Association of Volleyball Professionals

Last updated

Association of Volleyball Professionals
Association of Volleyball Professionals logo.jpg
Sport Beach volleyball
Founded1983
CEO Al Lau
Country United States
TV partner(s) ESPN+
Bally Live App
Official website avp.com
Sports current event.svg 2020 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour

The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) is the biggest and longest-running professional beach volleyball tour in the United States. [1] Founded in 1983, the AVP is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. [2] The AVP operates as a 3-tiered development system with AVPFirst, a youth program; [3] AVPNext, a developmental circuit; [4] and the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour itself.

Contents

History

1983–1997: Origins and early history

The AVP was formed in 1983 as a players' union. Following a dispute with a private promoter at the 1984 World Championships in Redondo Beach, California, the AVP began organizing its own men's tour in 1984. [5] [6] The 1985 AVP tour included stops in eight U.S. states with a total prize money of US$275,000. The sport experienced significant growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and by 1993, the AVP tour had a total prize money of US$3.7 million with ten events that were broadcast on NBC Sports and attended by over 600,000 people. [5] The AVP began organizing women's events in 1993, competing with the Women's Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA), the main women's tour that began in 1986. [5]

The AVP had conflicts with the sport's international governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), in the 1980s and 1990s over regulations and sponsorship. [6] This culminated in an initial boycott of FIVB Olympic qualification events by the top American players in the lead up to beach volleyball's Olympic debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The boycott ended in mid-1995 after an agreement between both parties was reached. [7]

1998–2010: Bankruptcies and restructuring

A men's match at the 2017 Austin Open AVP Professional Beach Volleyball in Austin, Texas 2017.jpg
A men's match at the 2017 Austin Open

By 1997, sponsors started to withdraw due to the mounting financial problems and mismanagement in the AVP. In 1998, the AVP filed for bankruptcy and new management restructured the AVP from a players union to a for-profit privately owned company. The tour was bought out of bankruptcy the following year by Major League Volleyball and twelve events were held with a total prize money of US$1 million. In 2001, the tour was bought by Leonard Armato and his company Management Plus. The new tour combined the men's and women's professional tours. [5] The tour also adopted the FIVB's smaller court size and rally scoring system, which upset many of the tour's players at the time. [8] [9]

In 2006, Crocs signed on as the title sponsor of the tour, which became known as the AVP Crocs Tour until its suspension in 2010. Other corporate sponsors for the tour included McDonald's, Nautica, Anheuser-Busch, Nature Valley and Xbox. [10] By 2008, the AVP had an annual revenue of nearly US$25 million and were organizing as many as 31 events each year. However, the tour was hit badly by the financial crisis of 2007–2008 which saw it lose sponsors and revenue. [11]

The AVP suspended its operations in August 2010, canceling the five remaining tournaments in the tour calendar [12] [11] and filing for bankruptcy once more. [5] During the AVP's absence, two other domestic professional tours, the National Volleyball League (NVL) [13] and the Jose Cuervo Pro Volleyball Beach Series, [11] were formed.

2011–present: Re-emergence

A women's match at the 2017 Hermosa Beach Open AVP Hermosa Beach Open 2017 (35299992654).jpg
A women's match at the 2017 Hermosa Beach Open

The AVP was bought in December 2010 by DFA PVA II Partners, LLC, and a tournament was held in Huntington Beach, California in October 2011. [11] In April 2012, the AVP was bought by Donald Sun and two tournaments, the Cincinnati Open and the 2012 AVP Championships, were held later that year. [14] The first full AVP season under Sun began in 2013. [12] Facing competition from the NVL, the AVP required players competing on the 2017 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour to sign a four-year exclusivity contract. [15] [16]

Since its re-emergence in 2013, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour has once again established itself as the biggest professional beach volleyball tour in the United States, [1] with most of the top American players competing on the tour. [17] International players are allowed to play on the AVP tour as well if they have dual citizenship or permanent residency in the United States. [18] Notable international players on the tour include Brazil's Ricardo Santos and Canada's Sarah Pavan. [17]

On July 13, 2021, casino operator Bally's Corporation announced that it had acquired the AVP. The tour will leverage Sinclair Broadcast Group's Bally Sports regional sports networks as a distribution channel for AVP events. [19]

Rules

Since the 2017 season, there are two main differences between the AVP rules and standard beach volleyball rules. The first difference is that AVP matches have a "point freeze" at match point, wherein the scoring system changes from rally scoring (either team can score a point on every serve) to side-out scoring (only serving team can score a point) when either team reaches match point. [20] This rule was introduced to allow for more comebacks. [21] The second difference is that "let" serves, wherein the ball touches the net while crossing over into the opponent's court during service, are not allowed during "point freezes" and the serve will be replayed. [20]

Tournament categories

The current tournament structure was introduced in 2017. AVP tournaments are categorized as either a "Gold Series" or "Open" event. Gold Series tournaments award more prize money and AVP national ranking points. For the 2017 Tour, Open events had a prize purse of US$150,000–$158,000 while Gold Series events had a prize purse of US$175,000–$225,000. [22]

AVPNext and AVPFirst

AVPNext was started in 2014 as a developmental circuit, serving as a pipeline for future AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour players. AVPNext tournaments enable players to earn AVP national ranking points which are required for qualification and seeding in the Pro Tour events. The highest-ranked AVPNext teams from each region at the end of the season also receive direct entry into the Manhattan Beach Open. [23] For the 2019 season, the AVPNext Gold events had a prize purse of US$20,000–25,000. [4]

AVPFirst was launched in 2015 as a non-profit youth development program aimed at increasing youth participation in the sport through beach volleyball clinics and events. [24] The inaugural AVPFirst Championships were held in Hermosa Beach, California in 2016 for boys and girls in the under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 age groups. Teams qualified through a series of qualifying events throughout the country. [25]

Television coverage

AVP events are televised on ESPN+ (Stadium Court) and the Bally Live App. Select events air on the linear ESPN networks [26]

AVP Awards

The AVP Awards Banquet [27] takes place at the end of each year, honoring the tour's top performers based on statistics, player votes and AVP national ranking points earned during the year. [28]

Men's award winners

Women's award winners

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beach volleyball</span> Team sport

Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the court. Each team also works in unison to prevent the opposing team from grounding the ball on their side of the court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerri Walsh Jennings</span> American professional beach volleyball player

Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 having won 135 international and domestic tournaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Misty May-Treanor</span> American beach volleyball player (born 1977)

Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor is a retired American professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and as of August 2012, was the most successful female beach volleyball player having won 112 tournaments in domestic and international competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karch Kiraly</span> American volleyball player and coach

Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly is an American volleyball player, coach, and broadcast announcer. He was a central part of the U.S National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He went on to win the gold medal again at the 1996 Olympic Games, the first Olympic competition to feature beach volleyball. He is the only player to have won Olympic medals of any color in both the indoor and beach volleyball categories. He played college volleyball for the UCLA Bruins, where his teams won three national championships under head coach Al Scates. Kiraly is widely regarded as the greatest male volleyball player of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volleyball in the United States</span>

Volleyball is a popular sport in the United States with both male and female participants of all ages. Almost all high schools and colleges in the United States have female volleyball teams, and most regions of the country have developmental programs for girls of all ages as well. While many areas of the country are forming male teams and development programs, there are still fewer opportunities for young male athletes to play volleyball in the United States than for young female athletes. Men's volleyball is a fast-growing sport among high schools, with 36 states having male volleyball programs. Most men's seasons are in the spring while women's seasons take place primarily in the fall; however, there are a few men's teams such as in Wisconsin, Virginia, and New York who play in the fall as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Rogers</span> American beach volleyball player

Todd Jonathan Rogers is an American professional beach volleyball player who is an Olympic and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold medalist. He and his former partner, Phil Dalhausser, were the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 AVP Tour champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Kessy</span> American beach volleyball player

Jennifer "Jen" Anne Kessy is a retired American professional beach volleyball player on the AVP Tour. She currently is the coach of April Ross and Alix Klineman.

José Geraldo Loiola is a former beach volleyball player from Brazil. He won the gold medal at the 1999 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Marseille, France, partnering with Emanuel Rego.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour</span>

The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour was the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The World Tour was introduced 1989 for men and in 1992 for women being held yearly since then until 2021 when it was replaced by the new Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April Ross</span> American beach volleyball player (born 1982)

April Elizabeth Ross is an American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh Jennings, and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics with Alix Klineman. Ross and Kessy were also the 2009 Beach Volleyball World Champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Day</span> American beach volleyball player

Emily Capers is a female beach volleyball player from the United States who won the gold medal at the NORCECA Circuit 2009 in Jamaica playing with Claire Robertson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Ross</span> American beach volleyball player (born 1992)

Summer Ross is an American beach volleyball player. She was the FIVB 2010 Youth Under-19 and Junior Under-21 world champion, the only player to win both titles in the same year and was named 2010 USA Volleyball Beach Female Athlete of the Year. As of 2018, her partner is Sara Hughes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alix Klineman</span> American volleyball player (born 1989)

Alexandra Rose "Alix" Klineman is an American beach volleyball player, 2020 Summer Olympics gold medalist, and former indoor volleyball player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Pavan</span> Canadian volleyball and beach volleyball player

Sarah Lindsey Pavan is a Canadian beach volleyball and former indoor volleyball player. She was part of the Canada women's national volleyball team at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan. With Melissa Humana-Paredes, she won the women's gold medal at the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Hughes</span> American beach volleyball player (born 1995)

Sara Elizabeth Hughes is an American beach volleyball player. With teammate Kelly Cheng she achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in August 2023. Hughes has won six tournaments on the AVP Pro Tour and seven gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour/Pro Beach Tour.

The 2017 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour was a domestic professional beach volleyball circuit organized in the United States by the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) for the 2017 beach volleyball season. The 2017 AVP Tour calendar comprises the "Gold Series" tournaments and "Open" tournaments.

The 2018 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour is a domestic professional beach volleyball circuit organized in the United States by the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) for the 2018 beach volleyball season. The 2018 AVP Tour calendar comprises a joint AVP-FIVB tournament, the "Gold Series" tournaments and the "Open" tournaments.

The 2016 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour was a domestic professional beach volleyball circuit organized in the United States by the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) for the 2016 beach volleyball season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Cheng</span> American beach volleyball player

Kelly Marie Cheng is an American beach volleyball player. She and her partner Sara Hughes won the bronze medal at the 2013 U19 World Championships, the silver medal at the 2014 U21 World Championships, the gold medal at the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Sponcil</span> American beach volleyball player

Sarah Marie Sponcil is an American volleyball player for the Grand Rapids Rise of the Pro Volleyball Federation, best known for her beach volleyball career. Sarah competed for the USA Volleyball Beach National Team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Sarah and partner Kelly Claes tied for 9th in their debut Olympics. At 24 and 25, Sponcil and Claes, respectively, were the youngest beach volleyball team to represent the USA since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1996.

References

  1. 1 2 Golen, Jimmy (May 4, 2017). "Making Waves on the Beach: Walsh Jennings Will Skip AVP Tour". U.S. News & World Report . Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  2. ↑ Connelly, Laylan (May 3, 2017). "AVP beach volleyball is taking over Surf City". Orange County Register .
  3. ↑ "AVP launches AVP First as part of the organization's developmental structure". AVP.com. May 25, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  4. 1 2 "AVPNext Offers 8 Premier Events With $125,000 In Prize Money and 8 Wild Cards To MBO". AVP.com. February 5, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Beach Volleyball History". bvbinfo.com. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  6. 1 2 "The history of beach volleyball". beachmajorseries.com. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  7. ↑ Wise, Aaron N.; Meyer, Bruce S. (May 23, 1997). "The Internationalization of Sports". International Sports Law and Business, Volume 1. Kluwer Law International. p. 680. ISBN   9789041109774.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Kelli (September 3, 2001). "A New Beachhead After years of infighting nearly killed it, beach volleyball is trying a comeback". Sports Illustrated .
  9. ↑ Cody, Kevin (May 31, 2001). "Cover Story - Bragging Rights". Easy Reader . Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ Wong, Glenn (2008). "Volleyball". The Comprehensive Guide to Careers in Sports. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 164. ISBN   978-1449602031.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Holmes, Baxter (April 2, 2012). "Pro beach volleyball league AVP is sold to O.C. businessman". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Heitner, Darren (October 16, 2013). "The Business Of Professional Beach Volleyball Shows Promise As Final Event Of 2013 Approaches". Forbes .
  13. ↑ Sullivan, Jenni Renee (September 24, 2014). "A Tale Of Two Beaches: Pro Volleyball Leagues Have Different Approaches". ESPN . Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  14. ↑ Rykoff, Amanda (August 31, 2012). "AVP beach volleyball tour returns". ESPN . Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  15. ↑ Kaplon, Megan (May 2, 2017). "AVP Player Contract Requires Exclusivity, Four-Year Commitment". FloVolleyball. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  16. ↑ Chan, Ed (April 29, 2017). "Most AVP players acquiesce and sign contract, exclusivity agreement". Volleyballmag.com. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  17. 1 2 Chan, Ed (May 3, 2017). "From international players to a 66-year-old, AVP Huntington qualifier starts Thursday". Volleyballmag.com.
  18. ↑ "FIVB Huntington Beach Open FAQs". AVP.com. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Bally's buys AVP, plans to air content on RSNs". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  20. 1 2 Kaplon, Megan (May 1, 2017). "AVP To Continue Use Of Experimental Rule Changes In 2017". FloVolleyball. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  21. ↑ Kaplon, Megan (June 28, 2016). "AVP to Implement Two Rule Changes in Chicago". FloVolleyball. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Introducing The Gold Series". AVP.com. June 5, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  23. ↑ "AVP expands AVPNext developmental competition series". AVP.com. March 5, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  24. ↑ "AVP launches AVP First as part of the organization's developmental structure". AVP.com. May 25, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  25. ↑ "AVPFirst "thrilled" with turnout, championships". Volleyballmag.com. July 28, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  26. ↑ Hamel, Larry (March 16, 2023). "Dalhausser declares free agency as AVP (now on ESPN) opens in Miami; VW begins in Mexico". Volleyball Mag. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  27. ↑ Chan, Ed (November 9, 2017). "Beach notes: AVP Awards, Serving Up Style, FIVB calendar, visiting the troops". Volleyballmag.com.
  28. ↑ "AVP releases 2015 awards". USA Volleyball . Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Player Awards: AVP Pro Beach Tour". Beach volleyball database. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.