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League One Volleyball to launch U.S. based league

2020 Olympic Gold Medalist Haleigh Washington and LOVB CEO & Co-Founder Katlyn Gao join Yahoo Finance to discuss the launch of the new volleyball league.

Video transcript

ADAM SHAPIRO: There is a new sport gaining traction in the United States. It's going to start out in club form and move hopefully to a professional volleyball league. And let's bring in the people who are making this possible, Haleigh Washington, 2020 Olympic gold medalist in women's volleyball. And also Katlyn Gao, who is LOVB co-founder and CEO. And is the league called LOVB? Forgive my ignorance here. But it's fascinating what you're doing because you're starting with community teams. And then the goal is to get to the professional league level, right?

KATLYN GAO: That's absolutely right. And as league one volleyball, and I realize it's a little bit tricky, the abbreviations that lead into what we call love. And that B is silent to really show really what the energy is behind the league. And that is really the love and the passion of the community that already is part of the sport that will bring forth this one of a kind community that's headlined by what's going to be the best league and the first full season pro league in the US.

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SEANA SMITH: Now Haleigh, you're a very well-known player within the sport. What's this like as an athlete just seeing a league like this come to life and the potential here just in terms of growing the sport?

HALEIGH WASHINGTON: Yeah, it's honestly so exciting. And I'm so stoked to be a part of it. Volleyball is just a really big game right now. It's one of the most played young female sports right now. And so I'm stoked to see it grow.

ADAM SHAPIRO: When you say you're stoked to see it grow, you've addressed a need. And what are the chances that we might start seeing professional women's volleyball competition in the next, what is, two, five years from the league?

HALEIGH WASHINGTON: Yeah, very, very likely. The league is scheduled to start in 2022. And so I can't wait to see people start coming in and playing at that competitive and professional level. And I think it's going to start rolling. I think it's going to start in a way that's fueled by passion, and love, and a dedication to the game. And from there, it's going to gradually gain traction because we're going to see more athletes kind of filter through it as they come up through their club programs, which I think is so cool. Because that's the way that a lot of international programs are doing it.

SEANA SMITH: Katlyn, when we talk about the fact that the league will be launching, of course a lot of people are going to be able to watch the matches or want to watch the matches. And of course, that brings up potential streaming deals. Because we have seen a number of leagues ink pretty lucrative deals. I mean, just today, we had the National Lacrosse League. They signed a deal with ESPN and ESPN Plus. So what do you think that potentially looks like for LOVB going forward?

KATLYN GAO: Yeah, LOVB is taking a very sort of crawl, walk, run approach to how we're building the league. So the phased approach that starts in 2022 that culminates into city based in 2024, that first couple years is really having the pros really start to engage in our cities, in cities where we have club community already built in, and really develop that fan and that audience base. And that's really intentional because this is very much a bottoms up community up league, rather than a top down, build it, and hopefully they'll come, and hopefully the sponsorship deals will come, hopefully the streaming deals will come.

So we have that ramp up that happens, which we think is what's going to bring a ton of sustainability and long lasting legacy that we'll be creating with this league.

ADAM SHAPIRO: When you talk about that base, Katlyn, 38 million former and current players. And my mind was thinking about when you see the documentaries about women's tennis and the old Virginia Slims sponsorship. I'm not saying cigarettes. I don't know if anybody would have cigarettes as a sponsor these days. But if you're allowed to share with us who you're talking to about potential sponsorships, go for it. If you can't, can you tell us what those discussions are like? Because it seems you're going to be onto something here. People love sports and they love women's sports.

KATLYN GAO: Absolutely. And I think what some of the discussions that we're already having that are inbounding with us, we're very lucky that this is really resonated with a lot of different sponsors. And a lot of those conversations are happening really at the authenticity and relevance level. I would say that what brands are looking for the most is not just only sort of obviously recognition and eyeballs, if you will, but more importantly now, they're seeking for relevance. They're seeking for authenticity.

And that's what we bring to the table that is very different because we're starting at the youth club, at the junior level. And that makes a big difference in how they're thinking about how that partnership could look very differently than maybe the traditional partnerships that they're used to. And that's very intentional. And we're excited about that.

SEANA SMITH: Haleigh, a big topic in sports is name, image, and likeness. We know so many athletes, more athletes are now being able to profit from this. And actually women's volleyball players, this took me a little bit by surprise. They're the third highest performing sport when it comes to name, image, and likeness. From the athletes that you talk to when you have these dealings like this yourself, I guess what do you think it is that makes women's volleyball specifically so successful in this area?

HALEIGH WASHINGTON: One, I think it's very relatable. I think volleyball is kind of the sport that everybody had tried when they were little. And they've discovered that it's a fun thing to do. It's easy to play rec league, it's easy to go play sand, it's a very relatable sport. And then volleyball just isn't as unobtainable. I don't know if that's a good way of explaining it. But it's very easy to see yourself being Haleigh Washington, or being Justine Wong-Orantes, these very famous athletes that we have right now, not that I'm famous. But it's just like very obtainable--

ADAM SHAPIRO: You're famous.

HALEIGH WASHINGTON: No, not famous. But as the community grows, and like Katlyn was saying, this kind of ground up growth coming from clubs into professional, you can see your role models in the same gym as you, which I think is very cool.

ADAM SHAPIRO: We look forward to watching your growth. And we're going to have to learn a whole lot of new terms. I'm thinking Kong block is one of them. I guess when someone's going to spike and you block. Next time, you can educate us. Because we're going to be watching these hopefully on the stream. Haleigh Washington-- Haleigh Washington, Olympic gold medalist, and Katlyn Gao, LOVB co-founder and CEO. The best to both of you. We'll be right back.