A Day at the Beach?
August 14th, 2008 - byWhile watching the Olympics this week you see athletes in all sports having the experience of a life time. But what you’re not thinking about is how hard these athletes have to work. Not only do these athletes follow a very difficult and strenuous training regimen but some of them have full time jobs.
A lot of beach volleyball professionals struggle financially in order to continue playing competitively. Some of the more high profile athletes are lucky to acquire sponsorships from different companies like Speedo or XBOX in order to support themselves.
Beach volleyball is a very popular sport all over the world, whether you enjoy playing recreationally, competitively or just watching it in person or on TV. And who can argue that beach volleyball isn’t a fun sport to play or watch? You are on the beach and in the sun! What more could you ask for?!? Although this sport is very popular, it is not considered a high revenue sport.
Today’s Wall Street Journal chronicled how the sport hopes to use the Olympic Games as a launching pad for a brighter future.
Watching the Olympic competition with keen interest are a number of promoters who hope the attention will help them turn beach volleyball into a perennial moneymaker, rather than a novelty hit that comes along every four years. The top U.S. teams of Phil Dalhausser with Todd Rogers and Misty May-Treanor with Kerri Walsh are gold-medal favorites in the men’s and women’s tournaments, which conclude next Wednesday and Thursday.
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. A rarity in the U.S. as a sports league whose shares are publicly traded, AVP Inc. recorded a $4 million loss in 2007, its sixth consecutive unprofitable year.
But optimism remains. “Coming off the Olympics, this is going to be very big year for us,” Leonard Armato, a former sports agent who helped found AVP in 1983 and became chief executive in 2001. “We’re going to get a big boost.”
AVP’s best players now earn several hundred thousand dollars each year in prize money and endorsements, such as a swimsuit endorsement deal with Adidas AG’s Reebok unit for Ms. Johnson Jordan and Ms. Davis. “I never planned to earn any money at this,” Ms. Johnson Jordan said. “I thought I was going to have to get a real job.”
But many AVP players don’t make enough to cover their expenses, which include having to pay for travel and lodging. Mr. Nygaard said some players occasionally sleep on the beach at tour events or under the triangular sponsorship signs that line courtside.
Steve Lindecke, an AVP board member and former top executive with sports conglomerate IMG, said beach volleyball needs to embrace its roots and turn tournaments into festivals with concerts and other attractions. After the competitive glory of the Olympics goes away, pure competition simply isn’t enough.
“It’s a sport that’s built in the sand and on the beach,” Mr. Lindecke said. “You take that and you work with it.”
