New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS): Top volleyball players from the country will once again get a chance to showcase their skills in front of thousands of fans as the second edition of Prime Volleyball League will begin from February 4, 2023. The Prime Volleyball League 2023 season will be held across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kochi.

All eight franchises -- Calicut Heroes, Kochi Blue Spikers, Ahmedabad Defenders, Hyderabad Black Hawks, Chennai Blitz, Bengaluru Torpedoes, newbies Mumbai Meteors, and defending champions Kolkata Thunderbolts -- will play in a round-robin format.

The top four teams in the league stage will qualify for the semifinals. From there, two teams will contest in the final of the tournament to be played in Kochi. Overall, the season will feature 31 matches as the Mumbai franchise joins the league from 2023 season.

"We are thrilled to announce the dates and venues for the Season 2 of RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23. After the successful completion of Season 1, we are sure that this year's competition is going to be even more thrilling and evenly contested. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the partners, franchises, and players for their support."

"We are grateful that Sony Sports Network has once again shown faith in us and will be our broadcast partner for the second year in running, and we are delighted to join hands with Volleyball World to give our players an opportunity to showcase their talent around the world," said Joy Bhattacharya, CEO, RuPay Prime Volleyball League, in an official release.

The tournament will be broadcasted on Sony Sports Network across Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 3 & Sony Sports Ten 4, and can be livestreamed on SonyLIV. The inaugural season of the league proved to be a huge success, with a cumulative television viewership of 41 million, through English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam commentary.

"After the massive success of the first season, we are glad to be onboard with Rupay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 as the broadcasting partner. We believe that volleyball as a sport is evolving in the country and we are very excited to be a part of driving up this momentum. We are delighted to provide a platform to the top talent participating in this league and are confident that we will exceed all our benchmarks of the last season," said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head - Sports Business, Sony Sports Network.

The commercial arm of the global body of Volleyball (Federation Internationale de Volley Ball, FIVB), Volleyball World has joined hands with the league to come on board as international streaming partner.

The association will ensure that the league reaches to fans of the sport around the world. The second edition of the league will be streamed globally on Volleyball World across all countries (except the Indian subcontinent).

In addition, the inaugural season of Prime Volleyball League managed to reach over 84 million fans across India, along with over 5 million engagements from audiences through various digital platforms.