Major League Volleyball

Last updated
Major League Volleyball
Sport Volleyball
Founded1987
First season1987
Ceased1989
CommissionerSteve Arnold (1987-1988), [1] Lindy Vivas (1988-1989) [2] [3]
No. of teams6
Country United States
Continent North America

Major League Volleyball (MLV) was a women's professional volleyball league in the United States. It was established in 1987 and disbanded during its third season on March 20, 1989. [4]

Contents

The league was launched in 1987 with six teams consisting of nine players per team, most of them former Olympians or college All-Americans. According to the league's first commissioner, Steve Arnold, each MLV player received a base salary of $5,500 per season. Bonuses were awarded to teams for each victory and for a top-three finish, while the team that won the league championship received $25,000. Bonuses were also awarded to players for excelling in one of six statistical categories. For example, the player who was best in serving aces got an extra $3,000. The egalitarian pay scale made contract negotiations unnecessary. [1]

There were no independent team owners during the first two years of the league's existence. Instead, there were essentially six major shareholders. "It was a concept I developed through having operated pro sports leagues and teams," said Arnold, an attorney who had been a sports agent and was involved with the World Football League, American Basketball Association, World Hockey Association and World TeamTennis. [1] Before the league's third and final season began in 1989, Major League Volleyball granted licensing agreements to ownership groups for each of the league's six teams. The initial licensing fee paid by each ownership group was $100,000. [5] During the MLV's two years in operation they gave out awards for Most Valuable Player (MVP). In the leagues first season in 1987 it was given to Rita Crockett. [6] And in 1988 it was awarded to Ruth Lawson of the Minnesota Monarchs. [7]

The MLV draft was open to any American players who did not have collegiate eligibility and did not play for a professional league in another country or on the U.S. national volleyball team. Through a trust agreement with the USVBL, the players retained their Olympic eligibility.

MLV got a contract with ESPN to televise 10 regular season contests on a tape delay basis, and a playoff game and live coverage of the league's championship match. It had a solid start in attendance with crowds between 350 and 3,000 in the opening weeks of competition in 1987. The three-day championship tournament held at Williams Arena in 1988 had a total attendance of 7,072, including 3,404 (a league record) for the semifinal match between the San Jose Golddiggers and Minnesota Monarchs on Friday, May 20. [8]

The league had only two sets of warmups circulating among its teams until two weeks into the first season. And the game uniforms, ordered from Japan, were in quarantine until two days before the season opened.

The content, records, and player information were obtained from a collection of VCR recordings of the original ESPN broadcasts. Commentary on players is credited to MLV sports analyst and host Chris Marlowe.

Franchises

Champions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992)</span> Indoor soccer league in the United States

The Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the United States that played matches from fall 1978 to spring 1992.

Lindy Vivas was a former volleyball coach.

The Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alliance. In 1989, it existed for a single year as the Western Soccer League before merging with the American Soccer League to form the American Professional Soccer League in 1990.

Stephen Kinsey is an English former football forward who began his career in 1979 with Manchester City before moving to the United States in 1986. He then played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and others before retiring in 1997.

Thompson Usiyan was a Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward. He holds the NCAA Division I career scoring record and played in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and Continental Indoor Soccer League. He was a member of the Nigerian Olympic soccer team which boycotted the 1976 Olympics. He made several appearances for the Nigeria national team.

The San Jose Golddiggers were a professional women's team in Major League Volleyball from 1987 to 1989. The team played its home matches at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.

The Minnesota Monarchs were one of six Major League Volleyball franchises. The league began in 1987 and ended short of completing a full season in 1989.

The Los Angeles Starlites were one of six teams in the Major League Volleyball (MLV) franchise. The league began in 1987 and ended short of completing a full season in 1989. Players consisted of former collegiate All-Americans and Olympians. The level of play was highly competitive and fast paced, and utilized either a 5-1 or 6-2 offense.

Gregory Stewart Ion is a Canadian retired soccer midfielder.

Steve Sharp is a former U.S. soccer forward who played in the Major Indoor Soccer League, Western Soccer Alliance and American Professional Soccer League. He also earned eight caps, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national team in 1984 and 1985.

James William Nettles is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1970 and 1981, for the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics. In 1975, he played for the Nankai Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball. Following his playing career, Nettles managed in the minor leagues from 1983 until 1996. He is the younger brother of Graig Nettles.

Godfrey Patrick Ingram is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Active in England, Wales and the United States, Ingram made over 440 career league appearances, and scored over 270 league goals.

Ruth Modupe Lawanson is a former volleyball player and college volleyball coach. Born in Nigeria, she played volleyball for Fresno State and the United States national team, winning a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Debbie Green-Vargas is an American retired volleyball player and coach. She is regarded as the greatest American women's volleyball setter of all time. Green-Vargas was a member of the United States women's national volleyball team and won a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Laurie Flachmeier Corbelli is an American former volleyball player and coach. Corbelli won a silver medal with the United States national team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She was an exceptional blocker.

The 1985–86 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the eighth in league history and ended with the San Diego Sockers winning their third MISL title in four seasons over the Minnesota Strikers. It was the Sockers' fifth straight indoor title, as they had also won the North American Soccer League's indoor league in 1982 and 1984.

Leslie Ann Woodard is a former professional women's volleyball player. She played college volleyball from 1982 to 1986, and played on the Major League Volleyball team the Chicago Breeze from 1987 to 1989. She also provided color commentary for ESPN during 1989.

The 1904 Tacoma Tigers season was the first season for the Tacoma Tigers baseball team after relocating from Sacramento, California. Playing in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCL), the Tigers compiled a 130–94 record and won the pennant.

The following refers to the history of Major League Baseball coverage on local Fox affiliated stations as opposed to the national broadcasts on the Fox Broadcasting Company beginning in 1996.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Major League Volleyball adding spike to pro sports scene". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, article by Shelly Anderson. March 14, 1987.
  2. ↑ Spencer, Sheldon (October 20, 1988). "Tacoma CC soccer mounts a record assault; Northwest colleges". The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington). p. C9. Retrieved July 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com. Today, Vivas is the new commissioner of the MLV.
  3. ↑ Lowery, Steve (March 21, 1989). "Major League Volleyball Teams Suspend Operations". The Los Angeles Times. p. III-7. Retrieved July 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Sherrow, Victoria. (2002). Volleyball. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books. p. 49. ISBN   1-56006-961-9. OCLC   47623759.
  5. ↑ Weiner, Jay (February 15, 1989). "Monarchs hoping MLV can live up to its name". Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota). p. 7C. Retrieved July 24, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Rita Crockett". International Volleyball Hall of Fame - Holyoke, Massachusetts USA. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  7. ↑ Crossley, Drew (2013-09-05). "Minnesota Monarchs". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  8. 1 2 3 Augustoviz, Roman (May 22, 1988). "Starlites win Major League Volleyball title". Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota). p. 3C. Retrieved July 21, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.