AU Volleyball preps for fourth season as the sport takes hold at the U.S. pro level

The GIST: Athletes Unlimited (AU) is getting ready to serve up its fourth season of AU Volleyball, the month-long pro league that’s changed the game for the world’s top women volleyball players. While the sport is already highly popular in other countries, new U.S. pro leagues can offer American exposure through media, marketing, and sponsorship.

• AU’s director of volleyball Cassidy Lichtman spoke with The GIST on Wednesday about the company’s winning strategy as a pioneer in the volleyball space, especially with two new U.S. pro volleyball leagues joining AU this year. Killin’ it.

The why: Lichtman noted AU started with softball and volleyball because these sports had “a lot of growth potential on the women’s sports side,” and the absence of a pro volleyball league created an “entire open space.” Domestic numbers backed up AU’s mission: Both sports have cultivated strong collegiate pipelines yet had no U.S. pro leagues at the time of AU’s launch.

• Despite volleyball’s universal popularity — Lichtman said there’s almost 1B global players and noted avid fandom in Thailand and Japan — minimal coverage has limited pro fandom stateside. This is changing fast, however, as ESPN just signed a multiyear deal with AU last season.

The ecosystem: While AU Volleyball began play alone in 2021, there are now two other major players in the space. This January, the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) kicked off and reset pro volleyball’s attendance record three times, while LOVB Pro is set to launch — with 75% of Team USA committed to the league — next January.

• LOVB Pro and the PVF clash on the calendar, but AU’s autumn season allows players from both leagues to join in. This includes Thai fan favorite Nootsara Tomkom, who played in the PVF this season and is now entering her third AU season. Notably, a third of the league’s audience comes from her home country, per Lichtman.

The takeaway: Though pro leagues exist throughout the world, playing stateside gives players unique access to American audiences, networks, and brands. Athletes are recognizing opportunity in the U.S., but sponsors should come next — especially when it comes to AU, which has four leagues brands can activate around. Time to attack.