Volleyball World launches partnership with men’s and women’s Italian Professional Volleyball Leagues

Volleyball World, as part of its global expansion of volleyball, is proud to announce ground-breaking partnerships with the Lega Pallavolo Serie A Maschile and Lega Pallavolo Serie A Femminile, the men’s and women’s Italian Professional Volleyball Leagues.

Volleyball World’s partnership with both leagues will focus on leveraging the men’s SuperLega Credem Banca domestic media rights and Lega Pallavolo Serie A Femminile (A1 and A2) domestic and international media rights. In addition, the partnerships will aim to accelerate the development of the overall men’s and women’s flagship league products with a focus on gameday presentation, fan experience, digital opportunities, sponsors’ visibility and much more.

Furthermore, VBTV, the new subscription based streaming channel from Volleyball World, will showcase all matches of both leagues together with additional digital content, exposing the premier professional volleyball action to an even greater audience. VBTV demonstrated its new cutting-edge TV production during the most recent edition of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in Rimini, Italy last June and July.

Volleyball World is the newly formed commercial driver for the sport of volleyball around the world, and aims to increase the profile and popularity of the sport through fresh investment for the benefit of fans, players, professional leagues and National Federations. Volleyball World is responsible for the commercial operation of key volleyball and beach volleyball international events, including: the World Championships, Olympic Qualifiers, Volleyball Nations League and Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Volleyball World CEO, Finn Taylor said:

“Volleyball World’s mission is to drive commercial growth within the sport by focusing on the volleyball product, fan experience, media, sports data/digital opportunities and sponsorship. This will ensure the long-term success of volleyball and deliver lasting legacies for the whole ecosystem of the sport.

“We are delighted to have taken another huge step on this journey by partnering with both the women’s and men’s Italian Professional Volleyball Leagues. Of course, there is still much work to be done, but I have no doubt that these partnerships will be incredibly successful and bring benefits to all stakeholders including the players and fans.”

Volleyball World Chief Business Officer, Guido Betti said:

“The women’s and men’s Professional Volleyball Leagues are respectively already among the best women’s and men’s leagues in the world. And yet, they both have huge untapped fanbases and commercial potential both domestically in Italy and worldwide.

“As part of our commitment to improve media production from the offset, this journey immediately started with the acquisition of media rights. The ultimate goal is to improve the overall product and commercial value of these leagues to enable fans in Italy and globally to access and enjoy two of the best volleyball leagues in the world.”

Lega Pallavolo Serie A Maschile President, Massimo Righi said:

“This partnership with the Volleyball World is the result of months of strong negotiations. However, from the very beginning, we understood the enormous potential of this deal. We are taking this path with passion, happiness and enthusiasm, being once again together and aligned with the FIVB and with the support of one of the strongest private equity companies investing into sport, we can secure more visibility for our league and our clubs”.

Lega Pallavolo Serie A Femminile President, Mauro Fabris said:

"This deal is extremely important and another step forward for the growth of the Italian Women's Volleyball movement which is already under the spotlight thanks to the great achievements of our Athletes, highlighted the choice of Paola Egonu as our flag-bearer for Tokyo 2020.

"We have worked hard on this agreement which shows what we have become. We are confident that this choice will please Volleyball fans in Italy and all over the world, giving them the chance to watch and enjoy the world’s most appealing Women's Volleyball league".

Volleyball World is a joint partnership between the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and CVC Capital Partners which has extensive experience in the world of sports through investment into sports businesses, including Formula 1, Moto GP and rugby. The FIVB, as the majority shareholder of Volleyball World, remains the sole governing body for the sport of volleyball around the world.