V.League (Japan)

The V.League 1 (Japanese: Vリーグ) is the top-level professional volleyball league for both men and women in Japan. The league started in 1994.

V.League 1

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 V.League Division 1 Men's 2023–24 V.League Division 1 Women's
Sport	Volleyball
Founded	1994; 30 years ago (1994)
No. of teams	Men: 10 Women: 12
Country	Japan
Most recent champion(s)	Men: Suntory Sunbirds Women: NEC Red Rockets (2023–24)
Most titles	Men: Shin Nihon Steel (16) (later; Osaka Blazers Sakai) Women: Hitachi (17)
TV partner(s)	V.TV by Easy sports
Related competitions	V.Challenge League
Official website	vleague.jp

The competitions are organized by the Japan Volleyball League Organization. The league was called V.Premier League before the reform took place in 2018.

History

V.League

In 2016, the Japan Volleyball League Organization, which hosts Premier League, held a press conference in Tokyo and announced plans to create a new league and aim for professionalization. They plan to recruit participating teams by the end of November and aim to start in the fall of 2018.^[1][2]

This project to create a new league was called NEW BORN V.LEAGUE. The new league was named V.League. The new V.League aims to promote the "sports business" of volleyball by realizing a system of "earning through sports and returning the profits to sports" without being bound by conventional concepts. In addition, the V.League aims to further enhance the value of volleyball, push volleyball up to Japan's top arena sports, connect with the world, and become the world's best volleyball league.^[3]

Creation of SV.League

The Japan Volleyball League Organization would create the SV.League as the newest top-flight volleyball organization Japan placing it above the V.League.^[4][5]

For teams that do not wish to join the SV.League, both men's and women's leagues will be unified into one division under the name of V.League. The East-West Conference system will be introduced.^[6]

Clubs (2022–23 season)

The League currently consists of the following member clubs:

Men (10 teams)^[7]

• JTEKT Stings
• Panasonic Panthers
• JT Thunders Hiroshima
• Toray Arrows
• Wolfdogs Nagoya
• Tokyo Great Bears
• Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler
• VC Nagano Tridents
• Suntory Sunbirds
• Sakai Blazers

Women (12 teams)^[8]

• JT Marvelous
• Okayama Seagulls
• Saitama Ageo Medics
• Denso Airybees
• Toyota Auto Body Queenseis
• Toray Arrows
• Hisamitsu Springs
• NEC Red Rockets
• Hitachi Rivale
• Kurobe AquaFairies
• PFU BlueCats
• Victorina Himeji

Previous winners

• 1967–68 to 1993–94: Japan Volleyball League
• 1994–95 to 2005–06: V League
• 2006–07 to 2017–18: V.Premier League
• 2018–19 to present: V.League Division 1

Men

Japan Volleyball League Season Winner 1967–68 Yahata Steel 1968–69 Nihon Koukan 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 Matsushita Denki 1972–73 Nihon Koukan 1973–74 Shin Nihon Steel 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 Nihon Koukan 1978–79 Shin Nihon Steel 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 Fuji Photo Film 1982–83 Shin Nihon Steel 1983–84 Fuji Photo Film 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 Shin Nihon Steel 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 NEC Blue Rockets 1992–93 Fuji Photo Film 1993–94 NEC Blue Rockets

V League Season Winner 1994–95 Suntory Sunbirds 1995–96 NEC Blue Rockets 1996–97 Osaka Blazers Sakai 1997–98 1998–99 NEC Blue Rockets 1999-00 Suntory Sunbirds 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 Toray Arrows 2005–06 Osaka Blazers Sakai

V.Premier League Season Winner 2006–07 Suntory Sunbirds 2007–08 Panasonic Panthers 2008–09 Toray Arrows 2009–10 Panasonic Panthers 2010–11 Osaka Blazers Sakai 2011–12 Panasonic Panthers 2012–13 Osaka Blazers Sakai 2013–14 Panasonic Panthers 2014–15 JT Thunders 2015–16 Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza 2016–17 Toray Arrows 2017–18 Panasonic Panthers

V.League Division 1 Season Winner 2018–19 Panasonic Panthers 2019–20 JTEKT Stings 2020–21 Suntory Sunbirds 2021–22 2022–23 Wolfdogs Nagoya 2023–24 Suntory Sunbirds

SV.League Season Winner 2024–25 TBA

Women

Season Winner 1967–68 Hitachi Musashi 1968–69 Unitika Kaizuka 1969–70 Unitika Kaizuka 1970–71 Unitika Kaizuka 1971–72 Unitika Kaizuka 1972–73 Yashika 1973–74 Hitachi Musashi 1974–75 Hitachi Musashi 1975–76 Hitachi 1976–77 Hitachi 1977–78 Hitachi 1978–79 Kanebo 1979–80 Unitika 1980–81 Unitika 1981–82 Hitachi 1982–83 Hitachi 1983–84 Hitachi 1984–85 Hitachi 1985–86 Hitachi 1986–87 Hitachi 1987–88 NEC 1988–89 Hitachi 1989–90 Ito Yokado 1990–91 Hitachi 1991–92 Hitachi 1992–93 Hitachi 1993–94 Hitachi

Season Winner 1994–95 Daiei 1995–96 Unitika 1996–97 NEC Red Rockets 1997–98 Daiei 1998–99 Toyobo 1999-00 NEC Red Rockets 2000–01 Toyobo 2001–02 Hisamitsu Springs 2002–03 NEC Red Rockets 2003–04 Pioneer Red Wings 2004–05 NEC Red Rockets 2005–06 Pioneer Red Wings 2006–07 Hisamitsu Springs 2007–08 Toray Arrows 2008–09 Toray Arrows 2009–10 Toray Arrows 2010–11 JT Marvelous 2011–12 Toray Arrows 2012–13 Hisamitsu Springs 2013–14 Hisamitsu Springs 2014–15 NEC Red Rockets 2015–16 Hisamitsu Springs 2016–17 NEC Red Rockets 2017–18 Hisamitsu Springs 2018–19 Hisamitsu Springs 2019–20 JT Marvelous 2020–21 JT Marvelous 2021–22 Hisamitsu Springs 2022–23 NEC Red Rockets 2023–24 NEC Red Rockets

Spectators

Records show from the new born V.League Division 1 from Season 2018/19.

Season	Men (Division 1)	Women (Division 1)	Total
2018/2019[9]	174,516 (avg 2,053 per matchday)	185,953 (avg 2,296 per matchday)	360,469
2019/2020[10]	216,564 (avg 2,741 per matchday)	184,081 (avg 2,301 per matchday)	400,645
2020/2021[11]	144,091 (avg 901 per matchday)	61,683 (avg 717 per matchday)	205,774
2021/2022[12]	138,256 (avg 859 per matchday)	109,664 (avg 783 per matchday)	247,920
2022/2023[13]	263,221 (avg 1,431 per matchday)	197,863 (avg 1,192 per matchday)	461,084
2023/2024	402,270 (avg 2,180 per matchday)	133,993 (avg 964 per matchday)	TBA

Registered players

Records show from the new born V.League Division 1 from Season 2018/19.

Season	Men (Division 1)	Women (Division 1)
2018/2019[14]	196	220
2019/2020[15]	203	238
2020/2021[16]	199	248
2021/2022[17]	169	251
2022/2023[18]	190	248
2023/2024[19]	182	235

See also

• Volleyball portal

• V.Challenge League
• Emperor's Cup and Empress' Cup All Japan Volleyball Championship
• Kurowashiki All Japan Volleyball Tournament
• Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship
• Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship
• FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship

References

1. "バレーボールリーグ機構 新リーグとプロ化を構想を発表 - スポニチ Sponichi Annex スポーツ". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-28.
2. "Vリーグを世界のトップリーグへ 「Vリーグの未来構想」について". 一般社団法人日本バレーボールリーグ機構. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
3. "2018/19シーズン 新リーグ名称・ロゴデザイン決定のお知らせ 記者会見を開催！". 一般社団法人日本バレーボールリーグ機構. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
4. 只木信昭 (2023-02-15). "２０２４年発足の新Ｖリーグ構想を説明 ３０年をメドに世界最高峰リーグ目指す／バレー". サンスポ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-24.
5. "【バレー】Vリーグ機構が新リーグ構想を発表。世界最高峰を目指す「S-V.LEAGUE」を新設（バレーボールマガジン）". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-24.
6. "バレーVリーグ再編成「SVリーグ」来年10月発足「世界最高峰のリーグになるチャンスある」 - スポニチ Sponichi Annex スポーツ". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-28.
7. "一般社団法人日本バレーボールリーグ機構".
8. "一般社団法人日本バレーボールリーグ機構".
9. "第 14 期事業報告" (PDF).
10. "第 15 期事業報告" (PDF).
11. "第 16 期事業報告" (PDF).
12. "第 17 期事業報告" (PDF).
13. "第 18 期事業報告" (PDF).
14. "V. League Report Year 2018" (PDF).
15. "V. League Report Year 2019" (PDF).
16. "V. League Report Year 2020" (PDF).
17. "V. League Report Year 2021" (PDF).
18. "V. League Report Year 2022" (PDF).
19. "V. League Report Year 2023" (PDF).

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Japan V.League Division 1. women.volleybox.net (in English)
• NEW BORN V.LEAGUE (in Japanese)