What To Know About Minnesota’s Newest Pro Sports Team, Minnesota Forge
Minnesota has a brand-new professional sports team that will be playing starting this winter.
As the popularity of women's sports continues to grow rapidly, with leagues like the WNBA in basketball and PWHL in hockey, professional volleyball is the next sport to make a home in Minnesota.
Minnesota's team, the Minnesota Forge, was officially unveiled this week. The name and branding for this team being revealed is the next step toward Minnesota's team competing in Major League Volleyball, a fairly new league that is continuing to grow and expand.
Minnesota has a strong legacy in professional women's sports, with the Frost and Lynx being contending teams with league championships, so the bar is high as this new team gets ready to compete.
Here's everything you need to know before the Minnesota Forge compete this winter.
What is the Minnesota Forge? Isn't there another pro volleyball team too?
While there wasn't a name or any branding announced yet, Minnesotans got news that we'd be getting a professional women's volleyball team in late 2025. Well, actually, two pro volleyball teams.
Major League Volleyball (MLV) shared plans for a team to play at Grand Casino Arena starting in 2027. That then-unnamed team would become the Minnesota Forge.
Around the same timeframe, a different pro women's league called League One Volleyball - LOVB (pronounced LOVE) shared that a Minnesota team would be forming within their league. This team will play at the Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Their inaugural season also gets going this winter.
Between the two competing leagues, MLV's landing Grand Casino Arena as the home for Minnesota's team is a huge leg-up on the competition, giving them a premier pro sports stage to play on.
Where did the name Minnesota Forge come from?
The team unveiled on Wednesday (August 12) that the name, logo, and branding are "created to represent the strength, ambition, and collective spirit of a state ready to help shape the future of women’s professional volleyball."
They explain that the name "Forge" is a reflection of the "process of creating strength through energy, pressure, and purpose."
The logo, colors, and associated team branding "draw from the state’s landscapes, seasons, and natural contrasts, pairing deep and light greens inspired by pine forests and native prairies with Northern Lights purple, Lady Slipper pink, Night Sky, and Snowfall."
What do I need to know about Major League Volleyball?
Major League Volleyball was once known as the Pro Volleyball Federation, which formed in 2024. It started with 6 teams in the league's first year. Since then, what is now known as MLV has grown to 12 teams going into the 2027 season, including the new Minnesota Forge.
The Forge joins three other new teams, including a team in Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Northern California. Of those four new teams, Minnesota is the first to announce a venue and name.
How can I watch Minnesota Forge games?
Aside from attending games in person at Grand Casino Arena, the league's games have been carried over the last couple of years on places like CBS Sports Network, Victory, VICE TV, ION, and streaming on YouTube and Roku Channel.
When does the Minnesota Forge's first season start?
A schedule for the upcoming season has not yet been announced, but the first games of the upcoming season will be in January 2027.
Over the last couple of years, the league's first games have been in the first part of January.
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Gallery Credit: Peter Richman
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