Excerpted from WSJ, “Beach Volleyball’s Moment”, August 14, 2008
The sport, with its beach-party atmosphere featuring impeccably cut and tanned athletes competing in skimpy bathing suits, is seen as having huge entertainment potential, which is why NBC is featuring it live in prime time throughout the Summer Games.
A number of promoters … hope the attention will help them turn beach volleyball into a perennial moneymaker, rather than a novelty hit that comes along every four years.
Despite the millions tuning into the myriad attractions of beach volleyball during the Games, the Association of Volleyball Professionals Inc., which operates games around the U.S. under the banner of the AVP Crocs Tour, is struggling to become profitable.
NBA Commissioner David Stern sees promise in professional volleyball. “You’ve got a good game, a young demographic, a great setting,” he says. “It’s got a lot going for it.”
AVP’s organizers saw opportunity in a game that traces its roots to a popular sun-splashed lifestyle. Moving from city to city, the AVP Crocs Tour is a roving, three-day beach party, with music, food and fun centered around a traveling 5,000-seat stadium.
AVP’s best players now earn several hundred thousand dollars each year in prize money and endorsements, such as swimsuit endorsements … But many AVP players don’t make enough to cover their expenses …. some players occasionally sleep on the beach at tour events.
“I never planned to earn any money at this,” said one competitor. “I thought I was going to have to get a real job.”
For full article (with pictures):
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121867765133039329.html
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Why not? A beach volleyball channel ?
Oh, I guess NBC has that locked up already …
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