With a goal of creating a direct connection with multigenerational domestic and international fans and introducing new audiences to the sport of volleyball, LOVB’s broadcast strategy for its inaugural season features a hybrid distribution of its 60 matches across linear TV, paid and free streaming platforms domestically and internationally, as well as via livestreamed matches through LOVB Live through lovb.com. LOVB’s media strategy will also include long-form unscripted programs, match re-airs on FAST channels, new formats designed for Gen Z and Alpha audiences, and multi-camera views and interactive overlays as well as social video to reach younger demographics not typically reached by traditional television.
View the LOVB national broadcast and streaming schedule.
“As viewership numbers for the Olympic Games and marquee collegiate games have proven once again, there is a massive audience appetite for women’s volleyball around the globe, and we can’t wait to bring an elite level of professional volleyball, featuring some of the world’s best players, to the U.S this January,” said Rosie Spaulding, President of LOVB Pro. “In our inaugural year, we have intentionally chosen to partner with broadcast and streaming partners along with building our own platform and introducing new viewing formats, so we can reach current and new, national and international audiences around the world, however they might be watching.’
Starting on Jan. 8, 2025, ESPN networks will highlight the home openers, also known as First Serves, for each of LOVB’s pro teams:
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On Jan. 8, 2025 for the league’s First Serve, the very first head-to-head match featuring LOVB Salt Lake playing at LOVB Atlanta at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN+.
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On Thursday Jan. 9, 2025, LOVB Houston hosts its First Serve at 8 pm ET when they take on LOVB Austin Volleyball at Houston, airing on ESPN+.
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On Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, two matches held in Houston will air back to back as part of dedicated Friday night programming called ‘Friday Nights with LOVB on ESPN’. Both matches will air on ESPN+. The first match will showcase LOVB Austin versus LOVB Madison and will air at 5:30 pm EST, with the second match featuring LOVB Houston versus LOVB Omaha, airing at 8 pm EST.
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The LOVB Classic, the league’s in-season tournament that features all six teams playing, will begin on Feb. 14, 2025 and will include a highly competitive knockout competition airing on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN+. The LOVB Finals April 10 -13 will air on ESPN2.
An additional sixteen of LOVB’s 60 in-season matches will stream live on the free, ad-supported TV home for women’s sports, Women’s Sports Network (WSN). WSN will host LOVB’s doubleheader weekends for domestic audiences, with the majority of double headers airing on Saturdays. The first doubleheader weekend on WSN will take place on January 25, 2025, starting with LOVB Madison versus LOVB Atlanta at 5:30 pm EST, and LOVB Omaha versus LOVB Austin on 8:00 pm EST. As part of the distribution agreement, LOVB and WSN will also work together to create opportunities for brands to integrate into pre-existing content and production on WSN, including in WSN’s studio show Game On which has featured more than 150 interviews with notable women athletes since its inception in January 2023.
To serve international audiences, ESPN will broadcast in territories that are the home countries to the 30% of LOVB athletes who are international, including Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin North Region (Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Central America), Latin South Region (Spanish Speaking South America), to the Pacific Rim Region (Aus, NZ & Pacific Islands). Twenty-eight of LOVB’s sixty in-season matches will air across ESPN networks.
DAZN, the largest broadcaster in Europe, and the leading global sports entertainment platform, will air sixteen LOVB matches globally and for free, including in the US and other territories where professional volleyball is among the top-watched sports; Belgium, Canada, DACH (Austria, Germany, Switzerland), France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the UK, Japan, and Taiwan. DAZN is the undisputed global home of women’s soccer and Euroleague Women’s Basketball, and LOVB games will sit alongside these matches in the platform’s free environment, giving the league unprecedented accessibility and exposure to women’s sport’s fans across the globe.
Complementing ESPN and DAZN’s international coverage, SPOTV will become LOVB's main South East Asia international distributor, airing all 60 matches across key territories in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Macau in East Asia.
For audiences that want to watch matches on the go, Mobii, a next generation streaming platform, will power all 60 matches live and on demand on LOVB LIVE on lovb.com. Developed by Sport Capital for LOVB, the innovative platform will offer fans enhanced viewing options, including access to multi-camera angles, interactive overlays and highlights. Fans will also be able to customize their own statistical overlays and replay actions, access multi-camera views and picture in picture capabilities and create a customized VOD experience to give fans an unprecedented way to connect with their favorite players and teams and bring them closer to the action than ever before.
As the only club-to-pro league in American professional sports, LOVB wanted to include a content option designed specifically for juniors athletes to watch, be inspired by and learn from. LOVB has partnered with girl-driven empowerment media company Rebel Girls to produce and distribute “LOVB x Rebel Girls Sport,” a season-long weekly highlights series designed for Gen Alpha girls. Hosted by junior reporters who are also junior athletes at LOVB Clubs, each LOVB x Rebel Girls Sport episode will showcase the excitement and camaraderie of volleyball and introduce girls to the incredible lineup of LOVB athletes, as well as the game. The series will be available on Rebel Girls YouTube channel, and across Rebel Girls and LOVB’s social channels.
The league’s content strategy also includes Scoreplay, through which LOVB will provide its athletes with their own match highlights and enable them to build their brands as they serve as their own content engines.
LOVB was advised on the media negotiations by David Sternberg and Dan Granik of Range, and works with digital experience company Sport Capital to develop and deliver LOVB Live.
For more information about LOVB and the launch of its professional season, please visit LOVB.com
