A professional volleyball league that launched last fall has signed a deal to have one of its teams in Omaha.
The Pro Volleyball Federation announced on Monday that Omaha will have a team during the league’s inaugural season. The first matches are scheduled for February 2024.
It hasn’t yet been announced where the Omaha team will be playing its home matches, but the group appears to have a strong ownership group with Omaha businessman Danny White and music star Jason Derulo. Derulo has sold more than 250 million singles worldwide, achieving 15 platinum singles.
My biz partner Danny White and I acquired a Pro Volley Ball team (Nebraska). Pls help us name this team in the comments. Excited to be a part of the rise of women’s sports on a global level. @JoeyB @RealProVB #realprovolleyball pic.twitter.com/peOZP2bO81
— Jason Derulo (@jasonderulo) February 13, 2023
“We have a lot of ideas, and we can’t wait to get started,” White said in a news release.
Super Bowl champion Trent Dilfer and NFL quarterback Joe Burrow are among the founding partners of the Pro Volleyball Federation.
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Omaha is joined by Grand Rapids, Michigan, as the first two markets announced for the league. The Grand Rapids team is owned and operated by Dan DeVos who, along with his family, owns the NBA's Orlando Magic and the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. DeVos is also a limited partner of the Chicago Cubs.
The league will make additional announcements soon regarding more teams, including two top-10 media markets and the announcement of the league’s first female team owner.
The regular season will consist of 16 matches during the inaugural season, though that number will likely expand in future seasons. Rosters will include 14 players and the league expects to have a minimum of three national game of the week windows on major broadcast networks as well as a worldwide streaming partner.
Salaries will be in line with first-year salaries in the WNBA, starting at $60,000. Most players will make between $60,000 to $100,000.
The first draft of college players will take place in November.
The Omaha team will likely try to sign some former Nebraska players. The first players committed to join one of the teams in the league include Tori Dilfer Stringer (All-American setter for Louisville), Morgan Hentz (All-American libero from Stanford) and Ronika Stone (All-American middle blocker for Oregon).
A different pro volleyball league currently forming, League One Volleyball, has already signed former Huskers Kelsey (Robinson) Cook and Justine Wong-Orantes. The plan is for League One Volleyball to begin playing matches soon after the 2024 Olympics.