Volleyball World has confirmed the renewal of its partnership with Vodafone for the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Women’s Preliminary Phase, being held in Istanbul, Türkiye from 18 to 22 June.
Following the success of last year’s collaboration in Antalya, Vodafone will once again provide technological support for key match functions, including Challenge system operations, in/out line calls, and tracking of serve and spike speeds, all delivered through its high-performance 5G network. This setup will enable real-time decision-making and bring fans closer to the action than ever before.
The renewal comes after a record-breaking 2024 season that marked the most successful VNL to date. The competition witnessed a remarkable 13% growth in attendance from 2023 and a 33% increase from 2022. The total attendance during the pool phases reached an impressive 751,000. On VBTV, live match viewership climbed by 21%, while Türkiye saw home matches in Antalya sell out completely.
Broadcast numbers in Türkiye were equally impressive: the USA vs Türkiye women’s match on TRT SPOR drew 804,000 viewers, making it the second most-watched live sports broadcast on the TRT network in 2024. The cumulative domestic audience reached 11.3 million, with over 240 hours of live volleyball aired nationally.
“Vodafone continues to be an exceptional partner in transforming how we connect volleyball with fans worldwide,” said Oliver Clarke, Head of Sponsorship at Volleyball World. “Their innovative technology played a key role in ensuring a record breaking VNL last year, utilising cutting-edge match technologies to track every play, point and performance statistic. We’re proud to continue this collaboration for VNL 2025.”
Vodafone Türkiye CBU Director Meltem Bakiler Şahin said: “As Vodafone Türkiye, we
embrace the advanced match technologies to be used in the Turkish stage matches of
the Volleyball Nations League. We have completed our BTK permissions and installed 5G in Sinan Erdem Sports Hall. We can provide the internet needs of the system over 5G. With the 5G-supported Hawkeye system we implemented in the Nations League this year, we are increasing the viewing pleasure of the volleyball spectators in the halland on the screen. These instantly generated statistics and measurements are
simultaneously transmitted to broadcasters around the world thanks to 5G support."
For more information about the VNL, including the latest news, schedules, scores and highlights, click here.
Watch every match live or on-demand on VBTV.
