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Post by bubbrubb on Aug 17, 2022 19:41:32 GMT -5
New poster. Have a feeling I might get a bit of flak for asking this as Im sure its been discussed quite a bit, albeit not recently as per my searches. Ive re-read some old threads and only found fragmented information. If someone has a link to a thread from past that maybe I missed, feel free to point it out.
Ive heard of some of these new ones - LOVB, AU, etc. Some of you have been on here a long time, why do YOU think there is no professional league in the conventional sense? (not tour-based model such as AU)
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Post by avid 2.0 on Aug 17, 2022 19:42:44 GMT -5
oh boy how much time do you have
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Post by basil on Aug 17, 2022 19:43:26 GMT -5
If I had a nutshell, not enough interest. Where's the money? Who's going to be willing to invest in the league and sponsor it? Who's going to pay the players what they'll make overseas? (or at least a livable salary)
also, no harm in asking a question:)
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Post by Brutus Buckeye on Aug 17, 2022 19:47:55 GMT -5
They can make more by playing in the Lingerie Football League.
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Post by slxpress on Aug 17, 2022 19:51:12 GMT -5
New poster. Have a feeling I might get a bit of flak for asking this as Im sure its been discussed quite a bit, albeit not recently as per my searches. Ive re-read some old threads and only found fragmented information. If someone has a link to a thread from past that maybe I missed, feel free to point it out. Ive heard of some of these new ones - LOVB, AU, etc. Some of you have been on here a long time, why do YOU think there is no professional league in the conventional sense? (not tour-based model such as AU) It’s a big capital expense with no men’s pro league to underwrite it like in basketball. Women have done well in individual sports like golf and tennis, but team based sports have never been supported all that well in this country at the professional level. There’s no professional league for women’s soccer or softball, either. I think it will happen someday, but I don’t think that day is any time soon.
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Post by bubbrubb on Aug 17, 2022 19:53:47 GMT -5
oh boy how much time do you have LOTS Would love to hear varied input from anybody and everybody. How would you approach starting one if you had to? What would you do differently from past iterations?
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Post by avid 2.0 on Aug 17, 2022 19:54:22 GMT -5
oh boy how much time do you have im probably the biggest harper of this (and of USAV) on this board but to continue on what basil said. there's a lot of factors. I think the biggest factor is money. Obviously someone has to fund it. USA doesnt have the same sort of tax credits/implications that teams in Europe get. There's not a lot of people who will be able to match the salaries of the top Euro and Asian teams. USA Volleyball has no interest in developing any sort of league which is a big blow. All of the pro leagues in europe/asia/south america have big involvement from their federations. The NWSL and WNBA got heavy investment from US Soccer and the NBA. USAV is more interested in how they can make money, aka exploiting kids and their parents in youth volleyball. The USA market is so saturated. There's just too many other entertainment options for people to go after. Countries everywhere dont have to compete with the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NCAA sports. In Turkey, volleyball is the "it" sport, which also crosses over with soccer fans, which helps. The USA itself is a geographic challenge. To establish a pro league, it would be expensive and expansive. It's hard in that facet too.
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Post by werka on Aug 17, 2022 19:55:14 GMT -5
They just don’t have enough clout.
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Post by vbfamily on Aug 17, 2022 19:55:19 GMT -5
Need to grow the interest!! A lot of competition for the sports entertainment dollar. Hoping League One-LOVB (in 2024?) can make a splash, but need to continue to grow media attention to professional volleyball. Could a US League do something like the Savannah Bananas? Maybe not that crazy, but make the events have great family entertainment value beyond the volleyball to grow the fan base. Once fans get there, maybe they think it is a great game to watch too?? We all have to watch and like any volleyball that gets media time, that's how it can grow. I think many US players would have longer careers if they could play in the states.
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Post by bubbrubb on Aug 17, 2022 19:56:20 GMT -5
New poster. Have a feeling I might get a bit of flak for asking this as Im sure its been discussed quite a bit, albeit not recently as per my searches. Ive re-read some old threads and only found fragmented information. If someone has a link to a thread from past that maybe I missed, feel free to point it out. Ive heard of some of these new ones - LOVB, AU, etc. Some of you have been on here a long time, why do YOU think there is no professional league in the conventional sense? (not tour-based model such as AU) It’s a big capital expense with no men’s pro league to underwrite it like in basketball. Women have done well in individual sports like golf and tennis, but team based sports have never been supported all that well in this country at the professional level. There’s no professional league for women’s soccer or softball, either. I think it will happen someday, but I don’t think that day is any time soon. Maybe there is a more cost-effective way of doing it?
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Post by avid 2.0 on Aug 17, 2022 19:59:40 GMT -5
New poster. Have a feeling I might get a bit of flak for asking this as Im sure its been discussed quite a bit, albeit not recently as per my searches. Ive re-read some old threads and only found fragmented information. If someone has a link to a thread from past that maybe I missed, feel free to point it out. Ive heard of some of these new ones - LOVB, AU, etc. Some of you have been on here a long time, why do YOU think there is no professional league in the conventional sense? (not tour-based model such as AU) It’s a big capital expense with no men’s pro league to underwrite it like in basketball. Women have done well in individual sports like golf and tennis, but team based sports have never been supported all that well in this country at the professional level. There’s no professional league for women’s soccer or softball, either. I think it will happen someday, but I don’t think that day is any time soon. there's a women's soccer league, but they got investment from US Soccer to keep the big names here, which definitely helped.
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Post by bubbrubb on Aug 17, 2022 20:02:37 GMT -5
oh boy how much time do you have im probably the biggest harper of this (and of USAV) on this board but to continue on what basil said. there's a lot of factors. I think the biggest factor is money. Obviously someone has to fund it. USA doesnt have the same sort of tax credits/implications that teams in Europe get. There's not a lot of people who will be able to match the salaries of the top Euro and Asian teams. USA Volleyball has no interest in developing any sort of league which is a big blow. All of the pro leagues in europe/asia/south america have big involvement from their federations. The NWSL and WNBA got heavy investment from US Soccer and the NBA. USAV is more interested in how they can make money, aka exploiting kids and their parents in youth volleyball. The USA market is so saturated. There's just too many other entertainment options for people to go after. Countries everywhere dont have to compete with the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NCAA sports. In Turkey, volleyball is the "it" sport, which also crosses over with soccer fans, which helps. The USA itself is a geographic challenge. To establish a pro league, it would be expensive and expansive. It's hard in that facet too. What sort of seed capital do you think would be needed? Something like an 8-team bus league, $4000 salary cap per game, 28 game season (4x each) + playoffs. January to June? been curious myself re: seed capital. I look at WNBA attendance (~6,000/game avg) and think VB is a much more marketable game than WNBA will ever be
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Post by avid 2.0 on Aug 17, 2022 20:05:09 GMT -5
im probably the biggest harper of this (and of USAV) on this board What sort of seed capital do you think would be needed? Something like an 8-team bus league, $4000 salary cap per game, 28 game season (4x each) + playoffs. January to June? The schedule is another issue. They can't overlap with the NCAA. It just wont work.... but they also cant go into May or June because that would eliminate all of the national team players. I dont know the answers. It would be nice to see investment from USAV... but they're going to need it from an outside source too. Soros wastes his money on Athlete's Unlimited... it would nice to see that contribution into LOVB lol
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Post by vbnerd on Aug 17, 2022 20:07:54 GMT -5
There’s no professional league for women’s soccer or softball, either. I think it will happen someday, but I don’t think that day is any time soon. Fyi, There is a pro women's soccer league. They’ve had games broadcast on CBS. The wnt players are in the league.
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Post by slxpress on Aug 17, 2022 20:08:18 GMT -5
It’s a big capital expense with no men’s pro league to underwrite it like in basketball. Women have done well in individual sports like golf and tennis, but team based sports have never been supported all that well in this country at the professional level. There’s no professional league for women’s soccer or softball, either. I think it will happen someday, but I don’t think that day is any time soon. Maybe there is a more cost-effective way of doing it? Maybe. I’m not looking to invest in a women’s volleyball league ever, so you’d need to approach someone with your more cost effective ideas who is. That’s a snarky way of saying doing anything like this takes a huge amount of drive and ambition - and even ego - to get off the ground. The person who can do that has not materialized as of yet. With the WNBA, they had the NBA footing the bill, so the dynamic was completely different. For volleyball you need the equivalent of a Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk type. Not necessarily at that level, but someone with an incredible dream be and ambition who can convince others to buy in. Those people don’t grow on trees. And of the ones out there, they haven’t seen women’s volleyball as giving them the return on their time energy and resources that another endeavor would. Who knows? Maybe that person is someone we’re following right now.
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