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Post by ironhammer on Jul 10, 2020 20:28:48 GMT -5
I can only speak about Europe, the Asian & South American teams may use a different model. As far as language goes English, Spanish & Russian are fairly widely spoken & it's likely that players & someone in the club structure speak one of them. Most 1st division coaches speak at least rudimentary English. As far as financial model most continental European countries have laws that give tax incentives to companies that sponsor sports clubs. This is where the bulk of the money comes from. It's not unusual for a top club to have around 100 sponsors at various levels. It's important to realize that these clubs have an entire structure of junior & adult teams below the professional team and the entire club is considered to be an amateur club. This is what the tax subsidies were intended to support. Over the years, the money got bigger In this same vain, municipalities often contribute money & facilities to the club. In some cases you have a few rich people who are into volleyball enough to take a large role in the funding & administration of their club. Turkey has a couple of club models: Most Turkish clubs are like Fenerbahce & Galatasaray - old multi sport clubs that are driven similarly to the above model. These clubs also sell memberships which is a big revenue stream - mostly soccer fans, but the membership money also goes to the basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and chess programs (yes, some of them have chess programs). A handful of Turkish clubs are corporate clubs - Vakifbank, Eczacibasi and now Turkish Airlines for example. These clubs can be single or multi sport, and are directly run buy the company as advertising and a "give back" to the community. In Japan, most of the revenue comes from the fact that the corporate sponsor is also the outright owner of the team. Think of them as being part of the marketing and PR department of those firms. In the early days, the players were even considered employees of the company rather than independent professional players. So with a team like Hisamitsu Springs, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical is the owner. Likewise, Toyota Auto Body Queenseis is owned by Toyota ( so think about that, when you are buying a Toyota car, you may be indirectly supporting their volleyball team!) and NEC Red Rockets is owned by NEC (a Japanese IT and electronics firm). This model is fine when the economy is humming along and all these companies are earning a good profit. But when the economy goes South and losses are incurred, then these corporate-owned teams will be on more shaky grounds, potentially facing closure if the the corporate executives think supporting a volleyball team is not worth the expenses. In contrast, for China, in addition to sponsorship to individual teams, there is league-wide sponsorship, so sponsorship money are distributed to the entire league.
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Post by ironhammer on Jul 10, 2020 21:34:30 GMT -5
Hi guys! I feel like I ask a lot of questions on here, so sorry about that. Being as there might not be an NCAA season, I'd like to follow pro volleyball, given that also the olympics are coming up. Would anybody mind explaining the system to me? The leagues? What countries have the best leagues? How to watch? If you want to watch the Olympics, getting to know international volleyball competitions is also a good idea. National Teams select their players from the pro leagues mentioned here, ideally they are the cream of the crop, the best of the best for their country. In some cases college or amateur status players can also be selected. That is more often for the lower ranked national teams which may not have a sufficiently large pool of pro players to choose from. As for the top ranked teams who are most likely to medal, they are China (1984, 2004, 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2015 and 2019 World Cup winners), USA (2014 World Championship winner), Serbia (2018 World Championship winner), Italy (2007 and 2011 World Cup Winner), Brazil (2008 and 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist) and maybe Russia (2006 and 2010 Word Championship winner). All these teams are ranked within the top 10. Other teams that are strong but might be a long shot to medal are Japan, Korea and Turkey. Japan was the world powerhouse back in the 60's and 70's and earned their share of Olympic Golds and World Championships. However, they have since fallen into a sort of rut, they find it hard to beat the top teams consistently due in part to their height disadvantage. But they are well-known for their speed and reception ability, so one should never count them out. Korea has the amazing KYK, one of the best outside hitter in the world. They are known to pull off an occasional upset against the top teams. Turkey is a fast rising team under the talented Italian coach Giovanni Guidetti. Its within the realm of possibility that they can pull off an upset. For international competition, the big three "majors" are the Olympics, World Championship and World Cup. The World Championship is usually held in the middle of the Olympic "quad/cycle", about two years before the Olympics. While the Olympics is more "prestigious", the World Championship is the oldest major of the three and arguably the hardest to win because of the number of teams involved and the volume of matches. World Cup is held one year before the Olympics, and the top three (or two) medalists at the Cup gets to qualify for the Olympics (except for Tokyo, because FIVB messed up the schedule and had to have Olympic Qualification Tournaments for all teams). There is also the World Grand Champions Cup held the year after the Olympics, but that is usually regarded as a lesser competition because the winner does not earn points to boost their FIVB ranking. Beyond the big 3 majors, there is also the annual Volleyball Nations League (VNL). It used to be called the World Grand Prix. This is an international competition held between NTs. There are usually more NTs involved compared to the Olympics and can be seen as more inclusive in that sense, although it does rank below the big 3 in terms of prestige (but with changes in points earned, more teams may start paying attention to it). There are also the continental championships. CEV for example has the Women's European Volleyball Championship held every 2 years as well as the lesser Women's European Volleyball League, used as a qualifer to the VNL. CEV is also arguably the most competitive continental federation as there are many good teams fighting for very limited slots at the Olympics, like Poland, Germany, Netherlands and Turkey, these 4 teams are just below Serbia and Russia and have the ability to beat these two top teams. In our part of the world there is NORCECA, which hosted the Women's NORCECA Volleyball Championship every two years, with the US having the second most championships in this tournament after Cuba. NORCECA also hosts the Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup which serves as the qualifer for the Pan American Games. In South America there is the Women's South American Volleyball Championship organized by the CSV, which has been dominated by Brazil, except for a few wins from Peru, once a rival to Brazil in South America. Last but not least, we have the AVC in Asia, which hosted the Asian Games and Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, dominated by China and Japan. The best 4 Asian teams are China, Japan, Korea and Thailand in that order.
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Post by udubhuskiefan on Jul 10, 2020 21:59:03 GMT -5
Hi guys! I feel like I ask a lot of questions on here, so sorry about that. Being as there might not be an NCAA season, I'd like to follow pro volleyball, given that also the olympics are coming up. Would anybody mind explaining the system to me? The leagues? What countries have the best leagues? How to watch? If you want to watch the Olympics, getting to know international volleyball competition is also a good idea. National Teams select their players from the pro leagues mentioned here, ideally they are the cream of the crop, the best of the best for their country. In some cases college or amateur status players can also be selected. That is more often for the lowered ranked national teams who may not have a sufficienty large pool of pro players to choose from. As for the top ranked teams who are most likely to medal, they are China (1984, 2004, 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2015 and 2019 World Cup winners), USA (2014 World Championship winner), Serbia (2018 World Championships winner), Italy (2007 and 2011 World Cup Winner), Brazil (2008 and 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist) and maybe Russia (2006 and 2010 Word Championship winner). All these teams are ranked within the top 10. Other teams that are strong but might be a long shot to medal are Japan, Korea and Turkey. Japan was the world powerhouse back in the 60's and 70's and earned their share of Olympic Golds and World Championships. However, they have since fallen into a sort of rut, they find it hard to beat the top teams consistently due in part to their height disadvantage. But they are well-known for their speed and reception ability, so one should never count them out. Korea has the amazing KYK, one of the best outside hitters in the world. They are known to pull off an occasion upset against the top teams. Turkey is a fast rising team under the talented Italian coach Giovanni Guidetti. Its within the realm of possibility that they can pull off an upset. For international competition, the big three "majors" are the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup. The World Championship is usually held in the middle of the Olympic "quad/cycle", about two years before the Olympics. While the Olympics is more "prestigious", the World Championship is the oldest major of the three and arguably the hardest to win because of the number of teams involved and the volume of matches. World Cup is held one year before, and the top three (or two) medalists at the Cup gets to qualify for the Olympics (except for Tokyo, because FIVB messed up the schedule and had to have Olympic Qualification Tournaments for all teams). There is also the World Grand Championship Cup held the year after the Olympics, but that is usually regarded as a lesser competition because the winner does not earn points to boost their FIVB ranking. Beyond the big 3 majors, there is also the annual Volleyball Nations League (VNL). It used to be called the World Grand Prix. This is an international competition held between NTs. There is usually more NTs involved compared to the Olympics and can be seen as more inclusive in that sense, although it does rank below the big 3 in terms of prestige (but with changes in points earned, more teams may start paying attention to it). There are also the continental championships. CEV for example has the Women's European Volleyball Championship held every 2 years as well as the lesser Women's European Volleyball League, used as a qualifer to the VNL. CEV is also arguably the most competitive continental federation as there are many good teams fighting for very limited slots at the Olympics, like Poland, Germany, Netherlands and Turkey, these 4 teams are just below Serbia and Russia and has the ability to beat these two top teams. In our part of the world there is NORCECA, which hosted the Women's NORCECA Volleyball Championship every two years, with the US having the second most championships in this tournament after Cuba. NORCECA also hosts the Women's Pan-American Volleyball Cup which serves as the qualifer for the Pan American Games. In South America there is the Women's South American Volleyball Championship organized by the CSV, which has been dominated by Brazil, except for a few wins from Peru, once a rival to Brazil in South America. Last but not least, we have the AVC in Asia, which hosted the Asian Games and Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, dominated by China and Japan before then. The best 4 Asian teams are China, Japan, Korea and Thailand in that order. Thanks so much. Really valuable insight and info!
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Jul 11, 2020 0:18:46 GMT -5
I think you can separate the 12 Olympic Teams into 4 different groups. Only 10 of them realistically have a chance to make it to the Medal Round.
Favs to win it all: China / Serbia / USA / Italy Next in line: Turkey / Brazil Dark horses: Russia / Japan / Dominicana / South Korea
No Chance to QF’s: Argentina, Kenya.
The Top 4 are my favs to semis, but certain scenarios could force two of them against each other in a Quarterfinal match, so that could become impossible.
Can the Asian teams really string together consecutive playoff victories? Love KYK and even at a slight decline she’s still amazing — but can Korea really hang today with the top dogs?
Russia and DR bring physicality to win a QF match, but their consistency is a big question. They won’t get away with their messy play against the Big 4 either. But I could easily see them handling anyone outside.
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Post by ToddyJ on Jul 11, 2020 0:31:11 GMT -5
Look at all of ya'll international volleyball guru's teaching the youths all about the best parts of the sport! I moved today so I am scrolling through this thread just beaming with a big ol' grin. Those were some very nice explanations.
Also thanks for the recognition @avid! I appreciate it!
I am not sure if VolleyballTV will have access to the Olympics next summer. Your best bet is to get a YouTubeTV subscription. It's kinda pricey but you can get it for just the month of the OG and then freeze it or delete it. That will get you access, with the chance to record things you might miss, to most of NBC's channels.
Otherwise like mentioned earlier, a good VPN is worth its weight in gold. I use it constantly and have access to all the international events through VolleyballTV which cost me 15& for an entire year. I too use EurovolleyTV and the Italian Leagues Service monthly. They are very cheap. I think 5-6 euros a month.
I look forward to watching and engaging in this years pro season! Lots of teams are starting to finalize their rosters.
Cheers friends!
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Post by ToddyJ on Jul 11, 2020 0:33:18 GMT -5
I think you can separate the 12 Olympic Teams into 4 different groups. Only 10 of them realistically have a chance to make it to the Medal Round. Favs to win it all: China / Serbia / USA / Italy Next in line: Turkey / Brazil Dark horses: Russia / Japan / Dominicana / South Korea No Chance to QF’s: Argentina, Kenya. The Top 4 are my favs to semis, but certain scenarios could force two of them against each other in a Quarterfinal match, so that could become impossible. Can the Asian teams really string together consecutive playoff victories? Love KYK and even at a slight decline she’s still amazing — but can Korea really hang today with the top dogs? Russia and DR bring physicality to win a QF match, but their consistency is a big question. They won’t get away with their messy play against the Big 4 either. But I could easily see them handling anyone outside. Pool B is going to be even more insane than in Rio IMO. Russia and Turkey are VERY good blocking teams and China and Italy run very lethal offenses. USA will have to have had their wheaties just to make it out of the pool.
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Jul 11, 2020 0:36:28 GMT -5
I think you can separate the 12 Olympic Teams into 4 different groups. Only 10 of them realistically have a chance to make it to the Medal Round. Favs to win it all: China / Serbia / USA / Italy Next in line: Turkey / Brazil Dark horses: Russia / Japan / Dominicana / South Korea No Chance to QF’s: Argentina, Kenya. The Top 4 are my favs to semis, but certain scenarios could force two of them against each other in a Quarterfinal match, so that could become impossible. Can the Asian teams really string together consecutive playoff victories? Love KYK and even at a slight decline she’s still amazing — but can Korea really hang today with the top dogs? Russia and DR bring physicality to win a QF match, but their consistency is a big question. They won’t get away with their messy play against the Big 4 either. But I could easily see them handling anyone outside. Pool B is going to be even more insane than in Rio IMO. Russia and Turkey are VERY good blocking teams and China and Italy run very lethal offenses. USA will have to have had their wheaties just to make it out of the pool. Not at all to be a debbie downer — but I don’t think having the Olympics are a shoe-in yet. 😢 Hopefully things progress soon. I’m also wondering how alternates will work. I wonder if there will be more available, say an athlete tests positive in Tokyo and can’t compete. How many backups will be available and eligible
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Post by ToddyJ on Jul 11, 2020 1:10:19 GMT -5
Pool B is going to be even more insane than in Rio IMO. Russia and Turkey are VERY good blocking teams and China and Italy run very lethal offenses. USA will have to have had their wheaties just to make it out of the pool. Not at all to be a debbie downer — but I don’t think having the Olympics are a shoe-in yet. 😢 Hopefully things progress soon. I’m also wondering how alternates will work. I wonder if there will be more available, say an athlete tests positive in Tokyo and can’t compete. How many backups will be available and eligible I'm honestly not even allowing that thought to cross my mind. I too am hopeful we will see the games happen.
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Jul 11, 2020 1:15:37 GMT -5
Not at all to be a debbie downer — but I don’t think having the Olympics are a shoe-in yet. 😢 Hopefully things progress soon. I’m also wondering how alternates will work. I wonder if there will be more available, say an athlete tests positive in Tokyo and can’t compete. How many backups will be available and eligible I'm honestly not even allowing that thought to cross my mind. I too am hopeful we will see the games happen. Ironically after all the complaining we do about Japan hosting everything, it may be a blessing that Tokyo is hosting this. I trust their handling over Paris/LA. If there’s a way to put on the Games, I trust they’ll do it!
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Post by n00b on Jul 11, 2020 1:16:02 GMT -5
Pool B is going to be even more insane than in Rio IMO. Russia and Turkey are VERY good blocking teams and China and Italy run very lethal offenses. USA will have to have had their wheaties just to make it out of the pool. Not at all to be a debbie downer — but I don’t think having the Olympics are a shoe-in yet. 😢 Hopefully things progress soon. I’m also wondering how alternates will work. I wonder if there will be more available, say an athlete tests positive in Tokyo and can’t compete. How many backups will be available and eligible Obviously it's a full year away, but I have to think that if we're 18 months into COVID, people will just accept the risk and move forward. It's not to the scale of the Olympics, but European soccer will have international competition in a few weeks when the Champions League and Europa League resume in August. I think the Olympics are highly likely to go on.
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Jul 11, 2020 1:21:55 GMT -5
Not at all to be a debbie downer — but I don’t think having the Olympics are a shoe-in yet. 😢 Hopefully things progress soon. I’m also wondering how alternates will work. I wonder if there will be more available, say an athlete tests positive in Tokyo and can’t compete. How many backups will be available and eligible Obviously it's a full year away, but I have to think that if we're 18 months into COVID, people will just accept the risk and move forward. It's not to the scale of the Olympics, but European soccer will have international competition in a few weeks when the Champions League and Europa League resume in August. I think the Olympics are highly likely to go on. I’m with your hope here. The MLB also starting this month shows promise. Again, I do have hope that Japan can put it on if anyone can. Even with a much improved but lingering virus situation it requires extra planning.
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Post by cbrown1709 on Jul 11, 2020 1:37:05 GMT -5
Not at all to be a debbie downer — but I don’t think having the Olympics are a shoe-in yet. 😢 Hopefully things progress soon. I’m also wondering how alternates will work. I wonder if there will be more available, say an athlete tests positive in Tokyo and can’t compete. How many backups will be available and eligible Obviously it's a full year away, but I have to think that if we're 18 months into COVID, people will just accept the risk and move forward. It's not to the scale of the Olympics, but European soccer will have international competition in a few weeks when the Champions League and Europa League resume in August. I think the Olympics are highly likely to go on. Hopeful for a vaccine at that point.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2020 7:35:43 GMT -5
I am not sure if VolleyballTV will have access to the Olympics next summer. Your best bet is to get a YouTubeTV subscription. It's kinda pricey but you can get it for just the month of the OG and then freeze it or delete it. That will get you access, with the chance to record things you might miss, to most of NBC's channels. plus NBC's new service Peacock. They're going to be airing Olympic events as well. Would not be surprised to see volleyball there at all
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Post by badgerbreath on Jul 11, 2020 20:53:11 GMT -5
There will be a vaccine by summer I think. I'm not sure how much ahead of time they need it to be widespread, but I'd really be surprised if Japan runs the Olympics if there isn't one. It would be way to risky for them.
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Post by stanfankev on Jul 12, 2020 1:01:22 GMT -5
Wouldn't be that surprised if Japan runs the Olympics, but doesn't allow US/Russia/Brazil to participate if our/their Covid numbers aren't under control by then. Surely we'll get out act together by then....
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