Much of social media this summer surrounding the Pro Volleyball Federation is trumpeting free agent signings, as teams compete to fill their rosters for year two of this fledgling league. But the most compelling news has to do with the league standings.
Apparently, the PVF will have only eight teams for the 2025 season. That’s two fewer than was announced previously. While three expansion franchises were expected for Year 2 of this women’s pro volleyball circuit, now only Indianapolis will join.
The status of the expansion teams in Dallas and Kansas City are now in limbo. The league has not made an official announcement regarding the fate of the Dallas and KC teams. Instead, on July 3, in what may have been an effort to sneak the bad news into a holiday eve statement, the league office mentioned that “Pro Volleyball Federation now boasts rosters for its eight squads that will take the court in 2025…” No explanation on what happened to stall new teams in Dallas and Kansas City markets.
The Indy Ignite will evidently give the PVF an even eight-team league and balance the standings in the 2025 season. The team announced its head coach in June. That’s good news for fans of the PVF, which had a successful debut campaign.
Jen Spicher, CEO of the league, pointed to the “overall attendance of just under 400,000 fans with four million views of matches on YouTube,” in the press statement on July 3.
Adding to the speculation about the PVF and expansion is the fact that Dallas has placed a message on its website that says that team will join the PVF in 2026. The website links to a previous press release from July of 2023, which does not address the apparent one year delay.
No word at all about the Kansas City franchise, a team owned by the McCarthy family, who have interests in the Royals and Sacramento Kings.
Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman joined as a co-owner of the Dallas franchise earlier this year. The primary owner is Armand Sadoughi, who is listed as Founder & President of Mandalorian Capital on his LinkedIn page. According to reporting by People Newspapers, other Dallas co-owners include attorneys Michel Benitez, Evan D. Stone, and Richard Zaleskie.
