Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian Unveils Los Angeles Professional Women's Volleyball Team Brand Name LA Orbit
Ohanian reveals Los Angeles women's volleyball team name LA Orbit
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian announced the brand name LA Orbit for the Los Angeles professional women's volleyball team and thanked the fans present that day. The team is part of the League One Volleyball expansion, with its home games set at the Clippers' Intuit Dome.
The brand launch event took place on September 25 at the venue, followed by a free fan festival from 11 AM to 3 PM the next day, featuring players Annie Drews Schumacher and Kotoe Inoue, along with the sale of the first batch of merchandise. Season ticket promotional prices start at $15 per game, with a $50 deposit for priority seating.
Ohanian and his fund 776 acquired the controlling stake in this first West Coast LOVB professional team in October 2025, positioning it as the third Los Angeles asset after Angel City FC and the Los Angeles Golf Club. He also runs the athletics brand Athlos and holds a minority stake in Chelsea Women's Football Club. Angel City Holdings was later valued at approximately $250 million when transferred to Willow Bay and Bob Iger.
The league's third season plans to feature 10 teams divided into East and West divisions, with teams from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and others debuting in the 2026-2027 season. The roster has officially announced 13 players, including six with experience on the U.S. national team and four Olympic medalists, as well as foreign players from Japan, Canada, Brazil, and Serbia. The density of youth training in Southern California was cited as a reason for the location, with the 2027 World Championships and 2028 Olympics on the horizon.
LOVB started from youth training clubs and is now launching a professional league, signing a prime-time broadcasting deal with USA Network under Versant. At the same time, another professional women's volleyball league, Major League Volleyball, is also expanding, with a position already established in San Diego. Ohanian referred to the volleyball participation rate and young female audience as "the fundamentals are already there," but what is lacking is a professional product that matches the market scale.
In terms of market mechanisms, buyers are Southern California families purchasing tickets and brand sponsorships, while sellers are league equity and venue availability. The event-driven aspect is that after validating the valuation of women's soccer, capital is replicating the same city branding in volleyball. Funding from 776 and expansion fees will go into venue leasing, player salaries, and youth training interfaces; benefiting are leagues with existing youth funnels and new teams that can sell season tickets, while under pressure are the second league competing for players and scheduling in the same market.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Ohanian's strategy is to first prove that Los Angeles can afford a women's professional team with Angel City, and then replicate the brand, venue, and fund name for the next project with a larger participation base. Volleyball has a stronger presence in California high schools and clubs than women's soccer did at its inception, and Intuit Dome places the product directly in an NBA-level venue, rather than nurturing it in a college gym for three years. The team name changed from LOVB Los Angeles to LA Orbit, replacing the league prefix with a city symbol that can be marketed separately.
The capital mobilization involves expansion fees plus minority stakes in the league, rather than just purchasing an independent club. This way, ticket sales, broadcasting, and youth training clubs can be amortized on the same balance sheet. The motivation is to capture local mindshare before the 2027 World Championships and 2028 Olympics, while also re-running 776's consumer brand and commercial model for female athletes.
Comparable examples include Angel City's entry into the NWSL and the Golden State's approach of layering women's projects onto its city platform beyond basketball. The industry phase is women's professional sports transitioning from "proving there is an audience" to "proving we can fill NBA arenas." USA Network's broadcasting provides a national window, but the real pricing power remains with the Los Angeles venue and season ticket retention.
The structural judgment indicates capital concentration. Women's projects are no longer funded separately by sport but are held collectively by city and fund combinations. The mechanism is: whoever controls venue scheduling and youth training access first can shift the same family budget from soccer to volleyball; league expansion fees become upfront leverage for tickets and sponsorships, making it more expensive for newcomers to rent in the city.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
First fill the arena, then explain the sport
City combinations are easier to finance than single clubs
Where there is a youth training population, a professional team is just the last piece of the signboard