January 7, 2025 • 38 mins
League One Volleyball (aka LOVB) takes center stage for installment #2 of our “New Year, New Leagues” series. LOVB President Rosie Spaulding and Salt Lake City player Jordyn Poulter join Sarah to discuss how the league is prioritizing athlete experience and why in-game commentary will sound a little different. Plus, the stars, stakes, stats, and stories you need to know.
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Watch LOVB! The full season schedule (including tune-in info) can be found here
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Listen to the “Serving Pancakes” podcast here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're wondering
how many of you have already bumped set spiked your
New Year's resolutions into a dark, dusty corner of your brain,
never to be accessed again. It's Tuesday, January seventh, and
today we continue our New Year, New League series of shows,
serving up everything you need to know about the new
professional women's leagues kicking.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Off, tipping off, first pitching, and first serving their way
into our hearts in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Today's league Love Pro Volleyball aka League One Volleyball, a
new professional women's indoor volleyball league. Love president Rosie Spalding
and Salt Lake City player Jordan Poulter joined the show
to give.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Us all the steak stars, stories and stats we need
to be ready for first serve.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
It's all coming up right after this, All right, slices,
Welcome back to New Year, New Leagues today.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Love Pro Volleyball.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Joining us to tell us everything we need to know
about Love Pro Volleyball. She's the President of Love formerly
It's COO, and a member of the executive team since
twenty twenty, when she first joined to help build league
strategy Prior to working with Love, she held leadership roles
with Super Bowl fifty, Rugby, World Cup Seven's and the
thirty fourth America's Cup, and architected league building strategies for
properties including sale GP, World Rugby and USA Rugby. We
(01:18):
rocked the stage together at one of my favorite hotels
in Brooklyn for the w Summitt NYC.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's Rosie Spalding. What's up, Rosie?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yes, so excited to see you again joining her.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
She's a member of the US women's national volleyball team
in an Olympic gold and silver medalist, named Best Center
of the Tokyo Olympics. She was born in Naperville, Illinois
aka Napor Thrill. She moved to Colorado, but she came
back to the best state in the Land to play
collegiate volleyball at the University of Illinois, where she was
a two time All American. Was named the Big Ten
Center of the Year during her senior season and led
(01:47):
Illinois to a Final four appearance. She's a founding athlete
for League one Volleyball and we'll play for the League
Salt Lake City team in its inaugural season. She loves hugs,
skateboards and can rock at Cowboy Hat and Chaps.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
It's Jordan Poulter. What's up, Jordan.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I don't think I've ever gotten that before.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I had a lot of fun on your Instagram. I
was diving deep. You look like you have a very
very fun life. Oh.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Happy for you.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I think that's one of the best compliments that I
could ever receive.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Well, at least you share a lot of it, which
I appreciate because it makes it easier to stock people
when they are over sharers like me. First and most
important question, our show producer Miche is trying to make
vibes happen.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Are y'all down with colin volleyball vibs?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Yeah? I think we as girls, we kind of sometimes
joke around and call it that. So sure, yeah, perfect?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Good.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
At first I wasn't sure, and then I kept saying
it and I was like, it's growing on me.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
This is she's making bebes happen. So that's good. Jordan.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Congrats on the silver medal this summer in Paris. Can
you tell us the biggest highlight of the trip in
that tournament?
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Yeah, thank you. You know, to be honest, as a team, collectively,
we were happy to be playing on the last day.
It had been kind of a quad full of ups
and downs, just the four years leading into the Olympics,
and because of COVID and Tokyo being pushed back one,
it was a quad of only three years. So yeah,
(03:10):
just we still going into the Olympics, didn't have our
shit figured out necessarily, and it was fun to see
that come together at the right time. Peaking at the
right time is what you hope to aspire with any
team you play on, so it was really proud to
be a part of that. That one felt a little more,
a little harder earned than the gold one.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Did, so interesting.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, different weight.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I also love I know the US women's national soccer
team one bronze once and called it Rose Gold.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I appreciated that your silver medal.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
You said always looked for the silver linings, So I
love that positive attitude about being playing.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
On that last day and winning silver.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Rosie, you're almost five years into your time at Love,
but you're just a few months into your role as president.
What are some of your biggest responsibilities as you get
ready for the regular season to start.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I think just feeling first. Well, one of our
key ones is our athlete experience and making sure that
our athletes feel well taken care of now that they're
with us officially have been for six weeks at this point,
so that's a major commitment for us and something we're
very intentional about. And we've just completed two of our
test events to scrimmages, which the whole purpose being to
(04:20):
test and learn and make some refinements before our first serve.
So feeling very encouraged by the progress we've made in
the last couple of weeks, and you're just very excited
to hit the.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Ground running in the new year with.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
All areas firing up, really when the broadcast and streaming side,
on the marketing side, with our suite of partners, and
looking forward to building on that and if we go
from here excited.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, Touring volleyballs blowing up across every age level, but
especially at the pro level. There's love, there's athletes, unlimited
PVA Volleyball League of America. When you were a kid,
could you even imagine all of these options to play
post collegiately.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
No, to be honest, it wasn't until I was sixteen
years old that I even knew you could go play professionally.
Abroad and there's girls you know that don't know that
until they're in college, and you know, you have the
right coaches kind of exposing you to different levels of volleyball.
So I think just the opportunity that has arisen in
the last two to three years is incredible, and it's
(05:21):
just giving athletes the option to choose what they hope
to do post collegiately if they could continue to play.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
For people who maybe aren't super familiar with the volleyball landscape.
And I know you're only twenty seven, but can you
sort of set the stage for what the post college
volleyball vibes used to be because I know you have
played a lot overseas before there were other options in America.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, the vibe, as you said, the vibes vibes, you know,
you would graduate. A lot of us graduated early in December,
once your eligibility in college was over, and you try
to get an a and get on any team that
needed a player at the halfway point. A lot of
(06:05):
teams are unhappy with their performance at the midway mark,
and so they're willing to take a gamble on a
young athlete out of college. And that's what happened with me.
I got put on the team that was second to
last in the Italian league but needed a change in
a setter, and yeah, so I went overseas, was thrown
in a stick shift car, it never driven stick before,
(06:27):
it was sleeping on a pullout couch, all the.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Things that you and then you won it all. Yeah, yes,
they're a long one. No, we did. We saved ourselves
from getting relegated, but definitely did not.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
There we go. That's still a good story.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
You know. I would say the vibes were very much
a lot of us, except maybe a handful of people
that I know, you know, kind of had to slum
it for a few years just and I'd say slum
it compared to just how comfortable we are in the
nc douaas collegiate athletes. And I would say that's even
grown more so now with just nil and I think
(07:04):
all the resources that athletes have. It was a little
bit of a root awakening for me overseas.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So it's interesting in women's sports how often that is,
where you know, collegiate boosters, NCAA gives you a really nice,
cushy gig and then you get to the pros and
you're like, wait, this is supposed to be the good stuff.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
I know, you think that every level that it, like yeah,
having this idea of how it's supposed to look. And
I think for us being American, we grow up watching
the NBA, the NFL, MLB, just all these male leagues
where you see what the pinnacle of being a professional
athlete is. And so not to say that all of
us are you know, that oblivious and naive to where
(07:43):
we thought that's how life would be, but you just, yeah,
I don't know, there's there was a little bit of like, oh, dang,
this is it. But I feel really fortunate to be
at a point in my career where I'm getting to
see both sides of that coin, where I got to
play overseas and kind of experienperience that hard and have
that uncomfortable growth. But at the same time, I think
(08:04):
all of us who are all of us Americans who
are playing in this league feel that this is our
way of creating that these next set of shoulders for
the future generations to stand on as well as I
keep saying, like for the future generations as well as
for ourselves, you know, like we have to we get
to also reap the benefits of being an American professional athlete.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Rosie Love is not just a pro league though, it's
actually a successful youth volleyball business. So how does the
youth model that's existed for a couple of years connect
or interact with this new pro league.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, so we've very intentionally built this league from the
ground up. That was one of the personally more appealing
pieces about this league and the way that we're building
it that pulled me in in the beginning. I just
think to build from the community up and to start
at the youth level and really provide this full pathway
for athletes to compete in all the way from you
(08:59):
as young as eight year old years old even younger
actually all the way through to pro is why we're here.
You're ultimately here to create better life outcomes for women
through the sport of volleyball, and it made sense to
us to build that way. So we've we now more
than sixty clubs across twenty three states on the youth
side of eight to eighteen year olds and obviously launching
(09:19):
pro in a fairly short order here. And one of
the really cool things to see that we've been talking
about for a long time, but has been our pros
are training in the club gyms, and just to see
that connection that's being made and see these rows of
young girls lined up watching our pros practice and club
training facilities has just been really magical and exactly why
we're here. So just to really make that connection, it's
(09:41):
been pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I think people who are my age think about that
a lot, like, how different would it be if when
we were a little girl we had been around and
witnessed to on TV in the gyms with us in
our cities, women playing at the highest levels and exhibiting
for us what was possible.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
It's just a completely different universe.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So those fifteen hundred plus junior club teams across you know,
the entire country getting to see this and be a
part of the pipeline is really really cool. Okay, so
let's get to the professional side. We're going to do
a little love pro Volleyball one oh one ahead of
this inaugural season. I want to start with the teams, Rosie,
how many are there? What are the names locations?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
We've got six teams in our in norgural season, So Atlanta, Houston, Austin,
Salt Lake, Madison, and Omaha, and we have been intentionally
similar to sort of European soccer. We've taken this approach
where we're not naming the teams, we're naming them by
the city, and then over time we expect nicknames, but
(10:39):
the fan names to evolve and sort of come out
over the next couple of years. But most important for
us was to make the attachment to the city.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
In the first point, are there any notable GMS or
coaches leading the teams that we might know the names
of our have a cool story coming in.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So we are intentionally launching single entity, so we are
legaled and operated in these early years. So there's no
GMS in each study per se, but we obviously have
the teams and some coaches, and I think what's been
I'm just going to talk for a second about this
sort of reinforcing moment that I had a few couple
of years ago going to the NCAA Final four and
(11:15):
then a few weeks later going to watch some of
the Series A level matches in Italy, and the difference
in the level of play was outstanding to me as
as someone being fairly new to this sport I could
really tell. So to have the ability to bring that
level of play to this country was something that super
really was very motivating to me. And so I've been
(11:38):
very pleased with the level of talent that we've attracted
to the league. And I think part of that is
the quality of the coaches that we've brought in. So yes,
you know, ten out of twelve athletes on the Olympic
team assigned to play with LOVE. We also had four
coaches that medled at the Games. I think we have
this real opportunity through Love to actually bring up the
(11:59):
level of professional coaching in this country as well, which
is something that really excites me.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, for sure, Jordan, Let's talk about where Love's getting
the players, national team, recent college grads, international. What can
we expect to see from the players out on these teams.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, we have a good handful of our athletes who
competed in this past Olympic Games, and a lot of
us are multi time Olympians. On my team alone, we
have three foreigners. We have a Cuban and two Japanese players.
It's fun, I think for a lot of us because
we've played internationally or abroad that the athletes who are
(12:37):
not American who signed to the league we know pretty well.
And I think that makes it fun too, whether we
were playing against them in the Italian League or you know,
for their national team. It's just cool to recognize almost
all the names on every roster.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Seventeen Olympians, ten members of Team USA who won silver.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
So folks were watching the volleyball at.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
The Paris Olympics, they'll certainly recognize a handful of the names. Okay, Jordan,
So how does pay work? Are there different tiers? Is
it based on experience? Is it based on some sort
of committee or ownership group deciding who's in different levels
of pay?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
How does that go?
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You know, I can only speak from my limited knowledge.
Rosie might be a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
More, Jordan, tell everyone what you're making you see if
your teammates feel the same way about their paycheck, Rosie,
let's throw it over to you.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Sure. Yeah, So we wanted to start with a minimum
of sixty thousand dollars. That was our commitment, and I
would say yes. What was really important to us from
the outset is that we've been that the athletes have
informed the building of this league.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
From the very beginning.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
It was back in twenty twenty that we first formed
this Athlete's Council with eight of the best athletes in
the world. A number of them have now become founding
athletes and playing with us, and literally met with them
every month on what was important to them, what worked
for them, what was fantastic, what some of the lessons
they'd learned in Europe or overseas that they wanted to
bring into the forming of this league, and what wasn't
(14:07):
so great. And while we might not have been able
to do everything in year one, because this is you know,
we're building, that's been absolutely essential to us that we're
sort of led by our athletes group. So to that end,
it's not just about salary for us. It's about benefits,
year round benefits, it's about mental health. It's also about
(14:27):
whole athlete training. So we take great pride in this
program that we have from youth to pro on off
court development, whether that's around hormones or nutrition or financial literacy.
So I say all of that because what's really important
to us is that we're developing the whole person and
the whole athlete. Whether you're joining love at the youth
(14:49):
level or the pro level, and it's about salary, yes,
of course, but much more than that as well.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Yeah, that's really cool, And what I can add on
to that is it feels really refreshing. I think for
a lot of us to be in a league and
play for teams where we are getting paid consistently and
on time and we know when to expect our salaries.
I think a lot of us, regardless of if you
(15:15):
were on the worst team or the best team, you
know you have these discrepancies and when you're getting paid.
And I think just to be a part of a
league where the professionalism in that aspect is really top tier,
it makes you feel valued as an.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Athlete, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And I think I read that you're a founding athlete
and that involves investment as well. So do you have
equity in how the league doesn't tell us a little
bit more about what it means to be a founding
athlete as opposed to just a player.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
In the inaugural season.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Yes, so there are fourteen of us, and we a
lot of us signed on pretty early to the league,
and a lot of us are Olympians. Are our athletes
who have achieved at a pretty high level and been successful.
And I think one of the best things about this league,
(16:07):
like Rosie said, was just the care and the desire
to want to know about the athletes experience and build
this league with the athletes in mind. First. I can't
say that I've ever heard of a league or been
a part of a league where that's the number one driver. Obviously,
(16:29):
you know revenue is important, but to be actually making
decisions and choosing different roads and paths to go forward
through the athlete's mind and the athlete's opinions is something
that was really admirable, and I think why a lot
of us chose to want to be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
It's been really heartening to see that across a lot
of spaces in women's sport, because I think one thing
we've talked about on this show is that the hierarchy
of value in men's sport is very clearly the athlete
on top, even though there are billionaire owners the product
does the athlete. The athlete is very highly valued and
their experience is very important, even if they don't have
that much control, whereas in women's sports it has usually
(17:09):
been the athlete floating around the middle or sometimes even
at the bottom in terms of the way they were
valued and treated, especially when they're spected to go out
and put a product out there athletically. And so what
we're seeing now is even if financially they might not
be able to be given millions and millions right off
the bat, they are being involved in decision making and
that's leveling out some of the power dynamics that have
been problematic, that have allowed for abusive and bad environments
(17:30):
because they haven't been at the top of the heap.
It's lovely to see. So we know the players, we
know a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
About the league. But where are we playing, when are
we playing, how do we watch?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We're going to talk about all that when we come
back with Jordan and Rosie. We're back with Jordan and
Rosie talking about love pro volleyball. Okay, let's talk about
where the games are being played.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
This is interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Because there are teams in cities, but it's not as
simple as just city A visiting city B for a game.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
So Rosie tell us how this works.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah, so just quickly, I think the big vision here
is to really help make volleyball and major league sport.
So with that in mind, we really are serious, and
yes it's ambitious, and yes it may be audacious, but
we're really pretty committed to that goal in the long term.
So a lot of our thinking has been like, well,
that's great, where do we start. So in year one,
(18:25):
we've prioritized a few things specific to where athletes play.
We've really focused on what we believe is a right
sized arena for this inaugural season of our launch, and
we are focused on this three to eight thousand size
arena in our cities and as well with the format.
The way we've approached it for this first season is
(18:46):
a combination of single game matches and altho these weekends
of love where four teams will show up. We actually
just tested this past weekend. It was pretty awesome the
atmosphere around having four teams in one place. So there's
definitely an element of scarcity in this first season. There's
this really six opportunities to watch your home team and
then come out and support. So yeah, encouraging folks to
(19:10):
show up, and as we grow over the next couple
of years, will be increasing the number of matches and
increasing the size of venues, etc. But this is where
we wanted to start a new one.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So yeah, kicking off with first serve, which is this week.
Every week of the fourteen week season will include all
six pro teams playing every week, and then they'll rotate
through the cities. One weekday had to head match between
two teams in a city, and then one weekend three
match series between four teams and another city. That's the
weekends with Love that you mentioned. So every home market
(19:40):
gets eight matches, two weekdays, two weekends, and it really
does allow for not only you to see your team,
but a couple of the other ones in those bigger
weekend tournament matches. So Jordan, tell us about the league dates,
When does it start, how long is it and when
does it end, and what's the format of trying to
win it all?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
How many teams make playoffs? Things like that.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Yeah, our first match is in Atlanta. I'm on the
Salt Lake City team, so we play in Atlanta on
January eighth, and our season will run through mid April,
which is when our I guess postseason tournament will be.
(20:21):
So yeah, about three and a half three and a
half months of quality play, and I think the schedule
for each team is pretty balanced in terms of when
the home and away matches are sprinkled in, but like
Rosie said, you know, only being home six six times,
it kind of hopefully will force the urgency for fans
(20:45):
to get out and support while they can. I was
asked recently what I thought would make a successful first season,
and I think it'd be really cool to just see
the trend of the attendance increase for each city, each
of the for each of.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
The Yeah, there's also an in season tournament called the
Love Classic featuring all six teams winner take all over
President's Day weekend, and it's connected to a youth tournament too.
Rosie imagine that was done with intention to help expose
those youth players to what this professional level looks like
in person.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Yeah, so that's probably the most prestigious youth tournament in
the country. I think that's probably a fair title.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
But Jordan the Triple Crown n I t.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Yes, that's a big one for sure.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, very well attended. A number of our clubs will
be there, and yeah, absolutely, there's an number of opportunities
where we're doing this in the season, but this is
the main one where we're really bringing together the highest
level of the sport and through our six pro teams
and at the same time as this incredible base of
youth athleast, it will be competing fly for the for
(21:52):
the champions ships into their different age groups.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So in this first season with six teams, does the
regular sea an end with the top two teams facing
off in a championship final?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah, so we have the love finals or six teams
will actually be at the finals and the top two
teams of the season we'll get a buy. But yes,
there'll be a love final championship.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
With also tournament style, so even if you're last in
the league, you got a shot if you're peeking at
the end.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Interesting, Okay, okay, good to know, Jordan. Are there any
new or different rules.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
To look out for outside the normal rules of volleyball
or we playing it straight here?
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Well, it all kind of depends on what you classify
as the normal rules of volleyball, because the American rules
of volleyball that we play with youth level and in
college are a little bit different even than international rules
under the FIVB. So we have a couple modifications that
are a little bit different than what we play under
the FIVB sanctioned rules, but every rule that we are
(22:53):
implementing is something that the FIVB is considering moving towards
in the next couple of years, or in before or
the next Olympics. So, for example, substitutions overseas and internationally,
right now you can only have six and we have eight,
and we have free subs, so you can sub a
(23:15):
player in and out, whereas internationally, once you sub someone
in and then they sub back out, you cannot re
enter the match. So little variations of those types of things.
In America, we if we play the ball up and
it hits your it hits the ceiling and comes back
on your side. You can play Internationally, if you hit
the ceiling, it's out regardless of where it drops. So
(23:37):
little modifications like that that will hopefully just increase the
level of play and hopefully make it more interesting for
the viewer.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Rosie, where can folks get tickets to watch in person?
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Love dot com?
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yes, love l ovb dot com ov By, I don't
know what love dot com is, but just in case
we don't want to send.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Me absolutely right, I love it.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Lovb dot com is where you can get season in
single match tickets.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
And then how can folks watch on TV and streaming.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yeah, so we've actually released our broadcast schedule. We have
a number of matches on ESPN and ESPN Plus which
we're super excited about. And then we'll also be on
our website LVB dot com. We'll be able to see
additional matches as well as if you're overseas, we have
your partners are partnering with his own and spotv to
get deeper reach both in Europe and also in Asia.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I love watching volleyball, but I will fully admit that,
despite my height and getting recruited multiple times by the
volleyball coaches, it was the same season as field hockey,
which was my jam from junior high on. So I
never played volleyball And when I watch, I'm just into kills,
blocks and digs, Like I'm into the big rallies. Jordan,
how do we get more educated to watch and understand
(24:55):
better who's doing amazing things, who's setting up their teammates?
While like, is there anything either a resource or just
something you can tell us to be a more educated
viewer of the game.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
You know, I actually think that what's really cool about
the talks of the broadcast and how We are trying
to set this up with the viewer in mind. Largely
is the commentating is going to, I think, try to
help the viewers be able to recognize certain good plays.
(25:26):
We are actually giving the broadcast team some control, creative
control to be able to put small pauses in the
game of fifteen seconds, to be able to highlight certain
plays to where people then are like, oh okay, so
that interesting.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Wait, so the broadcaster will have to maybe hit a
button to let the official know that you can serve again,
and during that pause they might educate.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
That's fascinating, educate and also just build the eminence of
these women and storytell more. So we want that we
know that we need to break through outside of volleyball
to be successful and to appeal to folks from other
sports or entertainment. So, yeah, that's one of the pieces
that we're exploring, is how can we we've in more
storytelling and really just bring this amazing talent on the
(26:12):
court to folks in an educational and informative way as
well as just being super fun.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, or in or in arena, there will be if
there's a really long rally, you know, well, it's called
a super point where they will replay the rally. It
also gives the teams nice breather because yeah, usually you're
trying to catch your breath after that a little bit.
But just yeah, again highlighting these female athletes and some
(26:39):
of the just really impressive physical feats that are achieved
through the sport of volleyball.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
God, I love that given the media more power, you're
gonna have to find the exact perfect line of when.
Like the people that are calling the games are choosing
wisely to put a little pause in.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
We got alchemists.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
We were promised it wouldn't be past twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah, right, And you don't want too much of a
break in between play when you're in a rhythm, especially
if your team is like on a hot streak.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
You don't want them to slow you down.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Get the other team to catch their breath and figure
out what they're doing wrong. Also, though I feel like
the players were gonna drop, you're gonna be dropping by
those desks with little presents, and like, did I ever
tell you about the time when I was five and
I fell off a whart, Like you're gonna try to
get all your stories in make sure they know a
lot about you. They can really hype you up, gas
you up during the broadcast. Oh what a fun little element.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
That's so cool, Rosie. You know, setting up a league
is about more than getting the players on the court.
More than the logos and all the other things.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Take us a little bit behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
What does it look like in terms of support staff,
So doctors, physical therapists, hr ability for players to report incidents,
things like that.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Yeah, you're right, it's a no small feat getting leave
off the ground. So just across the ball and we
are launching single entity again with intention, but you know,
ultimately operating a league and six teams so.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Very much.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I think everything spans from media partnerships, commercial partnerships and
sponsors and then heavy on operations as well as athletes.
And on the operating side again, we want to make
sure that our athletes are taken care of. So that
extends to the quality of the practice facilities, the quality
of the court, the weights and athletic trainers and all
(28:26):
the pieces that you know an athlete needs to perform
at their best, as well as all the operational considerations
that are matches as well. So all of those things
apply plus the the detail that goes into you know,
Wi Fi and security and transportation.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
All those different pieces.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
So there's certainly plenty on the operating side to organize
behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
You're also competing with some other pro leagues who are
some of your big investors and partners that you're relying
on to sort of separate yourselves or at least make
sure that your first big inaugural season goes off.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Well.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Yeah, thanks.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
So we've actually really pleased with the partners that have
joined us today. So the likes of Adidas and Spanks
and Revolve was an awesome one to announce recently, as
well as ESPN have been absolutely instrumental in supporting us.
So just very much mission aligned, and that's ultimately what
would like out of a partner is that both of
(29:22):
us are helping each other, so very much mission aligned
and see the benefits of being partnered together over the
next few months and see how we can help each other.
Our investors have been incredible, so we recently announced our
C round where we raised one hundred million dollars and
I think all of these things, especially with our partners
and investors, it really speaks to the value of the
(29:44):
ecosystem that we're building. That's where it makes sense to them.
That's where you really see people the light bulb going on, like, oh, okay,
this is an interesting way to do it. We can
have visibility and relevance at both the pro level and
the level, and that really makes sense to folks.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I mean, we know brands especially want to get to
people when they start to find their favorite because often
they'll stick with it for life after being a teenager
or twenty something. So you do have the ability to
start to market to youth and then keep them as
a part of that as they as they get older,
you know, Jordan, we know that money makes the world
go around unfortunately sometimes and I guess it's okay thing
(30:25):
sometimes when you have it. But investment in the women's
sportspace has changed everything in the last couple of years.
And we look at the basketball landscape for instance, even
after twenty eight seasons, the WNBA season is still sometimes
limited by international leagues.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Players have wanted to continue to go abroad.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Now with Unrivaled and some other options, we're seeing a
lot of players be able to stay in America for
both the WNBA and athletes Unlimited or Unrivaled or other options.
How does volleyball compare. Do international teams pay enough that
players might still want to go abroad or do you
think a lot will rely on the first couple of
seasons of this to see whether they can shift the
natural order of things.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Yeah, I think absolutely. There's no secret that you know
just how some of these international teams are funded the
money right now, there is more abroad. But I think
what's been so cool as we talk about investors and
the interest around the league is with women's sports, there's
(31:24):
always this expectation of, Okay, well, we'll put money in
once we have proof of product, right, and so to
see what we've generated as a league even before the
product has been shown, I think just speaks volumes to
what the quality of athletes we have, what the quality
of our pro teams, and just our executive teams, what
(31:47):
they've created and worked so hard to do, and just
all these different touch points that we're having is creating buzz,
and it's creating I think an unsettling discomfort overseas because
the way that we're choosing to go about things is
making some noise and making some ripples amongst the volleyball landscape.
(32:07):
Just again in terms of so much beyond money, but
quality of life, quality for sure, putting the athletes forward.
And I know that there's again even athletes before the
league has even started that are wanting to be a
part of next season and sign on. And again I
think that that's it's really cool to see.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yeah, really cool. For sure.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
We're seeing across the women's space and even in some
ways into the men's space, how choosing to do things
differently has opened people's eyes to how they might have
to operate in order to keep athletes happy in order
to move forward financially soluble. Okay, last thing, because I've
kept you too long already, I have a not yet
trademark but definitely should be trademarked approach to teaching people
about a new sport, taking newbies to a sporting event
(32:52):
they haven't been to, or even just how I sort
of craft the stories of women's sports on this show.
And it's summed up by the four uses, stars, steaks, stack,
and stories. I think if you tell people those things,
they are more likely to enjoy whatever they're watching. So
speed round of those you'll each get two stars. I'm
gonna ask one of the stars for yourself, Jordan Poulter.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Who else should we be watching for?
Speaker 1 (33:14):
What are some of the top names, So we'll throw
their social handles in the show notes and people can
follow them and get excited for the season.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Oh jeez, there's so many. I'm gonna name my other
two setters who went to the Olympics with me, Lauren
Carlini and Mike Hancock, very good in their fields. We
have opposites like Jordan Thompson and Drew's. We have four
time Olympian Jordan Larsen, three time Olympian Kelsey Robinson. We
(33:42):
have setter from the real Olympics, Carl Lloyd, who is
a mother who's coming back, and just it's so cool
to just see these women that I've also watched and
looked up to, had the pleasure and privilege of playing with,
and now get to compete. Yeah, the net from them
on American soil.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
All right, We're going to throw those in the notes
for people to follow. Okay, Rosie steaks, how important is
one regular season game to the team's likelihood of making
the playoffs or winning it all?
Speaker 2 (34:12):
How many?
Speaker 1 (34:12):
And when you care about how many games are being
played or how many matches or whatever, How should people
view a team's loss or win in one match?
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Yeah, I think it's a very hopeful league. I think,
you know, consistency will be key, but I think even
if a team has a tough regular season, they still
have an opportunity to do well at the finals. And
that we're taking this first season, and of course there's
a Love Classic as well, so in in season two.
And what white people can really shine?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Okay, Jordan Stats?
Speaker 1 (34:43):
What's a great stat line in a single game for
a player, maybe like a setter and then a hitter.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Oh, you know, I would say side out efficiency is
really important for both the setter and hitter. It's reflecting
how well you guys are passing and then obviously running
the offense and executing in that first ball when you're
receiving the serve.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
What about like, what's a good number of let's say
you have kills.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
What makes a great game for someone if they have
x amount of kills? Oh?
Speaker 4 (35:12):
You know what, it really depends. I think anything above
twenty kills a match is extremely impressive. Obviously, you know
with volleyball it's best three out of five, So if
you go five sets, you see players sometimes upwards of
thirty plus kills, which is extremely impressive. But I would
say a great hitting percentage is hitting over three fifty.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Okay, we'll be looking for that three fifty. And then
finally Rosy's stories. You got a story for us to follow, maybe,
as Jordan mentioned, a player coming back from baby or
coming back from injury, player breaking boundaries, or representing an
underrepresented group.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
There's quite a few.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
The one that's top of mind for me is actually
the Love Six and how they you know, just having
followed what's happened in the WNBA the lost season a
couple of seasons, but I'm excited to see how that
group emerges. This is our six top athletes that are
joining us from this recent college season. I'm excited to
see how they develop.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
And Okay, so the Love six are the first time
pros whose first professional experience will be.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
With Love Volleyball.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Yes exactly, and.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
They're coming out very highly touted after their collegiate efforts.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Yes, so excited to find And there's many stories, but
that's the one that's top of mind right now.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Well, and it's especially good, like you said, because after
watching that WNBA rookie class just explode in terms of
popularity and enthusiasm, we're going to be Everybody was watching
the College Volleyball National Tournament. They even had brackets you
could compete in on ESPN and stuff, so we know
that those folks coming out of that will be people
we've been watching succeed.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Well, I'm super pumped and excited.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
I do not know a ton about volleyball, and I've
loved watching at the NCAA and the Olympic level, so
I'm excited to have this new opportunity to really dive
into it. And y'all got us really fired up for
it with all this information. So thanks so much for
joining us, Thanks for having us.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Yeah, thanks so much for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good gameplay of the day. Follow Love pro Volleyball on
social and follow some of the players Rosie and Jordan mentioned,
like Lauren Carlini and Jordan Thompson. One of the best
ways to learn about a new league, get to know
the players and storylines, and keep up with the games
is to have them right in your social timeline. So
hit that follow button, and don't forget to subscribe to
(37:34):
Serving Pancakes, the Love Pro Volleyball podcast right here on
the Iheartwomen's Sports Network, and follow our friends over at
Evolve with two l's who are providing the volleyball community
with consistent, reliable, and easily accessible data and analysis. Links
to accounts in our show notes, And don't forget to
subscribe a rate and review like this the little green
(37:55):
squiggle that acts as a logo for Love Team Omaha.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Rating five out of five.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I've Caterpillar qutis review Omaha's got to be my squad.
That little green caterpillar squiggle crawled right into my heart.
It's just a joyful squiggle man. The merch is clean,
the color is hot.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I'm in Omaha.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Now it's your turn subscribe, rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good game, Rosie and Jordan, Good Game,
Love Pro Volleyball, ke you sore forearms after a full
day of playing beach volleyball using terrible dig technique. Good
Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can
(38:34):
find us on the iHeartRadio, App, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our
producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Lindsay Crawdowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're wondering
how many of you have already bumped set spiked your
New Year's resolutions into a dark, dusty corner of your brain,
never to be accessed again. It's Tuesday, January seventh, and
today we continue our New Year, New League series of shows,
serving up everything you need to know about the new
professional women's leagues kicking.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Off, tipping off, first pitching, and first serving their way
into our hearts in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Today's league Love Pro Volleyball aka League One Volleyball, a
new professional women's indoor volleyball league. Love president Rosie Spalding
and Salt Lake City player Jordan Poulter joined the show
to give.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Us all the steak stars, stories and stats we need
to be ready for first serve.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
It's all coming up right after this, All right, slices,
Welcome back to New Year, New Leagues today.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Love Pro Volleyball.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Joining us to tell us everything we need to know
about Love Pro Volleyball. She's the President of Love formerly
It's COO, and a member of the executive team since
twenty twenty, when she first joined to help build league
strategy Prior to working with Love, she held leadership roles
with Super Bowl fifty, Rugby, World Cup Seven's and the
thirty fourth America's Cup, and architected league building strategies for
properties including sale GP, World Rugby and USA Rugby. We
(01:18):
rocked the stage together at one of my favorite hotels
in Brooklyn for the w Summitt NYC.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's Rosie Spalding. What's up, Rosie?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yes, so excited to see you again joining her.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
She's a member of the US women's national volleyball team
in an Olympic gold and silver medalist, named Best Center
of the Tokyo Olympics. She was born in Naperville, Illinois
aka Napor Thrill. She moved to Colorado, but she came
back to the best state in the Land to play
collegiate volleyball at the University of Illinois, where she was
a two time All American. Was named the Big Ten
Center of the Year during her senior season and led
(01:47):
Illinois to a Final four appearance. She's a founding athlete
for League one Volleyball and we'll play for the League
Salt Lake City team in its inaugural season. She loves hugs,
skateboards and can rock at Cowboy Hat and Chaps.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
It's Jordan Poulter. What's up, Jordan.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I don't think I've ever gotten that before.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I had a lot of fun on your Instagram. I
was diving deep. You look like you have a very
very fun life. Oh.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Happy for you.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I think that's one of the best compliments that I
could ever receive.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Well, at least you share a lot of it, which
I appreciate because it makes it easier to stock people
when they are over sharers like me. First and most
important question, our show producer Miche is trying to make
vibes happen.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Are y'all down with colin volleyball vibs?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Yeah? I think we as girls, we kind of sometimes
joke around and call it that. So sure, yeah, perfect?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Good.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
At first I wasn't sure, and then I kept saying
it and I was like, it's growing on me.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
This is she's making bebes happen. So that's good. Jordan.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Congrats on the silver medal this summer in Paris. Can
you tell us the biggest highlight of the trip in
that tournament?
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Yeah, thank you. You know, to be honest, as a team, collectively,
we were happy to be playing on the last day.
It had been kind of a quad full of ups
and downs, just the four years leading into the Olympics,
and because of COVID and Tokyo being pushed back one,
it was a quad of only three years. So yeah,
(03:10):
just we still going into the Olympics, didn't have our
shit figured out necessarily, and it was fun to see
that come together at the right time. Peaking at the
right time is what you hope to aspire with any
team you play on, so it was really proud to
be a part of that. That one felt a little more,
a little harder earned than the gold one.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Did, so interesting.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yeah, different weight.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I also love I know the US women's national soccer
team one bronze once and called it Rose Gold.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I appreciated that your silver medal.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
You said always looked for the silver linings, So I
love that positive attitude about being playing.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
On that last day and winning silver.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Rosie, you're almost five years into your time at Love,
but you're just a few months into your role as president.
What are some of your biggest responsibilities as you get
ready for the regular season to start.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I think just feeling first. Well, one of our
key ones is our athlete experience and making sure that
our athletes feel well taken care of now that they're
with us officially have been for six weeks at this point,
so that's a major commitment for us and something we're
very intentional about. And we've just completed two of our
test events to scrimmages, which the whole purpose being to
(04:20):
test and learn and make some refinements before our first serve.
So feeling very encouraged by the progress we've made in
the last couple of weeks, and you're just very excited
to hit the.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Ground running in the new year with.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
All areas firing up, really when the broadcast and streaming side,
on the marketing side, with our suite of partners, and
looking forward to building on that and if we go
from here excited.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, Touring volleyballs blowing up across every age level, but
especially at the pro level. There's love, there's athletes, unlimited
PVA Volleyball League of America. When you were a kid,
could you even imagine all of these options to play
post collegiately.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
No, to be honest, it wasn't until I was sixteen
years old that I even knew you could go play professionally.
Abroad and there's girls you know that don't know that
until they're in college, and you know, you have the
right coaches kind of exposing you to different levels of volleyball.
So I think just the opportunity that has arisen in
the last two to three years is incredible, and it's
(05:21):
just giving athletes the option to choose what they hope
to do post collegiately if they could continue to play.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
For people who maybe aren't super familiar with the volleyball landscape.
And I know you're only twenty seven, but can you
sort of set the stage for what the post college
volleyball vibes used to be because I know you have
played a lot overseas before there were other options in America.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, the vibe, as you said, the vibes vibes, you know,
you would graduate. A lot of us graduated early in December,
once your eligibility in college was over, and you try
to get an a and get on any team that
needed a player at the halfway point. A lot of
(06:05):
teams are unhappy with their performance at the midway mark,
and so they're willing to take a gamble on a
young athlete out of college. And that's what happened with me.
I got put on the team that was second to
last in the Italian league but needed a change in
a setter, and yeah, so I went overseas, was thrown
in a stick shift car, it never driven stick before,
(06:27):
it was sleeping on a pullout couch, all the.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Things that you and then you won it all. Yeah, yes,
they're a long one. No, we did. We saved ourselves
from getting relegated, but definitely did not.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
There we go. That's still a good story.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
You know. I would say the vibes were very much
a lot of us, except maybe a handful of people
that I know, you know, kind of had to slum
it for a few years just and I'd say slum
it compared to just how comfortable we are in the
nc douaas collegiate athletes. And I would say that's even
grown more so now with just nil and I think
(07:04):
all the resources that athletes have. It was a little
bit of a root awakening for me overseas.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So it's interesting in women's sports how often that is,
where you know, collegiate boosters, NCAA gives you a really nice,
cushy gig and then you get to the pros and
you're like, wait, this is supposed to be the good stuff.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
I know, you think that every level that it, like yeah,
having this idea of how it's supposed to look. And
I think for us being American, we grow up watching
the NBA, the NFL, MLB, just all these male leagues
where you see what the pinnacle of being a professional
athlete is. And so not to say that all of
us are you know, that oblivious and naive to where
(07:43):
we thought that's how life would be, but you just, yeah,
I don't know, there's there was a little bit of like, oh, dang,
this is it. But I feel really fortunate to be
at a point in my career where I'm getting to
see both sides of that coin, where I got to
play overseas and kind of experienperience that hard and have
that uncomfortable growth. But at the same time, I think
(08:04):
all of us who are all of us Americans who
are playing in this league feel that this is our
way of creating that these next set of shoulders for
the future generations to stand on as well as I
keep saying, like for the future generations as well as
for ourselves, you know, like we have to we get
to also reap the benefits of being an American professional athlete.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Rosie Love is not just a pro league though, it's
actually a successful youth volleyball business. So how does the
youth model that's existed for a couple of years connect
or interact with this new pro league.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, so we've very intentionally built this league from the
ground up. That was one of the personally more appealing
pieces about this league and the way that we're building
it that pulled me in in the beginning. I just
think to build from the community up and to start
at the youth level and really provide this full pathway
for athletes to compete in all the way from you
(08:59):
as young as eight year old years old even younger
actually all the way through to pro is why we're here.
You're ultimately here to create better life outcomes for women
through the sport of volleyball, and it made sense to
us to build that way. So we've we now more
than sixty clubs across twenty three states on the youth
side of eight to eighteen year olds and obviously launching
(09:19):
pro in a fairly short order here. And one of
the really cool things to see that we've been talking
about for a long time, but has been our pros
are training in the club gyms, and just to see
that connection that's being made and see these rows of
young girls lined up watching our pros practice and club
training facilities has just been really magical and exactly why
we're here. So just to really make that connection, it's
(09:41):
been pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I think people who are my age think about that
a lot, like, how different would it be if when
we were a little girl we had been around and
witnessed to on TV in the gyms with us in
our cities, women playing at the highest levels and exhibiting
for us what was possible.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
It's just a completely different universe.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So those fifteen hundred plus junior club teams across you know,
the entire country getting to see this and be a
part of the pipeline is really really cool. Okay, so
let's get to the professional side. We're going to do
a little love pro Volleyball one oh one ahead of
this inaugural season. I want to start with the teams, Rosie,
how many are there? What are the names locations?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
We've got six teams in our in norgural season, So Atlanta, Houston, Austin,
Salt Lake, Madison, and Omaha, and we have been intentionally
similar to sort of European soccer. We've taken this approach
where we're not naming the teams, we're naming them by
the city, and then over time we expect nicknames, but
(10:39):
the fan names to evolve and sort of come out
over the next couple of years. But most important for
us was to make the attachment to the city.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
In the first point, are there any notable GMS or
coaches leading the teams that we might know the names
of our have a cool story coming in.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So we are intentionally launching single entity, so we are
legaled and operated in these early years. So there's no
GMS in each study per se, but we obviously have
the teams and some coaches, and I think what's been
I'm just going to talk for a second about this
sort of reinforcing moment that I had a few couple
of years ago going to the NCAA Final four and
(11:15):
then a few weeks later going to watch some of
the Series A level matches in Italy, and the difference
in the level of play was outstanding to me as
as someone being fairly new to this sport I could
really tell. So to have the ability to bring that
level of play to this country was something that super
really was very motivating to me. And so I've been
(11:38):
very pleased with the level of talent that we've attracted
to the league. And I think part of that is
the quality of the coaches that we've brought in. So yes,
you know, ten out of twelve athletes on the Olympic
team assigned to play with LOVE. We also had four
coaches that medled at the Games. I think we have
this real opportunity through Love to actually bring up the
(11:59):
level of professional coaching in this country as well, which
is something that really excites me.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, for sure, Jordan, Let's talk about where Love's getting
the players, national team, recent college grads, international. What can
we expect to see from the players out on these teams.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, we have a good handful of our athletes who
competed in this past Olympic Games, and a lot of
us are multi time Olympians. On my team alone, we
have three foreigners. We have a Cuban and two Japanese players.
It's fun, I think for a lot of us because
we've played internationally or abroad that the athletes who are
(12:37):
not American who signed to the league we know pretty well.
And I think that makes it fun too, whether we
were playing against them in the Italian League or you know,
for their national team. It's just cool to recognize almost
all the names on every roster.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Seventeen Olympians, ten members of Team USA who won silver.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
So folks were watching the volleyball at.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
The Paris Olympics, they'll certainly recognize a handful of the names. Okay, Jordan,
So how does pay work? Are there different tiers? Is
it based on experience? Is it based on some sort
of committee or ownership group deciding who's in different levels
of pay?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
How does that go?
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You know, I can only speak from my limited knowledge.
Rosie might be a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
More, Jordan, tell everyone what you're making you see if
your teammates feel the same way about their paycheck, Rosie,
let's throw it over to you.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Sure. Yeah, So we wanted to start with a minimum
of sixty thousand dollars. That was our commitment, and I
would say yes. What was really important to us from
the outset is that we've been that the athletes have
informed the building of this league.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
From the very beginning.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
It was back in twenty twenty that we first formed
this Athlete's Council with eight of the best athletes in
the world. A number of them have now become founding
athletes and playing with us, and literally met with them
every month on what was important to them, what worked
for them, what was fantastic, what some of the lessons
they'd learned in Europe or overseas that they wanted to
bring into the forming of this league, and what wasn't
(14:07):
so great. And while we might not have been able
to do everything in year one, because this is you know,
we're building, that's been absolutely essential to us that we're
sort of led by our athletes group. So to that end,
it's not just about salary for us. It's about benefits,
year round benefits, it's about mental health. It's also about
(14:27):
whole athlete training. So we take great pride in this
program that we have from youth to pro on off
court development, whether that's around hormones or nutrition or financial literacy.
So I say all of that because what's really important
to us is that we're developing the whole person and
the whole athlete. Whether you're joining love at the youth
(14:49):
level or the pro level, and it's about salary, yes,
of course, but much more than that as well.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Yeah, that's really cool, And what I can add on
to that is it feels really refreshing. I think for
a lot of us to be in a league and
play for teams where we are getting paid consistently and
on time and we know when to expect our salaries.
I think a lot of us, regardless of if you
(15:15):
were on the worst team or the best team, you
know you have these discrepancies and when you're getting paid.
And I think just to be a part of a
league where the professionalism in that aspect is really top tier,
it makes you feel valued as an.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Athlete, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And I think I read that you're a founding athlete
and that involves investment as well. So do you have
equity in how the league doesn't tell us a little
bit more about what it means to be a founding
athlete as opposed to just a player.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
In the inaugural season.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Yes, so there are fourteen of us, and we a
lot of us signed on pretty early to the league,
and a lot of us are Olympians. Are our athletes
who have achieved at a pretty high level and been successful.
And I think one of the best things about this league,
(16:07):
like Rosie said, was just the care and the desire
to want to know about the athletes experience and build
this league with the athletes in mind. First. I can't
say that I've ever heard of a league or been
a part of a league where that's the number one driver. Obviously,
(16:29):
you know revenue is important, but to be actually making
decisions and choosing different roads and paths to go forward
through the athlete's mind and the athlete's opinions is something
that was really admirable, and I think why a lot
of us chose to want to be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
It's been really heartening to see that across a lot
of spaces in women's sport, because I think one thing
we've talked about on this show is that the hierarchy
of value in men's sport is very clearly the athlete
on top, even though there are billionaire owners the product
does the athlete. The athlete is very highly valued and
their experience is very important, even if they don't have
that much control, whereas in women's sports it has usually
(17:09):
been the athlete floating around the middle or sometimes even
at the bottom in terms of the way they were
valued and treated, especially when they're spected to go out
and put a product out there athletically. And so what
we're seeing now is even if financially they might not
be able to be given millions and millions right off
the bat, they are being involved in decision making and
that's leveling out some of the power dynamics that have
been problematic, that have allowed for abusive and bad environments
(17:30):
because they haven't been at the top of the heap.
It's lovely to see. So we know the players, we
know a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
About the league. But where are we playing, when are
we playing, how do we watch?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We're going to talk about all that when we come
back with Jordan and Rosie. We're back with Jordan and
Rosie talking about love pro volleyball. Okay, let's talk about
where the games are being played.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
This is interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Because there are teams in cities, but it's not as
simple as just city A visiting city B for a game.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
So Rosie tell us how this works.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah, so just quickly, I think the big vision here
is to really help make volleyball and major league sport.
So with that in mind, we really are serious, and
yes it's ambitious, and yes it may be audacious, but
we're really pretty committed to that goal in the long term.
So a lot of our thinking has been like, well,
that's great, where do we start. So in year one,
(18:25):
we've prioritized a few things specific to where athletes play.
We've really focused on what we believe is a right
sized arena for this inaugural season of our launch, and
we are focused on this three to eight thousand size
arena in our cities and as well with the format.
The way we've approached it for this first season is
(18:46):
a combination of single game matches and altho these weekends
of love where four teams will show up. We actually
just tested this past weekend. It was pretty awesome the
atmosphere around having four teams in one place. So there's
definitely an element of scarcity in this first season. There's
this really six opportunities to watch your home team and
then come out and support. So yeah, encouraging folks to
(19:10):
show up, and as we grow over the next couple
of years, will be increasing the number of matches and
increasing the size of venues, etc. But this is where
we wanted to start a new one.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So yeah, kicking off with first serve, which is this week.
Every week of the fourteen week season will include all
six pro teams playing every week, and then they'll rotate
through the cities. One weekday had to head match between
two teams in a city, and then one weekend three
match series between four teams and another city. That's the
weekends with Love that you mentioned. So every home market
(19:40):
gets eight matches, two weekdays, two weekends, and it really
does allow for not only you to see your team,
but a couple of the other ones in those bigger
weekend tournament matches. So Jordan, tell us about the league dates,
When does it start, how long is it and when
does it end, and what's the format of trying to
win it all?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
How many teams make playoffs? Things like that.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Yeah, our first match is in Atlanta. I'm on the
Salt Lake City team, so we play in Atlanta on
January eighth, and our season will run through mid April,
which is when our I guess postseason tournament will be.
(20:21):
So yeah, about three and a half three and a
half months of quality play, and I think the schedule
for each team is pretty balanced in terms of when
the home and away matches are sprinkled in, but like
Rosie said, you know, only being home six six times,
it kind of hopefully will force the urgency for fans
(20:45):
to get out and support while they can. I was
asked recently what I thought would make a successful first season,
and I think it'd be really cool to just see
the trend of the attendance increase for each city, each
of the for each of.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
The Yeah, there's also an in season tournament called the
Love Classic featuring all six teams winner take all over
President's Day weekend, and it's connected to a youth tournament too.
Rosie imagine that was done with intention to help expose
those youth players to what this professional level looks like
in person.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Yeah, so that's probably the most prestigious youth tournament in
the country. I think that's probably a fair title.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
But Jordan the Triple Crown n I t.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Yes, that's a big one for sure.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, very well attended. A number of our clubs will
be there, and yeah, absolutely, there's an number of opportunities
where we're doing this in the season, but this is
the main one where we're really bringing together the highest
level of the sport and through our six pro teams
and at the same time as this incredible base of
youth athleast, it will be competing fly for the for
(21:52):
the champions ships into their different age groups.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So in this first season with six teams, does the
regular sea an end with the top two teams facing
off in a championship final?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah, so we have the love finals or six teams
will actually be at the finals and the top two
teams of the season we'll get a buy. But yes,
there'll be a love final championship.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
With also tournament style, so even if you're last in
the league, you got a shot if you're peeking at
the end.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Interesting, Okay, okay, good to know, Jordan. Are there any
new or different rules.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
To look out for outside the normal rules of volleyball
or we playing it straight here?
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Well, it all kind of depends on what you classify
as the normal rules of volleyball, because the American rules
of volleyball that we play with youth level and in
college are a little bit different even than international rules
under the FIVB. So we have a couple modifications that
are a little bit different than what we play under
the FIVB sanctioned rules, but every rule that we are
(22:53):
implementing is something that the FIVB is considering moving towards
in the next couple of years, or in before or
the next Olympics. So, for example, substitutions overseas and internationally,
right now you can only have six and we have eight,
and we have free subs, so you can sub a
(23:15):
player in and out, whereas internationally, once you sub someone
in and then they sub back out, you cannot re
enter the match. So little variations of those types of things.
In America, we if we play the ball up and
it hits your it hits the ceiling and comes back
on your side. You can play Internationally, if you hit
the ceiling, it's out regardless of where it drops. So
(23:37):
little modifications like that that will hopefully just increase the
level of play and hopefully make it more interesting for
the viewer.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Rosie, where can folks get tickets to watch in person?
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Love dot com?
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yes, love l ovb dot com ov By, I don't
know what love dot com is, but just in case
we don't want to send.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Me absolutely right, I love it.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Lovb dot com is where you can get season in
single match tickets.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
And then how can folks watch on TV and streaming.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yeah, so we've actually released our broadcast schedule. We have
a number of matches on ESPN and ESPN Plus which
we're super excited about. And then we'll also be on
our website LVB dot com. We'll be able to see
additional matches as well as if you're overseas, we have
your partners are partnering with his own and spotv to
get deeper reach both in Europe and also in Asia.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I love watching volleyball, but I will fully admit that,
despite my height and getting recruited multiple times by the
volleyball coaches, it was the same season as field hockey,
which was my jam from junior high on. So I
never played volleyball And when I watch, I'm just into kills,
blocks and digs, Like I'm into the big rallies. Jordan,
how do we get more educated to watch and understand
(24:55):
better who's doing amazing things, who's setting up their teammates?
While like, is there anything either a resource or just
something you can tell us to be a more educated
viewer of the game.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
You know, I actually think that what's really cool about
the talks of the broadcast and how We are trying
to set this up with the viewer in mind. Largely
is the commentating is going to, I think, try to
help the viewers be able to recognize certain good plays.
(25:26):
We are actually giving the broadcast team some control, creative
control to be able to put small pauses in the
game of fifteen seconds, to be able to highlight certain
plays to where people then are like, oh okay, so
that interesting.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Wait, so the broadcaster will have to maybe hit a
button to let the official know that you can serve again,
and during that pause they might educate.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
That's fascinating, educate and also just build the eminence of
these women and storytell more. So we want that we
know that we need to break through outside of volleyball
to be successful and to appeal to folks from other
sports or entertainment. So, yeah, that's one of the pieces
that we're exploring, is how can we we've in more
storytelling and really just bring this amazing talent on the
(26:12):
court to folks in an educational and informative way as
well as just being super fun.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, or in or in arena, there will be if
there's a really long rally, you know, well, it's called
a super point where they will replay the rally. It
also gives the teams nice breather because yeah, usually you're
trying to catch your breath after that a little bit.
But just yeah, again highlighting these female athletes and some
(26:39):
of the just really impressive physical feats that are achieved
through the sport of volleyball.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
God, I love that given the media more power, you're
gonna have to find the exact perfect line of when.
Like the people that are calling the games are choosing
wisely to put a little pause in.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
We got alchemists.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
We were promised it wouldn't be past twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah, right, And you don't want too much of a
break in between play when you're in a rhythm, especially
if your team is like on a hot streak.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
You don't want them to slow you down.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Get the other team to catch their breath and figure
out what they're doing wrong. Also, though I feel like
the players were gonna drop, you're gonna be dropping by
those desks with little presents, and like, did I ever
tell you about the time when I was five and
I fell off a whart, Like you're gonna try to
get all your stories in make sure they know a
lot about you. They can really hype you up, gas
you up during the broadcast. Oh what a fun little element.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
That's so cool, Rosie. You know, setting up a league
is about more than getting the players on the court.
More than the logos and all the other things.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Take us a little bit behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
What does it look like in terms of support staff,
So doctors, physical therapists, hr ability for players to report incidents,
things like that.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Yeah, you're right, it's a no small feat getting leave
off the ground. So just across the ball and we
are launching single entity again with intention, but you know,
ultimately operating a league and six teams so.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Very much.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I think everything spans from media partnerships, commercial partnerships and
sponsors and then heavy on operations as well as athletes.
And on the operating side again, we want to make
sure that our athletes are taken care of. So that
extends to the quality of the practice facilities, the quality
of the court, the weights and athletic trainers and all
(28:26):
the pieces that you know an athlete needs to perform
at their best, as well as all the operational considerations
that are matches as well. So all of those things
apply plus the the detail that goes into you know,
Wi Fi and security and transportation.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
All those different pieces.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
So there's certainly plenty on the operating side to organize
behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
You're also competing with some other pro leagues who are
some of your big investors and partners that you're relying
on to sort of separate yourselves or at least make
sure that your first big inaugural season goes off.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Well.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Yeah, thanks.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
So we've actually really pleased with the partners that have
joined us today. So the likes of Adidas and Spanks
and Revolve was an awesome one to announce recently, as
well as ESPN have been absolutely instrumental in supporting us.
So just very much mission aligned, and that's ultimately what
would like out of a partner is that both of
(29:22):
us are helping each other, so very much mission aligned
and see the benefits of being partnered together over the
next few months and see how we can help each other.
Our investors have been incredible, so we recently announced our
C round where we raised one hundred million dollars and
I think all of these things, especially with our partners
and investors, it really speaks to the value of the
(29:44):
ecosystem that we're building. That's where it makes sense to them.
That's where you really see people the light bulb going on, like, oh, okay,
this is an interesting way to do it. We can
have visibility and relevance at both the pro level and
the level, and that really makes sense to folks.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I mean, we know brands especially want to get to
people when they start to find their favorite because often
they'll stick with it for life after being a teenager
or twenty something. So you do have the ability to
start to market to youth and then keep them as
a part of that as they as they get older,
you know, Jordan, we know that money makes the world
go around unfortunately sometimes and I guess it's okay thing
(30:25):
sometimes when you have it. But investment in the women's
sportspace has changed everything in the last couple of years.
And we look at the basketball landscape for instance, even
after twenty eight seasons, the WNBA season is still sometimes
limited by international leagues.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Players have wanted to continue to go abroad.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Now with Unrivaled and some other options, we're seeing a
lot of players be able to stay in America for
both the WNBA and athletes Unlimited or Unrivaled or other options.
How does volleyball compare. Do international teams pay enough that
players might still want to go abroad or do you
think a lot will rely on the first couple of
seasons of this to see whether they can shift the
natural order of things.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Yeah, I think absolutely. There's no secret that you know
just how some of these international teams are funded the
money right now, there is more abroad. But I think
what's been so cool as we talk about investors and
the interest around the league is with women's sports, there's
(31:24):
always this expectation of, Okay, well, we'll put money in
once we have proof of product, right, and so to
see what we've generated as a league even before the
product has been shown, I think just speaks volumes to
what the quality of athletes we have, what the quality
of our pro teams, and just our executive teams, what
(31:47):
they've created and worked so hard to do, and just
all these different touch points that we're having is creating buzz,
and it's creating I think an unsettling discomfort overseas because
the way that we're choosing to go about things is
making some noise and making some ripples amongst the volleyball landscape.
(32:07):
Just again in terms of so much beyond money, but
quality of life, quality for sure, putting the athletes forward.
And I know that there's again even athletes before the
league has even started that are wanting to be a
part of next season and sign on. And again I
think that that's it's really cool to see.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yeah, really cool. For sure.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
We're seeing across the women's space and even in some
ways into the men's space, how choosing to do things
differently has opened people's eyes to how they might have
to operate in order to keep athletes happy in order
to move forward financially soluble. Okay, last thing, because I've
kept you too long already, I have a not yet
trademark but definitely should be trademarked approach to teaching people
about a new sport, taking newbies to a sporting event
(32:52):
they haven't been to, or even just how I sort
of craft the stories of women's sports on this show.
And it's summed up by the four uses, stars, steaks, stack,
and stories. I think if you tell people those things,
they are more likely to enjoy whatever they're watching. So
speed round of those you'll each get two stars. I'm
gonna ask one of the stars for yourself, Jordan Poulter.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Who else should we be watching for?
Speaker 1 (33:14):
What are some of the top names, So we'll throw
their social handles in the show notes and people can
follow them and get excited for the season.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
Oh jeez, there's so many. I'm gonna name my other
two setters who went to the Olympics with me, Lauren
Carlini and Mike Hancock, very good in their fields. We
have opposites like Jordan Thompson and Drew's. We have four
time Olympian Jordan Larsen, three time Olympian Kelsey Robinson. We
(33:42):
have setter from the real Olympics, Carl Lloyd, who is
a mother who's coming back, and just it's so cool
to just see these women that I've also watched and
looked up to, had the pleasure and privilege of playing with,
and now get to compete. Yeah, the net from them
on American soil.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
All right, We're going to throw those in the notes
for people to follow. Okay, Rosie steaks, how important is
one regular season game to the team's likelihood of making
the playoffs or winning it all?
Speaker 2 (34:12):
How many?
Speaker 1 (34:12):
And when you care about how many games are being
played or how many matches or whatever, How should people
view a team's loss or win in one match?
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Yeah, I think it's a very hopeful league. I think,
you know, consistency will be key, but I think even
if a team has a tough regular season, they still
have an opportunity to do well at the finals. And
that we're taking this first season, and of course there's
a Love Classic as well, so in in season two.
And what white people can really shine?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Okay, Jordan Stats?
Speaker 1 (34:43):
What's a great stat line in a single game for
a player, maybe like a setter and then a hitter.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Oh, you know, I would say side out efficiency is
really important for both the setter and hitter. It's reflecting
how well you guys are passing and then obviously running
the offense and executing in that first ball when you're
receiving the serve.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
What about like, what's a good number of let's say
you have kills.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
What makes a great game for someone if they have
x amount of kills? Oh?
Speaker 4 (35:12):
You know what, it really depends. I think anything above
twenty kills a match is extremely impressive. Obviously, you know
with volleyball it's best three out of five, So if
you go five sets, you see players sometimes upwards of
thirty plus kills, which is extremely impressive. But I would
say a great hitting percentage is hitting over three fifty.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Okay, we'll be looking for that three fifty. And then
finally Rosy's stories. You got a story for us to follow, maybe,
as Jordan mentioned, a player coming back from baby or
coming back from injury, player breaking boundaries, or representing an
underrepresented group.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
There's quite a few.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
The one that's top of mind for me is actually
the Love Six and how they you know, just having
followed what's happened in the WNBA the lost season a
couple of seasons, but I'm excited to see how that
group emerges. This is our six top athletes that are
joining us from this recent college season. I'm excited to
see how they develop.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
And Okay, so the Love six are the first time
pros whose first professional experience will be.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
With Love Volleyball.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Yes exactly, and.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
They're coming out very highly touted after their collegiate efforts.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Yes, so excited to find And there's many stories, but
that's the one that's top of mind right now.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Well, and it's especially good, like you said, because after
watching that WNBA rookie class just explode in terms of
popularity and enthusiasm, we're going to be Everybody was watching
the College Volleyball National Tournament. They even had brackets you
could compete in on ESPN and stuff, so we know
that those folks coming out of that will be people
we've been watching succeed.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Well, I'm super pumped and excited.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
I do not know a ton about volleyball, and I've
loved watching at the NCAA and the Olympic level, so
I'm excited to have this new opportunity to really dive
into it. And y'all got us really fired up for
it with all this information. So thanks so much for
joining us, Thanks for having us.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Yeah, thanks so much for the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too. So here's our
good gameplay of the day. Follow Love pro Volleyball on
social and follow some of the players Rosie and Jordan mentioned,
like Lauren Carlini and Jordan Thompson. One of the best
ways to learn about a new league, get to know
the players and storylines, and keep up with the games
is to have them right in your social timeline. So
hit that follow button, and don't forget to subscribe to
(37:34):
Serving Pancakes, the Love Pro Volleyball podcast right here on
the Iheartwomen's Sports Network, and follow our friends over at
Evolve with two l's who are providing the volleyball community
with consistent, reliable, and easily accessible data and analysis. Links
to accounts in our show notes, And don't forget to
subscribe a rate and review like this the little green
(37:55):
squiggle that acts as a logo for Love Team Omaha.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Rating five out of five.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I've Caterpillar qutis review Omaha's got to be my squad.
That little green caterpillar squiggle crawled right into my heart.
It's just a joyful squiggle man. The merch is clean,
the color is hot.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I'm in Omaha.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Now it's your turn subscribe, rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow. Good game, Rosie and Jordan, Good Game,
Love Pro Volleyball, ke you sore forearms after a full
day of playing beach volleyball using terrible dig technique. Good
Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can
(38:34):
find us on the iHeartRadio, App, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network. Our
producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers
are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Our editors are Emily Rudder, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Lindsay Crawdowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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