A new women's professional sports team is coming to Minnesota.

League One Volleyball announced Friday morning that it will be launching a team — LOVB Minnesota — in 2027.

LOVB debuted in January of this year with six teams: Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison, Nebraska and Salt Lake. The league features top athletes including four-time Olympian Jordan Larson and former Minnesota players Tori Dixon and Alexis Hart. 

The path to starting the professional league started with a grassroots effort, investing in local clubs and young talent in the college game. LOVB has already partnered with two Minnesota clubs — Kokoro Volleyball and M1 Volleyball — which collectively train more than 680 athletes. 

The model aims to build LOVB's foundation to ultimately support the professional league, which last year drew sold-out crowds and 1.1 million viewers for its finals match between LOVB Austin and LOVB Nebraska.

Minnesota head coach Keegan Cook called the move to expand the franchise a "wise and thrilling decision," especially considering the state's "committed volleyball community."

That community has consistently made Minnesota among the top-five home attendance crowds in the country. 

LOVB athletes also include two-time Olympic medalist Jordan Thompson, from Edina, and Belle Plaine's Mariena Hayden. Though they haven't announced a potential roster, LOVB tends to bring players close to home. 

It's one of the major draws for the league's athletes — for years, top college players would have to compete abroad in order to pursue their professional careers. It's only in recent years that indoor women's professional leagues have launched in the United States, as LOVB faces competition from Athletes Unlimited and Major League Volleyball, which recently merged with the Pro Volleyball Federation.

But LOVB has a very strong USA Volleyball presence, with veteran coaches leading the charge for some teams. Team USA head coach Erik Sullivan also leads LOVB Austin and USA assistant coach Tama Miyashiro, is the head coach of LOVB Salt Lake. Several athletes who had solid LOVB seasons also went on to play for USA's senior team this summer.

International players also have shown interest in playing in the United States. Foreign talent for this upcoming season include Brazil's Ana Carolina da Silva, Japan's Manami Kojima and China's Xiangyu Gong. In all, the league will feature 33 international athletes from 20 countries.

Minnesota is not the only city that will be added to the franchise in 2027: Los Angeles will also launch a team, backed by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian.