Former NFL players Terrence C. Murphy Sr. and Reggie Bush’s Synergy Sports Capital acquired the operating rights for Utah’s women’s professional volleyball team LOVB Salt Lake, the league announced Thursday.
League One Volleyball, or LOVB, started as a network of club volleyball teams and expanded to professional teams in January 2025. Each of its six inaugural teams, including LOVB Salt Lake, was initially owned by the league.
Synergy Sports Capital, founded by Murphy, is now the latest ownership group to join the LOVB family.
The acquisition is part of the private equity fund’s inaugural fund and has been in the works for the last three or four years, Murphy told the Deseret News.
“As I started evaluating the different teams and opportunities, Salt Lake, the way that the team played, the culture — everything about it just felt like it was the right team for me to acquire through my fund, Synergy Sports Capital,” Murphy said.
Bush was a star running back at USC who won two national championships and the Heisman Trophy. He was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2006 NFL Draft.
For Murphy, the decision to invest in the team can be traced back to his athletic roots — and to his oldest daughter.
Murphy, a former Texas A&M wide receiver and second-round pick by the Green Bay Packers, had “been around sports my entire life,” he said, whether through his own athletic career, his siblings’ and now his children.
His sister played volleyball, but Murphy didn’t gain a true appreciation for the sport until he watched his daughter play for LOVB’s Houston Skyline The Woodlands.
“I became a volleyball dad, and that’s really where I realized how much I enjoyed watching the game, how quick it was,” he said. “ … Going to those tournaments is where I started seeing the game and seeing the crowds and seeing how there was a new movement in volleyball. There was a recreated passion, and now in 2026, it’s the fastest-growing women’s sport under 18.”
What Murphy, Bush and Synergy bring to LOVB Salt Lake
A severe neck injury Murphy sustained in his rookie season led to his early NFL retirement in 2007. He’s been investing ever since in venture capital, real estate and private equity, and for the last five years, he’s been “tracking the emerging leagues and teams” he could invest in.
Enter LOVB Salt Lake.
Murphy said he looked at investing in other LOVB teams, but Salt Lake had “the most upside.”
LOVB Salt Lake has dominated in its second season, going on a 7-1 run to start the season, and with three matches left before the playoffs, the club tied for second place in this year’s standings.
“Just the way they play and (Jordyn) Poulter, the setter, the libero — that core team, we want to keep together as long as possible and just keep adding more talent,” he said.
In addition to the financial investment, Murphy said he and Bush bring their athletic backgrounds to the team, which will help them as owners.
“We understand what it takes to be a pro athlete, and I think you see some of the best coaches are ones that were athletes themselves. And if you look at the head coach of LOVB (Salt Lake, Tama Miyashiro), she was an Olympian herself. So she’s going to understand them better than most, and when you look into ownership groups, we’re going to understand the athletes, the culture, the fan base better than most,” he said.
LOVB Pro commissioner Sandra Idehen noted the experience that the former NFL players bring to the league and LOVB Salt Lake in her statement in the press release announcing the news.
“Terrence, Reggie and the Synergy team understand the journey of elite athletes, the cultural power of sports, and how to build businesses that last. Their investment in LOVB and leadership of the Salt Lake team strengthens our foundation as we build the next great professional league in America,” Idehen said.
Murphy and Bush are the latest former men’s professional athletes to invest in women’s sports teams, joining the likes of Tom Brady, a minority owner of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, and Magic Johnson, a co-owner of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and a member of the ownership group of the NWSL’s Washington Spirit.
The Houston Rockets’ Kevin Durant was one of the initial investors in the league alongside Candace Parker and Lindsey Vonn, according to The Associated Press.
“I think the opportunity is just, it’s a natural transition for us. But I think being able to, like I said, be more involved and not just be passive stakes, but be active stakes, I think that’s where women’s sports has the most upside. And right now, it’s just a movement, right? You see a lot of the young ladies now that want to be playing volleyball,” Murphy said.
Murphy has big ideas for LOVB Salt Lake, including its facilities and its place in Utah’s sports ecosystem. He wants to partner with Salt Lake City; Park City, where he resides part-time; and the state of Utah because he wants LOVB Salt Lake “to be a statewide team.”
“We’re looking to partner with developers and city municipalities to create a stadium district, practice facilities, and all those things. So, we want to be an ownership group that is completely immersed in the market, from the youth to the real estate to the practice facility to our pro team and the fan base and the universities,” he said.
Murphy wants to help LOVB Salt Lake create an atmosphere that’s hard for visiting teams to play in, like he experienced while playing at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field and Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.
“I only played for one college team and then only played for one NFL team, and I plan on only owning one volleyball team. So my goal is that when you come play us at our home stadium is that it’s an atmosphere that’s rowdy, it’s exciting and it’s a hard place to play. And we’re going to play with that energy, and you know you’re going to have to play us hard no matter what,” he said.
Murphy added that LOVB Salt Lake already embodies the energy he mentioned.
“Now, it’s just me helping them drive that forward, create a vision, and continue to serve the athletes and the fan base and just create a special organization,” he said.