Who Owns Los Angeles Orbit? Issa Rae and Savannah James’ Volleyball Team

• Los Angeles Orbit is the new name of LOVB Los Angeles, the pro women’s volleyball team that revealed its identity Sept. 25 at Intuit Dome.
• Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian leads the ownership group through his firm, 776; Issa Rae and Savannah James are investors.
• The Orbit debut in January 2027, in the third season of League One Volleyball, with season tickets from $15 a match.

Los Angeles has a new pro team with a famous front row. Los Angeles Orbit, the women’s volleyball club that until last week went by LOVB Los Angeles, unveiled its name on Friday, Sept. 25, at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, with investors Issa Rae and Savannah James there for the reveal.

Rae narrated the team’s launch video. James’ daughter, Zhuri James, makes a cameo in it. Here’s who owns the team, how the league works, who plays for it and how to get tickets.

Who owns Los Angeles Orbit?

Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder, leads the ownership group through 776, the venture firm he founded after Reddit. League One Volleyball announced the deal on Oct. 15, 2025, and the team’s Sept. 25 announcement calls him the Orbit’s owner.

He called the team “the third jewel” in 776’s Los Angeles sports family. The Orbit’s website lists him as controlling owner and founder of Angel City FC, the National Women’s Soccer League club, and of Los Angeles Golf Club, in the TGL, plus a minority owner of Chelsea’s women’s soccer team.

Rae and James are investors. James’ stake was announced on Sept. 17, and the team hasn’t disclosed the size of any owner’s share. LOVB says its ownership structure “unites team and league equity,” so owners are invested in the league’s growth, not only in their own club.

James said her reason is at home. Zhuri, the youngest of her three children with LeBron James, plays volleyball.

“I’m excited to be part of LOVB Los Angeles and to help build something special that girls like Zhuri can aspire to be part of one day.”

Savannah James, in the team’s announcement

Ohanian, who is married to Serena Williams, has been blunt about the goal. Courtside at a LOVB match, in a video the league posted in February, he said any team he starts should become “a billion-dollar franchise.” He credited “the Serena and Venus effect” with showing girls a path to “fame, fortune” in women’s sports.

Why is the team called Orbit?

The name is about gravity, the team says: the pull that forms when people rally around something they love. At the center of that orbit is “her,” the athlete, the fan or the girl in the stands, which gives the club its tagline, “Everything Revolves Around Her.”

The reveal brought out volleyball great Misty May-Treanor, activist Malala Yousafzai, LOVB commissioner Sandra Idehen and five players: Carli Lloyd, Kotoe Inoue, Annie Drews Schumacher, Madi Kingdon Rishel and Kathryn Boden.

Team president Ana Mendy said the club wants women and girls “at the center” of the experience, “not on the sidelines.” The Orbit also named its first founding partner, Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel, which will donate $1,000 to the club’s community work for every ace the team serves at home.

What is LOVB, and when does LA Orbit start playing?

LOVB, pronounced “love,” is League One Volleyball. It was founded in 2020 around youth clubs and says it serves more than 25,000 junior athletes in 28 states. Its pro league served for the first time in January 2025 with six teams: Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison, Nebraska and Salt Lake.

The youth clubs are the business model. In each market, club players train alongside the pros and watch them up close, which the league sells as “an all new path to pro.” In Southern California, that network includes Team Rockstar, SC Rockstar and Tstreet, with more than 900 players.

Season Three starts in January 2027 with 10 teams. Los Angeles was the first of four expansion clubs, along with Miami, Minnesota and San Francisco. The Orbit play home matches at Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ arena in Inglewood. The team hadn’t posted its schedule as of Monday, Sept. 28.

Who plays for LA Orbit?

The coach is Zé Roberto, the Brazilian whom LOVB calls the most decorated coach in volleyball history. He’s the only coach to win Olympic gold with both a men’s team and a women’s team: Brazil’s men in 1992 and its women in 2008 and 2012. He also stays involved with Brazil’s national team.

The team’s website lists 13 players. Four are Olympic medalists or national-team regulars: opposite Annie Drews Schumacher and middle blocker Haleigh Washington won gold with Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics, setter Carli Lloyd won bronze in Rio in 2016, and libero Kotoe Inoue has played for Japan’s national team since 2021.

Five players grew up in Southern California, in Bonsall, Tustin, Cerritos, San Diego and Aliso Viejo, and the roster also includes Ana Malešević of Serbia and Key Alves of Brazil.

How can you get LA Orbit tickets?

For now, through season tickets. They start at $15 per match, and a $50 deposit, applied to the package, holds your place in line. Season members also get a parking pass for $25 per game and preferred pricing on single-match tickets, which aren’t on sale yet.

Depositors picked their seats in person at the team’s free Fan Fest at Intuit Dome on Saturday, Sept. 26. Those who missed it get a virtual seat selection, in deposit order. The top tier is the Lexus Courtside Lounge, with seats on the floor and food and drinks included.

More celebrities in the stands: Brittany Mahomes, co-owner of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current, made headlines at a Chiefs game, and here’s whether Taylor Swift is at the Chiefs game this week. And Rhea Raj is the new face of KISS Drip. More in Trending.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Los Angeles Orbit announcement, “LOVB’s Los Angeles Orbit Announces Team Name at Intuit Dome” (Sept. 25, 2026), with quotes from Alexis Ohanian, Ana Mendy and Kenji Hall; League One Volleyball announcements on the Los Angeles expansion (Oct. 15, 2025), the founding advisory board (July 9, 2026) and Zé Roberto’s hiring (Aug. 12, 2026); the LOVB Los Angeles announcement of Savannah James’ investment (Sept. 17, 2026), via the team’s Instagram; LA Orbit’s website (ownership, roster, season tickets, Select-A-Seat FAQ, checked Sept. 28, 2026); LOVB’s “Courtside VIP” video with Alexis Ohanian and Courtney Thompson (Feb. 19, 2026); Team USA and USA Volleyball (Olympic results). Photos: LA Orbit; Reproduction/Instagram @issarae and @laorbitvb; Reproduction/X @alexisohanian; video stills from LOVB, Question Everything, Everybody’s Crazy and HOORAE Media on YouTube.