Volleyball World, an international organization that drives growth, innovation and investment in volleyball around the globe, today announced that the recently completed Round Two of the Men’s Volleyball Nations League 2025 (VNL), hosted at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, attracted a record-breaking 39,500 fans during its five-day, 12-match pool. With some matches sold out, VNL featured elite players from the United States, Poland, Brazil, Italy, Canada and China.
The Volleyball Nations League 2025 spans the globe with Men’s and Women’s competitions. This year, Chicago hosted Round Two of the Men’s tournament together with Burgas (Bulgaria) and Belgrade (Serbia). The tournament started in Quebec City, Rio de Janeiro and Xi’an (China), will move to Gdansk (Poland), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Chiba (Japan) for Round Three on July 16-20. It will conclude with the Men’s Finals in Ningbo (China) on July 30 – August 3.
The Chicago-area tournament was a showcase of electrifying volleyball, captivating fans not only in the stands, but also those who viewed games on CBS, Big Ten Network and world-wide on Volleyball World TV (VBTV: Volleyball World’s proprietary media platform). VBTV reports that almost 750,000 viewers worldwide watched matches on their platform.
“We were absolutely thrilled to see such a massive audience turn out for Round Two of the Men’s Volleyball Nations League,” said Stephanie Giardina, Chief Revenue Officer at Volleyball World. “The energy in the arena was electric, and it’s amazing to witness how the love for volleyball is growing worldwide. This kind of support inspires the players and elevates the entire sport. We now look forward to heading to Arlington, Texas for round three of the Women’s Volleyball Nations League on July 9.”
Volleyball is ranked as the third most-watched sport worldwide, with more than 800 million fans around the globe watching matches in person or on television each year. The tournament was a thrilling glimpse of the future of international volleyball, with some or many of these athletes aiming to represent their nations on the world’s biggest stage at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The Women’s Volleyball Nations League is also underway and is set to head to the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, for Round Three on July 9-13. For the complete schedule, including the results, click here.
The schedule for matches at the NOW Arena was as follows. For Chicago results, click here:
Wednesday, June 25
- 12:30 p.m. Italy vs. Poland
- 4 p.m Canada vs. Brazil
- 7:30 p.m. China vs. USA
Thursday, June 26
- 4 p.m. Brazil vs. China
- 7:30 p.m. Canada vs. USA
Friday, June 27
- 4 p.m. China vs. Italy
- 7:30 p.m. Canada vs. Poland
Saturday, June 28
- 4 p.m. Brazil vs. Italy
- 7:30 p.m. USA vs. Poland
Sunday, June 29
- 12:30 p.m. China vs. Canada
- 4 p.m. Brazil vs. Poland
7:30 p.m. USA vs. Italy
