It’s something Kerri Walsh Jennings has envisioned throughout her career as one of the most decorated volleyball players in history: a professional indoor league in the United States featuring the most talented women’s players from around the world.
On Thursday, the Santa Clara native, two-time NCAA champion and three-time Olympic gold medal winner in beach volleyball helped roll out news that San Diego will be one the teams playing in the Pro Volleyball Federation when an inaugural 16-match regular season launches in February.
“This has really been like 12 years in the making in terms of the idea and then we saw an opportunity and it’s been about the last 18 months to it becoming reality,” Walsh Jennings said. “It takes a vision for something like this to come together and then the right people to get it rolling. I couldn’t be more excited about being a part of the next chapter in women’s sports here in San Diego.”
Pro Volleyball Federation
(Pro Volleyball Federation)
Walsh Jennings, who holds the title of Managing Member for the San Diego club, is also an equity stakeholder in the league which also has founding partners who include Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Dan Devos, chairman of the NBA’s Orlando Magic.
The San Diego franchise is majority owned by Mitch Grossbach and his company Someone Great Management, LLC.
An introductory event will be held in coming weeks announcing a team name, logo, the team’s head coach and players for the inaugural roster.
A home arena has not yet been determined.
Other already established franchises will represent Orlando; Atlanta; Grand Rapids, Michigan;, Columbus, Ohio; and Omaha, Neb. The league is expected to add as many as two more teams.
The league is coming into existence at a good time given participation and interest in the sport.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, more than 454,000 girls played volleyball at the High School level during the 2021-22 school year. Television ratings for NCAA Division I national tournament matches have been solid on ESPN in recent years.
Also, the player pool is deep when it comes to professional talent.
Pro Volleyball Federation CEO Jen Spicher estimates that 325 American women played professionally overseas or in South America since September. She and league staff have been actively reaching out to those players offering a chance to play professionally for the first time in the United States.
Base salaries will be set at $60,000 with performance bonuses available. Spicher is also pitching the idea of revenue sharing with players based on factors such as broadcasting/media rights and expansion fees.
“When I came out of Stanford, I opted for a beach career because I wasn’t wild about going overseas for nine months and being away from my family and friends and my life here,” said Walsh Jennings, who started her beach career on the AVP Tour in 2001.
“This league gives the current and future generations a chance that we didn’t have: to stay home and play the sport they love while growing the game. It’s been a longtime coming but we feel this is the perfect time and structure to make it work. And San Diego is the perfect place to be a part of it.”
