VNL Finals head to Ningbo, Łódź

Volleyball World has announced that the Chinese city of Ningbo and Polish city of Łódź will host its Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Finals this year.

Volleyball World, the partnership between the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners designed to drive growth, innovation, and investment in volleyball globally, said the 2025 VNL Finals will be held for the men at the Ningbo Beilun Sports and Arts Center from July 30 to August 3, and for the women at Atlas Arena from July 23-27.

The women’s event, which was last year staged at Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok, Thailand, heads to Poland with the country having been home to the men’s Finals for the past two years. Atlas Arena played host last year, with Ergo Arena in Gdańsk staging in 2023.

The VNL launched in 2018 as an annual international men’s and women’s competition organised by Volleyball World. It is due to expand to 18 teams per gender as of 2025.

Volleyball World said the selection of Łódź as the host city for the women’s finals is a testament to Poland’s history as a powerhouse in international volleyball, along with its proven ability in hosting major volleyball events.

In what was a record breaking VNL 2024 globally, which witnessed a 13% growth in attendance from 2023, a cumulative audience of 46 million in Poland tuned in to catch the action, with 409 hours of live broadcast on the Polsat network. The Women’s VNL match between Poland and Germany was the second highest sports programme on the channel for 2024.

Having hosted two stops of the Women’s VNL last year, Volleyball World said China saw a cumulative audience of 268 million with 168 hours of live broadcast on state broadcaster CCTV.

Moreover, the VNL was said to have been the second highest sports broadcast in China for 2024, with peak viewership reaching 23.6 million. Ningbo has previously played host to continental competitions and qualifying rounds for the 2024 Olympic Games.