right me either,
so they those fellas better be working. The only thing
I remember seeing more is the Olympic tiktoks of the
US team in Paris. That's literally all I know on
the men's indoor volleyball side.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, whereas these women now, especially what these leagues are,
it doesn't have to be every four years.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
It's constant now exactly.
Speaker 9 (30:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yes, the Olympics of it all. I know we're going
to get to that in a minute, because we ask
the players kind of where they see the future of
the sport. I do still want to say, as much
as you mentioned, Laura, it is a crowded space. As
much as so much of this is relying on the
players and potentially smaller or non traditional sports outlets, these
leagues are already doing so well and they really feel
(30:32):
like they're in their infancy. The PVF All Star Match
aka now MLV All Star Match, it aired on CBS.
It drew four hundred and forty five thousand viewers. The
most recent NWSL Championship drew around a million viewers. That's
the most of all time, and the NWSL has been
around since twenty or thirteen, so four hundred and forty
five thousand is not too shabby at all. The attendance
(30:53):
across the first two seasons for PVF now MLV was
seven hundred and fifty thousand, and then when we look
at League one Volleyball, it was a little bit harder
to find direct kind of numbers. However, League one Volleyball
I think has done an amazing job, especially on social media,
because they have that grassroots presence all the way up
(31:14):
to the pros. Their league and team social accounts reach
twenty nine point three million followers with over one hundred
and ninety one million impressions across League one Volleyball platforms,
and it closed the season reaching one point one million
viewers during the League one Volleyball finals. And so I
think when you incorporate ESPN two coming into League one volleyball,
(31:37):
when you think about the way that they're leveraging a
lot of social media, it almost feels like these leagues
are setting themselves up for next generation fans better than
a lot of traditional men's leagues right now too.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Definitely, And just back to the TV viewership note to
the CBS match, that was a one off that it
was on national TV like that. So if we're building
that habit with these new network deals, I know MLV
has a bunch of network deals as well, well, it's
going to become a habit to see these games, or
you could be flipping through the channels and oh it's
on TV. Let me keep the TV on. Great to
see that. That's what we have with college volleyball right now,
(32:09):
where it's on ESPN networks consistently. So as we keep
building that habit, those numbers are only going to keep
increasing over the next few years too.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
And like, volleyball is so fun. Admittedly I played for
a couple of years in middle school. I don't know
then yeah, and then no. Our high school team Lauren
was so good, Like they won all of the state championships.
They were amazing. I fangorled over them, consistently, helped organize
all the games. I love watching volleyball so much, and
(32:38):
especially indoor volleyball, But I wouldn't say I'm like, oh,
I'm this passionate volleyball fan that is just going to
go out and try to find these leagues. But if
I stumble upon it all of a sudden, I'm like,
this is so sick. And so I think that it's
cool because I feel like it is one of these
sports that so many people have familiarity with from a
gym class or from their young days of playing. So
(33:00):
it feels like the education to understand how to play.
The sport is a little bit lower in comparison to
something like hockey, so it's almost easier to fall in
love with the sport because we all have this sort
of familiarity to it, and so if they are able
to figure out the access of it all, we can
really see the fandom kick it up to that next level.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Yeah, it's so right.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I feel like every single second of the action is
enticing because there's always the chance that the ball is
going to fall. There's always that, So it is such
a fun sport to watch that way for all the
reason you're saying, But there's so much hype every single point.
I mean you see them celebrating every single point, which
sometimes gets weird flack. It's like, it's team camaraderie. Let
them celebrate. This is exciting.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Men in suits hate it when the players come together
and they go yay. I'm like, that is so fun.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
It's community, it's different. It gets everybody hyped. It's so cool,
and I'm so excited for LA twenty eight. And I
think these leagues have all done a great job of
taking advantage of Paris. But I think they need to
take advantage of the opportunity that is LA twenty twenty
eight if we're going to see continued long term success
across all three of these leagues. There's so much excitement
(34:10):
and potential in volleyball, and so we ask basically all
of our guests what do they anticipate volleyball to look
like in five years time? And the answers were so interesting.
We're going to start with Steph. We asked her, of course,
where League One volleyball will be in five years, and
we'll leave it to her here.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
We'll be in many more cities, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
You know.
Speaker 8 (34:32):
We currently have six of cities today and we've already
announced two of our expansion cities for next season. And
then we are currently twenty five thousand young players across
the country who are playing with us in close to
ninety clubs, so we will be growing that really expansively.
And I think one of the things that we love
(34:52):
is creating this connection in the gyms, so our pros
actually trained right alongside players, and so creating more of
that opportunity for young people to be able to interact
with their heroes that they're building, be able to create
this connection through camps and clinics and all of those experiences.
I think we want to see more and more and
(35:14):
more of that as we grow.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
And Jordan Larson talked a little bit about the different
journeys players will have the opportunity to take. Where the
landscape is in five years.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
Just that it sellout crowds, it's a huge entertainment piece,
and that we are all playing at the highest level
of vollyball possible and people are celebrating. Just I think
American athletes across the board, right, I think about all
the players that have come before me that didn't have
this chance, right, And now we get to do something
(35:48):
for the younger generation that they can have a baby
and come back and play, And people can come out
of retirement if they want and come play, you know,
and people that may we've retired sooner, are now going
to need to play on through their career, you know,
in a place that they can feel loved, celebrated, and
just I don't know, I just I'm really excited for
(36:08):
the future because I think there's so much possibility and
I think people, at least for sure in Nebraska, I
know for sure people.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Are loving it.
Speaker 6 (36:15):
And just want to be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
So next up, we talked to Jordan Poulter and she
talked a lot about what we were just saying with
TV viewership. She is so ready for that increased exposure
that will come in five years time.
Speaker 5 (36:30):
Well, first of all, I would like to say, I
hope that I'm still playing in five years. Second of all,
I you know, I think the landscape is going to
look significantly different. You know, we see we see all
a handful of our six teams that have been that
have been bought already by major groups and organizations. You know,
(36:54):
the Houston team just got bought by the NFL team
in Houston. And I foresee a lot more cities. I foresee,
hopefully in five years, maybe twelve total cities. I foresee
us having the best players in the world, not only
(37:18):
here in the States but internationally. And I see us
being on major networks and getting major slots for TV
time and being able to be that like I said,
next major league that people are excited about and want
(37:39):
to watch.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
And we're going to pass it off to Carolina from
the just plus to provide the fan perspective.
Speaker 7 (37:46):
God, I was thinking about this one so much because
I play volleyball and I coach puts high school and club.
So it's seen that kids start to get into it,
kids having like starting to have favorite favorite players. I'll
ask them like, oh, what number do you want to
be and they're like, oh, I don't know what's your
(38:06):
favorite player? And then they're like, oh, cool, I'll be
number fifteen.
Speaker 5 (38:09):
So that kind of story.
Speaker 7 (38:12):
I feel like it's going to be a lot more normal,
a lot more presence. I just hope that love expand
I know, love as a like, as a foundation, organization
whatever is so involved in the club scenes for a
lot of the states. So I want that to grow
more because I do think like it feels like their
heart's in the right place, it's backed by usav like,
(38:35):
it's doing a lot of things right. If the girls
can see, hey, this is a you know, we're still
in the organization, they're gonna get more eyes on them
as players do so having opportunities through PBF, I just
want to see more girls. You know the standard, if
you see it, you can be it, you can believe it.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
Whatever.
Speaker 7 (38:53):
I think we're going to have more players commit to that,
and I kind of am excited to see how much PDF.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Grows and finally, Jordan Thompson, our last one. She is
dreaming big about what's next for women's volleyball.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
You know, I might be ambitious in my dreams, but
I think it would be really cool to see volleyball
in the States look like it does overseas and selling
out you know, big arenas, and having these fan bases
that are are really invested in the players and the
(39:31):
people that they have on their teams and coming out
and wanting to support, and I think also having you know,
more TV time.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
I think it's really.
Speaker 9 (39:40):
Cool with Love and with AU to see the growth
in you know, like ESPN and USA, like so many
people wanting to invest in women's sports and support us.
And I think I get really excited looking ahead knowing that,
you know, we have the Olympics coming up in twenty twenty.
Speaker 5 (40:00):
Eight in LA.
Speaker 9 (40:01):
We have a team starting next year with Love in LA.
You know, there's so much opportunity for growth and the
game is going to continue to explode, and I'm just
really excited to see the way that our fan base
continues to grow too, because I think it's for me
as I'm a big fan of the WNBA and like
(40:21):
just you know, watching them over the years of they're
in the grind, doing the hard work behind the scenes,
and they're you know, just now starting to get the
recognition that they really deserve. And that's really exciting. And
I feel like it's almost you know, when I look
at the w I sort of feel like, oh, you know,
that's where like volleyball can be, and I hope it's
(40:41):
there soon. And you know, I think there's this really
special growth and excitement around women's sports, and it's cool
to see that we're finally getting some of the recognition
that I think we've deserved for a long time. And
you know, so many women before us have been paving
the way, and I think, you know, we owe it
to them to can continue doing the hard work and
(41:01):
spreading the word and just putting out a good product.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
So it really excites me to look ahead to the future.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And I don't think we could end it better than
whatever all of these very smart and talented women and
athletes are saying. Thank you all so much for listening
to our second episode of She's Not Next, She's Now,
and thank you for tuning in to the Pro Indoor
Women's Volleyball edition Yes.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
We will be back with a new episode in your
feed next Monday. In the meantime, we would love for
you to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast and
share it with someone you want to watch some women's
volleyball with.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Yeah. This episode was edited by Savannah Hold and produced
by Lauren Tuscala. Again, I'm Elin Hislop.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
And I'm Lauren. We will chat with you again next
week at.
Speaker 9 (42:18):
A step as stands.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
Em speaking as
Speaker 9 (43:19):
At a ste
What is up, y'all, and Happy Monday. Welcome to the
second episode of our exciting new series, She's Not Next,
She's Now, where we break down the Gist on emerging
women's sports and the leagues that are developing around them.
We're co hosts. I'm Ellen Hislob, co founder of The
Gist and co host of the Gist of It podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
And I'm Lauren Tuscala, the Gist Associate Managing Editor. We
are so pumped to be with you for part two
of this eight part series in case you missed the
first episode. Each week, we will be discussing a different
new and emerging women's sport and the leagues that really
make up that sport. So we're talking about the history
of how we got to where we are now, we're
talking about the current state of the game, and of
course we will take a look at what comes next
(00:50):
and kind of predict what we think could happen in
the future. And the reason that we wanted to launch
this podcast is we are really witnessing so much real
time change in women's sports and we wanted to capture
or what was happening as it's going down. We hear
the phrase all the time. It's not a moment, it
is a movement, and we really wanted to capture what
was happening.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yes, and it won't just be us driving the conversation,
which I love. I feel like we have a good
grasp of what's happening at a high level in the landscape,
but I feel like, especially in these emerging spaces, we
do need to go right to the source to understand
what really is truly going on. And so with all
of these conversations, we've brought in executives, We've brought in players,
(01:30):
We've brought in fans to really figure out from them
what they think is kind of happening with the sport,
where they think the sport's going, what they think the
sport can be improving upon. And so I think having
those voices in these conversations has really enriched I think
even my perspective on so many of these sports that
we're going to be talking.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
About same here.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
It's been so cool to hear at firsthand, and oftentimes
they might have a similar take, but just hearing the
way they phrase it and the way they're reacting to things,
it's really cool. It helps shape how you feel about
things and to have those perspectives, so it's super cool
to put them all together in this conversation. So episode one,
we will link it in the show notes. It's already out.
We covered the gist of pro women's hockey and some
of the people we talked to. We talked to Seattle
(02:11):
tour and stars Hillary Knight, we talked to Vancouver Golden
Eyes star Sarah Nurse, we talked to executives, we talked
to fans. It was such a fun episode and to
pull those conversations together, so we will link that in
the show notes. But today for episode two, we're taking
it to the court. We're talking all things indoor pro
women's volleyball, and that is an important stipulation. We're talking
indoor pro. There's a lot to get into in the
(02:33):
volleyball landscape, but we're we're going to narrow down and
focus on that specifically.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Yeah, And I think that's such a good distinction because
beach volleyball, I feel like has been around for such
a long time. I think we automatically think of it
from an Olympic perspective, but then I think we can
look at things like the AVP Tour, which has done
so well over decades really, and so it feels like
(02:57):
the beach volleyball side is very different than the indoor
volleyball side of things. And when it comes to women's
sports right now, it's the pro indoor volleyball space that's
seeing this rapid change in growth.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, so we.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Want to narrow there and we'll talk a little bit
about Europe as well, because I think indoor pro has
been around for a while in Europe and some of
the athletes we talked to got into that in their
experience playing overseas and now having the opportunity to play stateside.
So yes, we're putting that caveat at indoor pro women's volleyball.
And of course, again, like we said, it's not just
me and Ellen driving this conversation. We talked to some
(03:31):
absolute volleyball legends for this, not one, not two, but
three Jordans we got to talk to. If you want
your kid to be good at volleyball, Ellen, maybe this
is for you. Name your child Jordan, because they will
be good at volleyball.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I literally was like, unfortunately, this poor girl is going
to be really short a but also I was thinking
the exact same thing Lareen, and as I came in
to record this episode with you today. I was like, oh,
maybe I could name my kid Jordan, but you know
what is Tea. It's actually the name of one of
my em Oh you can't then, so we can't be
doing that. But he very good at volleyball. Wow, actually
(04:07):
really good volleyball players and quite tall. So there's something
about Jordan's and volleyball and being tall that's in the water.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
She could be a libero.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Even if exactly that would be awesome, That could be great.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah, so a lot of Jordan's.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
We talked to AU volleyball champion, Olympian and League one
Volleyball Houston star Jordan Thompson, four time Olympian and Love
Nebraska legend Jordan Larson, and one more Jordan for you,
two time Olympian Love Salt Lake star Jordan Pulter. So
those are the athletes we got to talk to you
for this conversation. They were all fantastic and so generous
with her time and really gave us a lot of
(04:40):
great insights for this conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
All the Jordans, and we also had an opportunity to
chat with League one Volleyball's chief Marketing and Communications officer
Stephanie Martin. Steph Martin is on the executive side. She
is a genius. We've had the opportunity to work with
her through the GIST and she's awesome. And then we
also chatted with the huge volleyball fran from our premium
(05:03):
membership community, the Just Plus Carolina pe So, Carolina, thank
you so much for representing the fans on this one.
And again for anyone listening to the podcast who's not
familiar with the just Plus, go to our website. If
you're a listener of the pod, I think you'll want
to be a part of this membership community. It's really
really fun. So that kind of sets everything up. I
thank Laura for now so without further ado, let's get
(05:25):
into this conversation on pro women's indoor volleyball.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Time for the meat of today's episode.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And as we kind of alluded to at the top,
in preparing for today's podcast, Ellen and I both had
some conversations about what exactly we wanted to focus on,
and we ultimately settled on the pro women's indoor volleyball landscape,
and part of that was because it's a sport that
has really been thriving in Europe for years, as some
of the athletes will talk about once we get into
their clips, but it's pretty nat in the US, so
(06:00):
these leagues are just developing on the pro level. But
volleyball it's an interesting position because volleyball is growing so
rapidly at the youth level in the US. It is
the number one high school team sport for girls, and
it's just been increasing every year since the pandemic. So
it's a cool juxtaposition to have these pro leagues as
the sport is growing so rapidly at the youth level.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Very interesting and I'm so excited to get into that.
And when Laurie you talk about the European side of
volleyball too, My mind also kind of goes to women's
basketball in a certain sense as well, is that there
was the WNBA, but in the off season so many
players before things like Unrivaled or AU Basketball or Project B,
which we're going to get to later interesting series foreshadowing
(06:44):
dropping a hook. It reminds me of that a little
bit in terms of there are just certain sports where
Europe is way further ahead than North America, and volleyball
is one of them. That being said, not on the
college side, and I think so much of that is
because the way the NCAA is set up, with the
scholarships and now name image and likeness and all that
(07:05):
sort of stuff. It has been so wildly popular for years,
and I think that's where the fandom has really started.
I remember vividly lore in twenty twenty three and us
getting to write about the fact that ninety two thousand
and three people attended a match between Nebraska and Omaha
in a football stadium, and this not only set a
(07:26):
D one college volleyball attendance record, but also a record
for a women's sporting event in America period, and this
is college volleyball.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
It was insane.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I remember the pictures from that game and we're writing
the newsletter and we just wanted to put every single
picture in the newsletter because it was.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Just the crowds, the shots.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
It was stunning to see that and to see so
much hype around women's volleyball, and of course those two
schools they are volleyball havens. There's a lot of the
pro teams are based in those states. Because there's just
so much happening, and we're we also wanted to drop
this episode because we're heading into college volleyball tournament time,
so Nebraska is undefeated as of when we're recording this.
(08:05):
They're going to get the number one overall seed. The
selection show is happening the day before this podcast comes out,
So there's a lot of excitement around women's vollyblall right now.
But as you're saying, there's already so much hype around
the college game that these pro leagues are building.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
On, and so many of these college players are going
to go into the leagues that we are talking about.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Too, definitely, and that brings us to the leagues. So
that's where these college players are heading next. And as
we're talking about these college players and where they go next,
I think one of the things this league are offering
to is the chance to play stateside. So two of
the athletes we talked to, Jordan Larson and Jordan Polter,
both talked about having the opportunity to play stateside. Previously,
(08:46):
as you said, l similar to basketball, the only option
was in Europe, and now they have this opportunity. So
let's send it to the clips with Jordan Larson and
Jordan Polter on their experience having the chance to play stateside.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah, it's a little bit unreal. I think sometimes I
catch myself, I'm like, wait, what's happening? You know, I
think for so long, you know, it was very much
just okay, you play the national team and you go
overseas and then you come home for a week and
then you continue. You know, it just was a cycle
that you know, and what was really known here was
college volleyball, right, and it's popular, but like the thought
(09:23):
of professional anything of volleyball here, like it just wasn't.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
They had tried in the past, but.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
It wasn't much of a conversation, and so I don't know,
it seems surreal and I don't know, this feels like
it really is a moment, and I feel like something
that can sustain and people want to get behind it,
which is even more special.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
I think it's amazing for me. I mean, it's what
I had always dreamed up, truly, and I didn't think
that it would happen in my career span.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
And so.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Once this opportunity had presented itself, and you know, our
pro team and our c suite team at Love and
just the vision that they have for this league really
aligned with I think what I value as a human
(10:16):
and as a player, and so now to be able
to I don't know, kind of start my life and
not have to compromise that aspect of it while also
getting to play my sport and help again try to
make this the next major league in the United States
(10:36):
feels like such a worthwhile endeavor. I think so many
of US National team members, I think feel this too,
you know, in just the sense of not only pride
that we have being able to play here and create
this new opportunity for other athletes, not only just coming
(11:00):
out of college, but athletes who have played their entire
career overseas. To be able to come home and still
played really high level volleyball and have a little bit
of a shorter season to give our bodies kind of
a break between the national team season and our pro seasons.
(11:21):
It's only making us more well rounded and I think
just healthier versions of ourselves. It's it's increasing the duration
of I think, our lifespans as athletes, while also just
truly supporting us from the human aspect.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
We also wanted to make sure that the just plus
member Carolina, who's a massive fan of indoor volleyball, was
included in the conversation. This was her take.
Speaker 7 (11:54):
It's so much a labor of love of having to,
you know, keep the schedules on. Most of the leagues
been out of the US, so it's weird times to
follow the matches or you have to watch them afterwards.
So it's you really have to love it to do
the hard work. So the fact that the couple of leagues,
the three leagues that are in the US now, it's
(12:15):
really making it more. It's bringing more opportunities.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
And that takes us to the pro leagues that we
will talk about today, and another caveat to put at
the top, the pro indoor woman's volleyball space has gotten
notoriously crowded in the last few years. It's hard hard
to follow what's happening. That's the other reason we wanted
to drop this, because there's so many acronyms and abbreviations
and so many leagues starting up that we wanted to
(12:39):
kind of sort through all of that and lay out
what the leagues are, how they're different, what makes them special,
and just get it out on the table.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yes, so there are three major players that we're going
to be discussing today. League one Volleyball, which is commonly
referred to as love. But when we say love, when
it's actually spelled out, it's l V. So you might
hear people say love be that's so fair on their part,
but they do short form it to love. So League
(13:09):
one Volleyball is love.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
With a silent B.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Let's say the silent B Major League Volleyball, which is
known as MLV, and then athletes Unlimited volleyball or athletes
Unlimited Pro Volleyball. Most of the time this is just
shortened to AU volleyball, right.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So let's define them a bit more. We'll take it
league by league and really laid out there. So let's
start with League One Volleyball, which is where a lot
of our athletes that we spoke to were coming from
and kind of getting into the history. This organization actually
launched way back in twenty twenty and it started as
a network of youth volleyball clubs across the US, so
the organization dates back to twenty twenty, but the league itself,
(13:48):
the Pro League, only debuted in January twenty twenty five,
so earlier this year with six not giral teams.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I am obsessed with this business model. I've talked about
it so much on our regular the gist of it.
But if there's one league in all of sports honestly
that I could fan girl over, it would be League
one volleyball. And that is because I just think that
it is so smart and so brilliant to start off
at the grassroots and at the youth and then grow.
(14:16):
I think that it's so smart for so many different reasons.
I think one, the talent pipeline is incredible, to the
fandom pipeline as a result of that is also incredible.
You get to watch your friends, maybe you're participating as
a young kid. You might not make it pro, but
you still know everything about League one volleyball. And then
I think from a brand, sponsorship and stickiness perspective, it's
(14:38):
so interesting too because you're guaranteed essentially to have all
of these different generations. Because you're not only hitting these
young girls who are playing volleyball and trying to get
in front of them, you're also hitting these young athletes
and all of their fans, who not only include parents
for the most part, but who also include millennial and
(15:00):
Gen zs who are just fans of indoor volleyball. So
they have done exceptionally well from a fundraising perspective, from
a talent and leadership perspective on the business side of things,
and as a result, they've also done incredibly well of
I think, attracting some of the top talent across the
entire indoor volleyball ecosystem, and they are certainly one to
(15:23):
keep a very close eye on.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, it is such a neat business model, and as
you're saying, it's I feel like a lot of women's
sports leagues reaching out to the grassroots, getting involved with youth.
That's part of what they do. It's a massive component
of the league. But this is baked into their business
model from the beginning. So it's super cool to have
that set up. And we talk to Steph Martin about
that setup and what makes that so special for League
one Volleyball, So we'll pass it to Steph.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Right now, we are.
Speaker 8 (15:48):
The only league in the country that is youth to
pro today and that was really important to us because
we knew there is this incredible group of twelve to
eighteen year old girls that play across the country and
we wanted to be able to create something for them
that they could see what they could be someday and
to be able to create a true pathway from playing
(16:10):
youth and then being able to actually play pro and
have a professional career here in the US. That was
like the ethos behind what we wanted to deliver.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
She is so smart. I love that so much and
we should mention here too, Lord. The League One Volleyball
debuted in January twenty twenty five with six teams Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison, Nebraska,
and Salt Lake. So really different locations than I think
we're used to from a sports side, and they've been
really intentional of choosing the white space and choosing those
(16:39):
volleyball markets. And then they're also going to be expanding
to LA in the twenty twenty seventh season is going
to be led by Alexis o'hannion as the owner famous
Lisriena Williams's husband and the co founder of Reddit. And
I mean with the LA Olympics coming up, that.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Is just so smart.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, it's absolute perfect timing heading into the Olympics and
to have so Sohanian leading the way like he is
just doing so much in women's sports, So it's very
exciting to see that addition, and they hope to add
even more teams in the coming years too, So LA
is officially announced, but there's an expectation there'll be more teams. Now,
let's get into kind of how the structure is set
up for the schedule, because that's another unique thing about
(17:16):
Love Volleyball. So unlike a conventional league, where you have
a team they're going to travel to face another team,
you have those home and away games. Each League One
Volleyball week features a head to head match in a
singular city, so they're heading to these neutral sites or
in the signular city, there's that one head to head,
and then on the weekend, it's called a weekend with
(17:37):
League One Volleyball, and the four teams who didn't play
in the head to head all descend upon the same
city to play in that one spot. So it's unique
that way. It's not like a traditional league, and.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I think that's the only part that I do wonder
if they're going to change, because I think from a
fan perspective, driving fan loyalty, figuring out infrastructure, all that
sort of stuff, I don't want them to potentially fall
into some of the issues that we've seen other sports
kind of fall into and then realize, okay, the traditional
(18:08):
team kind of format is the best way to go.
And actually we are coming back to episode one with
the PWHL. I think part of the reason why the
PWHL has been so strong thus far is because they
are really focused on community fandom growing that. League one
Volleyball is still so interested in community and fandom and
growing that. But I think the way in which fans
(18:31):
are able to watch games IRL will evolve over time.
And I think, again, what's so cool about them is
that they do treat themselves like a startup and like
a scale up, so they are constantly listening to their
fans and evolving, and I think that could be something
that could change in the future.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
It's something that it feels like it made sense for
year one to have that innerstarcting place. Okay, they can
all be in the same city, but in the future
years hopefully they iterate. And there's nothing like watching your
hometown team in your hometown arena, so I think to
give that opportunity every single week would be really special.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah, agreed, Let's move on to Major League Volleyball MLV.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Major League Volleyball.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Guess another acronym in the mix, and we have to
sort through a few other ones to get to where
we are now with Major League Volleyball. So Major League
Volleyball is a product of a merger. So in August
twenty twenty five, the Pro Volleyball Federation, which is PVF,
and Major League Volleyball merged together. So MLV was a
separate league that was set to launch in twenty twenty six,
(19:32):
and these two leagues would have been in direct conflict
with each other if they had launched independently.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Yeah, and I find it so interesting, Laura. I mean,
mergers and acquisitions happen all the time in sports, outside
of sports, what have you. But I really find it
so interesting that they went with the Major League Volleyball
branding too, because PVF was already set up and instituted
and MLV hadn't fully launched and started yet. So it
feels like this whole brand new thing for me. I
(19:59):
do want to take them in and here too, Lord,
to kind of chat about when we say, mergers and
acquisitions and whatnot happen all the time. Part of the
reason why we wanted to do this podcast is because
these things are happening in women's sports live right now.
Versus These things did happen centuries ago or decades ago
on the men's sports side, and so for an example
(20:20):
here to bring it into the men's sports, before the
NFL was in its current form, there were two rival leagues.
So there was the National Football League and the American
Football League, which operated separately until they merged in nineteen seventy.
And it was in nineteen seventy where they came under
one league under the NFL name, and then they just
(20:41):
reorganized their conferences and came up with the AFC, the
American Football Conference, in the NFC the National Football Conference,
and so well, it might seem like, oh my gosh,
there's so much going on right now and it's hard
to navigate. We've been here before on the men's side,
and to me, it makes me really excited that we're
seeing women's sports do this. We're seeing it with the PWHL.
(21:02):
I'm sure the goal for so many of these emerging
leagues is to figure out how to merge or get acquired,
and I just I don't want it to seem like, oh,
women's sports needs to get their stuff figured out, because
men men have done this, and they did this, and
it's just a part of the growth in the sport.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Yeah, it's a really good example to pull in because
I know when MLV was first announced, there was a
lot of drama. It was what's it going to How
is this going to exist with the PVF, How is
this going to exist with love? There was a lot
of tension and it felt like that it was like, oh,
oh God, what's happening in women's volleyball? But that is
such a prime example of this is its competition and
it's going to ultimately lead to the best product because
they'll pull the best from PVF, they'll pull the best
(21:38):
from MLV. So it's a positive to come to this
conclusion and reach that merger. So I think that is
such a good example to pull in here.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
And then who knows what happens in the future with
all of these leagues going on too, right, like this
could just be the first of many. When we talk
about MLV, though, it really is. The history is the
PVF on it and PVF did have a successful first
two seasons, airing their all star match on CBS, which
was really really cool. MLV slash PVF. But we're going
(22:06):
to go with MLV is also starting in January twenty six,
so it does feel like League One Volleyball and MLV
are in somewhat direct competition for each other. There are
eight teams competing this season, with three expansion teams set
to join in twenty twenty seven, so this runs January
till to May and is more of that traditional league
style that we're used to seeing.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah, exactly, I think that's a different diretor here, where
it's home and away matches teams are traveling to face
each other. The other distinction here is Major League Volleyball
is more traditional in the sense of they have team
name and mascot, so it's the Omaha Supernova's, whereas League
One Volleyball is League one Volleyball Houston, League One Volleyball
Salt Lake. So that's just another distinction to throw in
there of it's really MLV is really following that traditional
(22:49):
league set up that we're used to seeing day in
and day out.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
That's really helpful. Who else is non traditional in this space?
I say athletes on limited pro volleyball or volleyball. You
might be familiar with athletes unlimited for their basketball for
softball for their prior Lacrosse League, but Athletes Unlimited outside
of their softball products, is basically a network for women's sports,
(23:14):
but it is a fantasy style format. So essentially what
happens is there is a huge group of players that
descend on a couple of locations throughout a month or so,
and instead of teams specifically winning, it's the players that
are winning. So they're playing team sports, and those teams
actually change week over week, but the players are earning
(23:37):
points based off of what they do on the court.
So in volleyball it might mean winning a point or
acing a serve. In basketball, it might mean a three pointer,
blocker rebound, and so it's really really different than League
One volleyball or Major League Volleyball.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, they are entirely different, and we've covered the AU
format extensively on the podcast.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
But it's a shorter four week season for AU volleyball.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
And the other important distinction here is it runs during
the League One Volleyball and MLV off season. So Jordan Thompson,
for example, who we talk to on for today's episode,
she competes in both. She just won AU Volleyball championship
and now she's preparing for her league one volleyball season,
there are fewer players. There's forty four total players in
all of AU volleyball, so it's very different compared to
(24:25):
these other leagues, and it's running in that off season.
It's kind of like giving players a chance to tune
up their skills before they go into their team pro season.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
That's such a good distinction law because when we talk
to the AU Volleyball team, you chat with Ali, their
CMO over there, they really do see themselves as a
additive league in the volleyball space to a League one
Volleyball or to an MLV, and they've been there also
for longer where they just want the entire ecosystem to
(24:55):
thrive because they also know that that's how AU is
going to thrive as well. So I don't know if
I would go so far as they're almost like the
unrivaled to the WNBA, but in that vein, I don't
know if that would be a direct comparison, but the
vibe I think is right.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
I think timing wise, and I feel like the ad
for the players too is similar to that because it's
a kind of a fun thing. They get to be
that team captain if they come top four it's just
a different style of play where you get to be
player first, an individual, but you're also brainstorming. It's kind
of like playground rules where oh, I want this player
on my team and making this selection. So I like
(25:34):
it's I like the comparison because it's kind of just
a fresh way to look at the sport for these
athletes too. Okay, so now that we have all of
that laid out, it's very clear it's a crowded space
(25:54):
in indoor pro women's volleyball, and that kind of begs
the question of what does the future look like these
days going into co exists?
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Can they co exist? What comes next?
Speaker 2 (26:03):
And the other thing to say here is it's hard
to keep track of all of these links, and I
think that's something the players are keenly aware of. And
Jordan Thompson, she had a really great perspective on the
role of the player in this crowded space and their
responsibility here. So I want to kick it to her
clip because I was really what she said I found
really insightful.
Speaker 9 (26:23):
Yeah, I think what's really cool about having love and
au and I think you know, there are other leagues
as well, but having competed in only a you and love.
Those two leagues sort of like compliment each other, and
so it provides this opportunity to just play more volleyball
in the States and in front of our friends and family,
(26:46):
and so I think that's really special to be able
to obviously play at home for longer and you know,
have more opportunity. And I think they're definitely different formats,
and so it's you know, some times that can be
maybe a little bit confusing the casual fan of like, oh,
like what's going on here, Like how you know, how
(27:07):
are these similar?
Speaker 5 (27:08):
How are they different?
Speaker 9 (27:09):
And I think as players, it's our job, you know,
to kind of continue to spread the word of what
each league is, about what we represent, how it operates,
and you know, really providing that framework so people can
gain better understanding and really you know, buy into what
we believe in and the product that we're putting out
(27:29):
on the court and continue to come out and support us,
because I think that's, you know, ultimately, how these leagues
are going to continue to thrive is we want to
grow our fan base and we want to grow our visibility.
And so I think that's something like as players that
we really I think take pride in is trying to
(27:52):
make the leagues that we represent more visible, whether that's
just like through social media and sharing and you know,
talking about the leagues or even and you know, we're
out in public and people have questions about pro volleyball,
really trying to you know, answer questions and have sort
of like this open dialogue because it is a little
bit confusing.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
There's kind of a lot going on.
Speaker 9 (28:14):
The sport's growing super fast, and there's just a lot
of moving parts, and so I think even as a
player sometimes it's a lot to keep track of, and
so I can't imagine as a fan trying to sort
of sift through everything. But I think that's, like I said,
whereas players, we continue to try to do our job
in that area and just provide clarity wherever we can.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I love that tea and I love that take lore,
and I feel like this is also, though so classic
women's sports, where the athletes are almost required to be
marketers at the same time as they are as the product,
just because of the nature of the traditional sports media ecosystem,
and that wasn't necessarily the case on the men's sports side,
(28:56):
and isn't necessarily on the men's sports side. But when
we think about men sports having a century ahead of
women's sports, the media landscape was so different that they
also couldn't do that. But I feel like, especially in volleyball,
with social media and how much people are obsessed with
these volleyball players, their follower accounts on social media are
incredible and the influence that they have, the players are ultimately,
(29:21):
in addition to companies like ours, going to be the
ones responsible for trying to grow the space.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Yeah, I was thinking about that because I really like
Shwa Jordan said, but I was like, oh, it sucks
that she has to do that too and be the
one out there. But I think the social media point
is a good one because women, as we know, are
much more savvy with social media too, so they have
those follower accounts and then it turns into brand dollars
for them as well.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
So it's and to be clear, like, I have no
idea what's happening in the men's indoor space right me either,
so they those fellas better be working. The only thing
I remember seeing more is the Olympic tiktoks of the
US team in Paris. That's literally all I know on
the men's indoor volleyball side.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, whereas these women now, especially what these leagues are,
it doesn't have to be every four years.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
It's constant now exactly.
Speaker 9 (30:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Yes, the Olympics of it all. I know we're going
to get to that in a minute, because we ask
the players kind of where they see the future of
the sport. I do still want to say, as much
as you mentioned, Laura, it is a crowded space. As
much as so much of this is relying on the
players and potentially smaller or non traditional sports outlets, these
leagues are already doing so well and they really feel
(30:32):
like they're in their infancy. The PVF All Star Match
aka now MLV All Star Match, it aired on CBS.
It drew four hundred and forty five thousand viewers. The
most recent NWSL Championship drew around a million viewers. That's
the most of all time, and the NWSL has been
around since twenty or thirteen, so four hundred and forty
five thousand is not too shabby at all. The attendance
(30:53):
across the first two seasons for PVF now MLV was
seven hundred and fifty thousand, and then when we look
at League one Volleyball, it was a little bit harder
to find direct kind of numbers. However, League one Volleyball
I think has done an amazing job, especially on social media,
because they have that grassroots presence all the way up
(31:14):
to the pros. Their league and team social accounts reach
twenty nine point three million followers with over one hundred
and ninety one million impressions across League one Volleyball platforms,
and it closed the season reaching one point one million
viewers during the League one Volleyball finals. And so I
think when you incorporate ESPN two coming into League one volleyball,
(31:37):
when you think about the way that they're leveraging a
lot of social media, it almost feels like these leagues
are setting themselves up for next generation fans better than
a lot of traditional men's leagues right now too.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Definitely, And just back to the TV viewership note to
the CBS match, that was a one off that it
was on national TV like that. So if we're building
that habit with these new network deals, I know MLV
has a bunch of network deals as well, well, it's
going to become a habit to see these games, or
you could be flipping through the channels and oh it's
on TV. Let me keep the TV on. Great to
see that. That's what we have with college volleyball right now,
(32:09):
where it's on ESPN networks consistently. So as we keep
building that habit, those numbers are only going to keep
increasing over the next few years too.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
And like, volleyball is so fun. Admittedly I played for
a couple of years in middle school. I don't know
then yeah, and then no. Our high school team Lauren
was so good, Like they won all of the state championships.
They were amazing. I fangorled over them, consistently, helped organize
all the games. I love watching volleyball so much, and
(32:38):
especially indoor volleyball, But I wouldn't say I'm like, oh,
I'm this passionate volleyball fan that is just going to
go out and try to find these leagues. But if
I stumble upon it all of a sudden, I'm like,
this is so sick. And so I think that it's
cool because I feel like it is one of these
sports that so many people have familiarity with from a
gym class or from their young days of playing. So
(33:00):
it feels like the education to understand how to play.
The sport is a little bit lower in comparison to
something like hockey, so it's almost easier to fall in
love with the sport because we all have this sort
of familiarity to it, and so if they are able
to figure out the access of it all, we can
really see the fandom kick it up to that next level.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Yeah, it's so right.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I feel like every single second of the action is
enticing because there's always the chance that the ball is
going to fall. There's always that, So it is such
a fun sport to watch that way for all the
reason you're saying, But there's so much hype every single point.
I mean you see them celebrating every single point, which
sometimes gets weird flack. It's like, it's team camaraderie. Let
them celebrate. This is exciting.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Men in suits hate it when the players come together
and they go yay. I'm like, that is so fun.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
It's community, it's different. It gets everybody hyped. It's so cool,
and I'm so excited for LA twenty eight. And I
think these leagues have all done a great job of
taking advantage of Paris. But I think they need to
take advantage of the opportunity that is LA twenty twenty
eight if we're going to see continued long term success
across all three of these leagues. There's so much excitement
(34:10):
and potential in volleyball, and so we ask basically all
of our guests what do they anticipate volleyball to look
like in five years time? And the answers were so interesting.
We're going to start with Steph. We asked her, of course,
where League One volleyball will be in five years, and
we'll leave it to her here.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
We'll be in many more cities, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
You know.
Speaker 8 (34:32):
We currently have six of cities today and we've already
announced two of our expansion cities for next season. And
then we are currently twenty five thousand young players across
the country who are playing with us in close to
ninety clubs, so we will be growing that really expansively.
And I think one of the things that we love
(34:52):
is creating this connection in the gyms, so our pros
actually trained right alongside players, and so creating more of
that opportunity for young people to be able to interact
with their heroes that they're building, be able to create
this connection through camps and clinics and all of those experiences.
I think we want to see more and more and
(35:14):
more of that as we grow.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
And Jordan Larson talked a little bit about the different
journeys players will have the opportunity to take. Where the
landscape is in five years.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
Just that it sellout crowds, it's a huge entertainment piece,
and that we are all playing at the highest level
of vollyball possible and people are celebrating. Just I think
American athletes across the board, right, I think about all
the players that have come before me that didn't have
this chance, right, And now we get to do something
(35:48):
for the younger generation that they can have a baby
and come back and play, And people can come out
of retirement if they want and come play, you know,
and people that may we've retired sooner, are now going
to need to play on through their career, you know,
in a place that they can feel loved, celebrated, and
just I don't know, I just I'm really excited for
(36:08):
the future because I think there's so much possibility and
I think people, at least for sure in Nebraska, I
know for sure people.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Are loving it.
Speaker 6 (36:15):
And just want to be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
So next up, we talked to Jordan Poulter and she
talked a lot about what we were just saying with
TV viewership. She is so ready for that increased exposure
that will come in five years time.
Speaker 5 (36:30):
Well, first of all, I would like to say, I
hope that I'm still playing in five years. Second of all,
I you know, I think the landscape is going to
look significantly different. You know, we see we see all
a handful of our six teams that have been that
have been bought already by major groups and organizations. You know,
(36:54):
the Houston team just got bought by the NFL team
in Houston. And I foresee a lot more cities. I foresee,
hopefully in five years, maybe twelve total cities. I foresee
us having the best players in the world, not only
(37:18):
here in the States but internationally. And I see us
being on major networks and getting major slots for TV
time and being able to be that like I said,
next major league that people are excited about and want
(37:39):
to watch.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
And we're going to pass it off to Carolina from
the just plus to provide the fan perspective.
Speaker 7 (37:46):
God, I was thinking about this one so much because
I play volleyball and I coach puts high school and club.
So it's seen that kids start to get into it,
kids having like starting to have favorite favorite players. I'll
ask them like, oh, what number do you want to
be and they're like, oh, I don't know what's your
(38:06):
favorite player? And then they're like, oh, cool, I'll be
number fifteen.
Speaker 5 (38:09):
So that kind of story.
Speaker 7 (38:12):
I feel like it's going to be a lot more normal,
a lot more presence. I just hope that love expand
I know, love as a like, as a foundation, organization
whatever is so involved in the club scenes for a
lot of the states. So I want that to grow
more because I do think like it feels like their
heart's in the right place, it's backed by usav like,
(38:35):
it's doing a lot of things right. If the girls
can see, hey, this is a you know, we're still
in the organization, they're gonna get more eyes on them
as players do so having opportunities through PBF, I just
want to see more girls. You know the standard, if
you see it, you can be it, you can believe it.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
Whatever.
Speaker 7 (38:53):
I think we're going to have more players commit to that,
and I kind of am excited to see how much PDF.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Grows and finally, Jordan Thompson, our last one. She is
dreaming big about what's next for women's volleyball.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
You know, I might be ambitious in my dreams, but
I think it would be really cool to see volleyball
in the States look like it does overseas and selling
out you know, big arenas, and having these fan bases
that are are really invested in the players and the
(39:31):
people that they have on their teams and coming out
and wanting to support, and I think also having you know,
more TV time.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
I think it's really.
Speaker 9 (39:40):
Cool with Love and with AU to see the growth
in you know, like ESPN and USA, like so many
people wanting to invest in women's sports and support us.
And I think I get really excited looking ahead knowing that,
you know, we have the Olympics coming up in twenty twenty.
Speaker 5 (40:00):
Eight in LA.
Speaker 9 (40:01):
We have a team starting next year with Love in LA.
You know, there's so much opportunity for growth and the
game is going to continue to explode, and I'm just
really excited to see the way that our fan base
continues to grow too, because I think it's for me
as I'm a big fan of the WNBA and like
(40:21):
just you know, watching them over the years of they're
in the grind, doing the hard work behind the scenes,
and they're you know, just now starting to get the
recognition that they really deserve. And that's really exciting. And
I feel like it's almost you know, when I look
at the w I sort of feel like, oh, you know,
that's where like volleyball can be, and I hope it's
(40:41):
there soon. And you know, I think there's this really
special growth and excitement around women's sports, and it's cool
to see that we're finally getting some of the recognition
that I think we've deserved for a long time. And
you know, so many women before us have been paving
the way, and I think, you know, we owe it
to them to can continue doing the hard work and
(41:01):
spreading the word and just putting out a good product.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
So it really excites me to look ahead to the future.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And I don't think we could end it better than
whatever all of these very smart and talented women and
athletes are saying. Thank you all so much for listening
to our second episode of She's Not Next, She's Now,
and thank you for tuning in to the Pro Indoor
Women's Volleyball edition Yes.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
We will be back with a new episode in your
feed next Monday. In the meantime, we would love for
you to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast and
share it with someone you want to watch some women's
volleyball with.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Yeah. This episode was edited by Savannah Hold and produced
by Lauren Tuscala. Again, I'm Elin Hislop.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
And I'm Lauren. We will chat with you again next
week at.
Speaker 9 (42:18):
A step as stands.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
Em speaking as
Speaker 9 (43:19):
At a ste
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