FRISCO, Texas / COLUMBUS, Ohio (November 17, 2022) – A historic day for women’s professional sports in North America has arrived with the launch of Pro Volleyball Federation. The new indoor volleyball league will take the court in February 2024, providing a new professional horizon for volleyball players throughout North America.
Pro Volleyball Federation has attracted some well-known founding partners from inside and outside the sport. Super Bowl Champion Trent Dilfer highlights an impressive roster of founding partners in support of the new venture. In addition, two legends of the sport – Dr. Cecile Reynaud and Laurie Corbelli – will be intimately involved from the start, as will Team USA veteran Jenna Rosenthal.
“I’m really more known now as the ‘Dad of Setters’ than a Super Bowl champion, so this is really meaningful to me and my family,” said Dilfer, who has three volleyball-playing daughters. “The lack of a major league women’s professional volleyball league has always perplexed me. The athleticism, determination, and emotion of the athletes is so much fun to watch, and the game is so big overseas. Until now, there just hasn’t been an opportunity to make a living as a professional in the United States. That’s why I am so pumped about Pro Volleyball Federation. This is going to be huge and I am so excited to be a part of something long overdue. Like I did, sports fans all over the country are going to fall in love with the game and the fantastic athletes who play it.”
Pro Volleyball Federation is REAL pro volleyball. As the premier women’s professional volleyball league in
North America, Pro Volleyball Federation will feature world class players and coaches, including many of
America’s greatest volleyball players. Pro Volleyball Federation will play with a REAL league format with teams playing in REAL pro arenas across North America and owned by REAL pro owners and team operators. The league is operated with REAL league management expertise within a REAL financial model viable at both the league and the team levels.
Founders of the league are Dave Whinham, President & CEO of The TEAM Management, and Stephen Evans, President of The Remedy. The duo boasts many years of combined experience in building and managing professional sports leagues and teams and providing comprehensive consultation and thought leadership to the industry. The TEAM Management will serve as the management arm of Pro Volleyball Federation.
“We’re establishing a league built on the pillars of viability, quality, and fairness,” Whinham said. “That’s not a slogan – it’s a commitment. We have set out to impact lives and help create legacies – and that’s what really matters. We have been joined by so many talented and experienced founding partners from the areas of team ownership, league investment, major venue operators, our staff, media partners, brands, and others who believe, like we do, that Pro Volleyball Federation is the exact right thing at the exact right time.”
Pro Volleyball Federation is a women’s professional league that is run primarily by women. Jen Spicher, a respected business executive who has built sales teams responsible for billions of dollars of revenue generation, has been tapped as Chief Executive Officer. Reynaud, a member of the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame who spent 26 seasons as head coach at Florida State, served as Chair of the USA Volleyball Board of Directors and is a former president of the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association, will serve as Vice President of Volleyball Operations. Corbelli, also a Hall of Fame coach who amassed more than 600 career victories inclusive of her tenure at Texas A&M (1993-2017), will assist Reynaud in developing the league’s volleyball operations.
“This is something that we have been building for more than 18 months and we are finally at this exciting point where we can tell the world about this fantastic new opportunity for these awesome athletes,” Spicher said. “I was a college volleyball player and I know first-hand the excitement that all of these young ladies are feeling to finally have a meaningful opportunity to be a professional volleyball player without having to go overseas.”
Eight to 10 initial teams will debut in volleyball hotbeds throughout the nation in 2024, with additional markets added in subsequent years. Pro Volleyball Federation, which has already identified ownership groups in five markets, will begin announcing those markets and ownership groups in December.
The regular season will consist of 16 matches during the inaugural season, though that number will likely expand in future seasons. Rosters will include 14 players and the league expects to have a minimum of three National Game of the Week windows on major broadcast networks and a worldwide streaming partner.
With the launch of Pro Volleyball Federation, players will no longer have to choose between giving up the game they love or leaving the country to play it. First-year base salaries in Pro Volleyball Federation will be similar to those of current first-year WNBA players. Pro Volleyball Federation players will be able to earn additional compensation based on achievement and postseason advancement, while also sharing revenues with the league.
“One of the paramount motivations for building this league was a desire to treat our athletes the right way,” said Evans. “We are proud that we are the first professional volleyball league to provide our players a living wage while playing in North America. We are also extremely excited about being the first pro league to share revenues with our players from day one.”
Pro Volleyball Federation has already attracted the attention of many of America’s greatest volleyball
players and coaches, and the league expects its team rosters to be filled with top American volleyball stars.
“Volleyball is one of the most popular sports around the world and many countries offer a variety of leagues for their athletes to participate in,” Reynaud said. “The United States is one of the few countries that has not had a true professional league providing athletes opportunities to continue to play at a high level after college. Pro Volleyball Federation is ready to establish a league with teams around the country that will support these top athletes and coaches.”
In addition to upcoming announcements of team markets and ownership groups, Pro Volleyball Federation will soon be making announcements related to corporate partners, media and broadcast alliances, additional league investors, and other key partners.
Those wishing to become a part of Pro Volleyball Federation, whether as a player, coach, team owner, investor, sponsor, vendor, media company, or host venue, can email info@provolleyballfederation.com or visit provolleyballfederation.com.
ABOUT THE TEAM MANAGEMENT, LLC
Since 2002, The TEAM Management has served as The Experts in Acquisition and Management, successfully managing transactions for an array of entities throughout the sports and entertainment industries. Work includes teams at all levels, venues, buyers, sellers, licensed products, television and media projects and other related businesses. Along with its brokering services, The TEAM, based in Columbus, Ohio, has developed a comprehensive consulting practice and mature media and live event production capabilities. For more information, visit TheTeamLLC.com.
ABOUT THE REMEDY
Headquartered in Frisco, Texas, The Remedy is a boutique brand strategy and development agency that produces compelling brand experiences for clients within an array of industries. The Remedy’s comprehensive and integrated brand creation, brand activation and brand management solutions are designed to deliver impact and value to the customer. The Remedy’s client roster spans from blue chip brands to start-ups, offering clients fully integrated brand building, comprehensive marketing and communications, and world- class creative development. For more information visit TheRemedyBranding.com.
For Media Inquiries or to arrange interviews, contact: Rob Carolla, (214-208-1876 / rcarolla@yahoo.com)