Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
Women's volleyball league in the United States
For the league that played in 1987–1989, see Major League Volleyball (1987).
Major League Volleyball (MLV) is a planned professional women's indoor volleyball league in the United States, owned by MLV Holdings. Formed from the secession of the Omaha Supernovas from the Pro Volleyball Federation following a conflict over the league's ownership, the MLV plans to commence play with ten teams in January 2026.
History
The Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) is one of three competing professional volleyball leagues in the United States that commenced play in the early-to-mid 2020s, alongside Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball and LOVB Pro. Its inaugural 2024 season was dominated by the success of the Omaha Supernovas, who earned the highest average attendance for a professional volleyball team in the world, broke the United States attendance record for a volleyball game thrice, and won the PVF Championship in straight sets against the Grand Rapids Rise. Off the court, the PVF came into conflict with the Supernovas over their attempted acquisition of another PVF franchise, the Vegas Thrill, in August 2023; which was blocked by the league. By December, an attempt at a hostile takeover of the PVF itself by the Supernovas' owners was alleged to have started, inspiring PVF co-founders Dan Whinham and Stephen Evans to "resist" the takeover by selling $1 million in shares of the league to a competing PVF franchise owner, the Rise's Dan DeVos, in February 2024.
Amid the dispute, Supernovas co-owners Jason Derulo and Danny White, along with former Formula One executive Benjamin Priest, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, and three-time Olympic beach volleyball champion Kerri Walsh Jennings, organized plans for a competing league with the Supernovas as a charter member, raising $100 million from investors. The group announced both the Supernovas' exit from the PVF and the establishment of Major League Volleyball, just days into the 2025 season on January 16. The Supernovas intend to continue competing in the PVF through to the end of the season. Ranadivé would become the owner of a MLV franchise based in Sacramento, California.
^ Sanchez 2024, "By December 2023 the White Group was in the process of executing a leveraged corporate takeover of PVF. believed that such a development would be bad for PVF and its fledgling league, (they) tried to resist Mr. White’s takeover."
Sanchez 2024, " the founders of the Pro Volleyball Federation inked a $1 million deal on Feb. 12 to sell to DeVos' PVF Ventures. The founders say the sale was motivated by their desire to preserve the new league and avoid a "leveraged corporate takeover" by another franchise owner based in Omaha, Neb."
