Los Angeles reveals the Orbit as the team name for League One Volleyball (LOVB)

LOS ANGELES — The fledgling women's professional volleyball league has expanded into Los Angeles. On Friday, they revealed their brand name.

Gravitational pull. Pulling all the stars into her orbit. Everything revolves around her. Every orbit needs a center of gravity. And that's how they ended up with the Los Angeles Orbit.

“Los Angeles is a place where sports, culture, technology and entertainment come together, and that makes it an incredible place to build something new in women’s sports,” said Alexis Ohanian, owner of Los Angeles Orbit and founder of 776. “Los Angeles Orbit is the beginning of something much bigger than a team, it’s the beginning of a movement.

"We have so many folks who have come up through our ranks in Los Angeles to go on to have tremendous success at an Olympic level for the United States… to have tremendous success at a professional level but it was far too often overseas. And so to have a league like LOVB taking center stage here in the United States, where we can put our tremendous talent in front of everyone, feels great."

Women's volleyball in college has gained tremendous momentum in the last few years. Now fans can follow these young players into the professional level in LOVB. And for fans in L.A., they can follow them to the Orbit.

"I think college volleyball has been big for a while," Orbit setter Carli Lloyd said, who won a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics. "I think this next step to professional, it's happening at the right time."

It was 2023 when women's volleyball in college set the attendance record for a women's sporting event in the world. An announced crowd of 92,003 was set in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska and the sport has had quite the momentum since.

"Yeah, volleyball is rapidly expanding," Orbit outside hitter Kathryn Boden said, who was a silver medalist in the 2024 Olympics. "I think with the help of the college game, just the exposure that that's getting, our national team having success on the world stage, and just the exposure that it's getting across the country, I think we're looking to just build on that. And the fact that it already has an audience, we're excited to bring that here to L.A."

It's also a massive boon for women's sports. The fledgling league is going into its third season and the number of teams are expanding from six to 10. And the Orbit is one of the new expansion teams.

"We didn't have a pro league when I was playing indoor," three-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor said, who is on the Orbit's advisory board. "So for me, it just goes to show the growth of volleyball across the board. I'm excited that there's a team in L.A. Certainly as a kid, I didn't have an opportunity to be able to go and watch any professional women's leagues. So I think it's important for the next generation, the young girls, to see these women out here, and to spark that idea that there is a pathway for them. They can do this professionally without traveling overseas."

Boden had looked for an opportunity to join the league.

"I didn't know if (a league) was going to actually come to fruition," Boden said. "Like I said up there, I, for the last two seasons, have been looking at LOVB from a distance and just seeing what it can become. And then I've seen its success over the last two seasons, and I wanted to be a part of it, especially coming back home to L.A. So I didn't think it was going to happen but I'm so glad it is because it's giving us a lot of opportunities to inspire other people."

Also in attendance were investors Issa Rae and Savannah James. The launch video was actually narrated by Rae while Zhuri James, Savannah's daughter, made an appearance. Other players from the Orbit roster that were in attendance were libero Kotoe Inoue (on the Japanese national team from 2009 to 2021), opposite hitter Annie Drews Schumacher (who won gold in the 2020 Olympics and silver in 2024), and outside hitter Madi Kingdon Rishel (has won multiple championships around the world).

The Orbit will start play when LOVB begins their 2026-27 season.