Pro volleyball team coming to Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. - Right now the top indoor college volleyball players head overseas if they want to play professionally. Starting this year, however, they’ll have more options thanks to the Pro Volleyball Federation.

"There’s more than 350 American women in other countries playing pro volleyball. We’re creating a new horizon. Their stories are easy to care about," Pro Volleyball Federation co-founder Dave Whinham said.

The league will begin their inaugural season next February, with at least eight teams, and they vow to pay players a real living wage.

Florida businessman David Forman owns the Orlando team, which was announced on Wednesday.

In a news release he said: 

"Orlando is a city known worldwide for making dreams come true and that’s what Pro Volleyball Federation is all about — providing a new horizon for these athletes to be able to live out their dreams…at home."

Whinham said this has been in the works for a while. But after finding out college volleyball viewership numbers from tv sports networks, they knew the time was now.

"Volleyball has become the third most watched college sport that those platforms present. Well that got us thinking, maybe it is time," Whinham said.

The Amway Center is just one of the many potential playing sites for the new team. But there are people from the league touring different venues in Orlando.

As for the players, there will be a signing starting this week. The inaugural draft is in November.