Major League Volleyball will field a Los Angeles franchise for its 2027 season, backed by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong—the biotech billionaire who owns the Los Angeles Times and a minority stake in the Lakers—and Ben Priest, whose name surfaces in California real estate and private equity circles. The announcement puts a professional volleyball franchise in the second-largest U.S. media market two seasons before the 2028 Summer Olympics arrive in the same city.
MLV operates six teams across Austin, Atlanta, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Madison, and Omaha. The league launched in 2022 under the ownership group that includes Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures and retired volleyball players April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings. Average attendance runs 2,800 per match. Television distribution remains regional, with most matches streaming on Volleyball TV. Los Angeles becomes the seventh franchise and the first in a top-five Nielsen DMA.
The timing is deliberate. Volleyball draws 1.2 billion global viewers during Olympic years, and the U.S. women's team took gold in Paris 2024. Indoor volleyball sits fourth among high school girls' sports by participation, behind basketball, track, and soccer. Title IX compliance keeps college programs stable—334 NCAA Division I women's teams operate today, each producing graduates who understand the sport's cadence and will pay $35 for a ticket if the product holds. The 2028 Games create a narrow window where casual fans recognize names and sponsors tolerate experimental media spends. MLV is booking the venue now, hoping familiarity converts.
Soon-Shiong's involvement signals more than a rich man's sports hobby. He paid $500 million for the Times in 2018 and $4 billion (estimated) for his Lakers minority position. His companies develop cancer immunotherapy and diabetes monitoring devices. He does not write small checks for portfolio decoration. Priest's role remains opaque—no press release details his equity percentage or operational mandate—but his name appears alongside Soon-Shiong's in the announcement, which means he either wrote a check large enough to earn co-billing or brings venue, political, or sponsor relationships that Soon-Shiong needs. Los Angeles requires both.
Venue selection will clarify ambition. The Forum in Inglewood holds 17,500; Galen Center at USC seats 10,258; Pauley Pavilion at UCLA fits 13,800. MLV's existing teams play in minor-league hockey arenas and mid-major college gyms. A downtown Los Angeles site—near Crypto.com Arena, where the Lakers and Kings play—would place the franchise inside the $5 billion L.A. Live entertainment complex and signal intent to compete for the same corporate hospitality dollar. A Westside or South Bay location saves rent and acknowledges that professional volleyball's core audience skews female, suburban, and collegiate-adjacent. The league has not named a venue. That decision will price the ambition.
Sponsors are watching. Volleyball delivers a younger, more female audience than the NBA or MLB, but media fragmentation means brands pay for reach, not affinity. MLV will need a founding sponsor north of $3 million annually to justify the Los Angeles launch costs. The 2028 Olympics create a hook, but sponsors know that post-Olympic interest craters unless the product sustains itself. Beach volleyball's AVP League collapsed twice—once in 2010, again in 2020—because sponsorship revenue disappeared when NBC stopped airing matches. MLV must prove it can fill 5,000 seats on a February Wednesday without an Olympic halo.
Watch for three moves. First, venue announcement by September 2025, because season-ticket deposits require a place to sit. Second, coordinator hires—MLV will need a general manager and a head coach, and the candidate pool is small. USA Volleyball's indoor coaching ranks and European club leagues will supply names. Third, Soon-Shiong's Times will either cover the team with full-beat reporter resources or treat it as novelty copy. That editorial decision will signal whether the billionaire views this franchise as a business line or a vanity project.
MLV plays its 2026 season in six cities. The Los Angeles franchise will practice somewhere, hire someone, and sell tickets to something. The Olympics arrive July 2028. The window is short.
The takeaway
Soon-Shiong's capital and the 2028 Olympics create a narrow window for professional volleyball to prove it can sell tickets and sponsors in Los Angeles.
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