26 Matches, 12 Teams: MLV Finally Has a Real Regular Season
Major League Volleyball announced its 2027 structure Wednesday: an Eastern and a Western Conference, 26 regular-season matches apiece, and a playoff format still to come.
Major League Volleyball went from seven teams to 12 in a single offseason. On Wednesday it explained how all 12 are going to play each other.
East: Atlanta, Columbus, DC, Grand Rapids, Indy, Orlando. West: Dallas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Northern California, Omaha, Vegas.
The Math of 26
Every team plays all 11 opponents home and away, which is 22 matches. Then four extra conference matches, with one conference rival rotated out each year so the total holds at 26 and the rivalries stay deliberately uneven.
The season runs January through May 2027. The playoff format has not been announced and the league says it is coming in the next few months.
"Adding five teams and shifting to a conference structure changes everything for us," commissioner Jaime Weston said in the league's release. "Expanding into these incredible sports markets allows us to create genuine rivalries, energize an exciting postseason race and provide fans with the best volleyball in the country."
One number to get right, because at least one outlet ran the Weston quote as "adding four teams." The league's own release says five, and five is the arithmetic that works: DC, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Northern California and Vegas added to the seven that played in 2026 gets you to 12.
Vegas Is the Story Inside the Story
The Thrill are back after sitting out 2026. Michael Landier's ownership group has Ruben Herrera as president, Fran Flory as general manager and Rachel Morris, most recently Indiana's associate head coach, running the bench at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson.
There will also be two professional women's volleyball teams launching in Minnesota in 2027, one in MLV's West and one in LOVB's East. Same state, two leagues, same January.
Dallas won the first MLV championship in its first season, five sets over Omaha. In 2027 the Pulse and the Supernovas will be in the same conference, playing each other at least four times before anybody gets to a bracket.
