LOVB Salt Lake’s season came to an end Saturday after falling to LOVB Austin in the 2026 LOVB Championship, but Utah’s pro volleyball team still made history.
On Thursday, USA Sports announced the first of the two championship matches, in which LOVB Salt Lake won 3-2, was the most-watched LOVB game of all-time, averaging 163,000 viewers.
LOVB Austin won the second finals match and forced the finals into a Golden Set, which meant the first team to 15 points won the set and title. Austin ultimately won 15-8 to secure its second-straight championship.
The viewership for Finals Game 2 dropped slightly to 139,000 average viewers but still finished as the third most-watched LOVB game.
Rams and former BYU wide receiver Puka Nacua sat courtside at the match in Long Beach, California, at the sold-out Game 2.
LOVB’s viewership in 2026
Per USA Sports, the two matches combined for a 50% increase in linear viewership since LOVB’s inaugural championship in 2025.
The network also saw a 164% linear viewership increase of its prime-time “Game of the Week” airings over the course of the regular season.
A total of 7.5 million viewers watched USA Network’s LOVB coverage in 2026, a 133% increase, according to the network.
LOVB Salt Lake’s future
LOVB Salt Lake was one of six inaugural LOVB Pro volleyball teams to begin play in 2025. The league will add teams in San Francisco, Minnesota and Los Angeles next season.
Almost a month before the championship, the team was acquired by Synergy Sports Capital, led by former NFL players Terrence C. Murphy Sr. and Heisman winner Reggie Bush.
Murphy told the Deseret News in March that LOVB Salt Lake had “the most upside” of the teams,
“Just the way they play and (Jordyn) Poulter, the setter, the libero, (Manami Kojima) — that core team, we want to keep together as long as possible and just keep adding more talent,” Murphy said.
LOVB Salt Lake dominated in its second season, including a 7-1 run to start the season and later a strong playoff run.