The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) is the biggest and longest-running professional beach volleyball tour in the United States. Founded in 1983, the AVP is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The AVP operates as a 3-tiered development system with AVPFirst, a youth program; AVPNext, a developmental circuit; and the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour itself.
History 19831997: 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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
19982010: Bankruptcies and restructuring
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. 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.
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. 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 2008 financial crisis which saw it lose sponsors and revenue.
The AVP suspended its operations in August 2010, canceling the five remaining tournaments in the tour calendar and filing for bankruptcy once more. During the AVP's absence, two other domestic professional tours, the National Volleyball League (NVL) and the Jose Cuervo Pro Volleyball Beach Series, were formed.
2011present: Re-emergence
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. 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. The first full AVP season under Sun began in 2013. 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.
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, with most of the top American players competing on the tour. International players are allowed to play on the AVP tour as well if they have dual citizenship or permanent residency in the United States. Notable international players on the tour include Brazil's Ricardo Santos and Canada's Sarah Pavan.
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.
In the fall of 2024, following a growth-capital and strategic investment from Next Generation Sports led by Heath Freeman, the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) launched the AVP League, a new city-based competition format featuring eight franchises, each composed of one men’s and one women’s pair. Teams competed during a regular season for a combined League Cup title and concluded with separate League Championships events. The league’s matches were broadcast nationally on The CW Network and CBS Sports Network.
The 2025 season marked the league’s second year under this format. While the structure represented a significant change for professional beach volleyball in the United States, its long-term viability has been debated. Volleyball journalist Larry Hamel described the venture as a “flawed league concept,” noting that despite strong athletes and national exposure, the sustainability of the AVP’s city-franchise model remains uncertain. (Hamel, All Volleyball, 2025)
Bally’s Corporation had previously acquired the AVP in 2021. The subsequent investment by Next Generation Sports positioned the new ownership group as key to revitalizing the AVP brand by the introduction of the league.
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. This rule was introduced to allow for more comebacks. 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.
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.
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. For the 2019 season, the AVPNext Gold events had a prize purse of US$20,000–25,000.
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. 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.
Television coverage As of 2025, television coverage is shared between CBS Sports and CW Sports. The CW airs all Saturday events in primetime along with the Manhattan Beach Open. CBS Sports Network airs all other events, except for the AVP League Championship finals which airs on CBS.
AVP Awards The AVP Awards Banquet 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. Players submit names for each award category, except for Rookie of the Year.Schuerman, Kim (December 15, 2022). 2022 End of Year Award Winners. AVP.
Men's award winners
Most Valuable PlayerTourPlayer2002Eric Fonoimoana2003Jeff Nygaard2004Mike Lambert2005Jake Gibb2006Todd Rogers2007Phil Dalhausser2008Phil Dalhausser2009Phil Dalhausser2013Jake Gibb2014Jake Gibb2015John Mayer20162017Phil Dalhausser2018Taylor Crabb2019Taylor Crabb202020212022Tri Bourne2023Andy Benesh2024Miles Partain2025Trevor Crabb
Rookie of the YearTourPlayer2002Mike Lambert2003Matt Fuerbringer2004George Roumain2005Hans Stolfus2006Brad Keenan2007Bill Strickland2008Pedro Brazao2009Jonathan Acosta20132014201520162017Eric Zaun2018Chase Budinger2019Miles Partain202020212022Taylor Sander2023DJ Klasnic20242025
Team of the YearTourTeam20022003Jeff Nygaard / Dain Blanton2004Karch Kiraly / Mike Lambert2005Jake Gibb / Stein Metzger2006Stein Metzger / Mike Lambert2007Phil Dalhausser / Todd Rogers2008Phil Dalhausser / Todd Rogers2009Phil Dalhausser / Todd Rogers2013Casey Patterson / Jake Gibb2014Casey Patterson / Jake Gibb2015Tri Bourne / John Hyden2016Casey Patterson / Jake Gibb2017Phil Dalhausser / Nick Lucena2018Jake Gibb / Taylor Crabb2019Jake Gibb / Taylor Crabb202020212022 Tri Bourne / Trevor Crabb2023 Andy Benesh / Miles PartainMewhirter, Travis (October 29, 2023). 2023 VolleyballMag Men’s AVP Awards: Miles Partain, Andy Benesh steal the show. Volleyball Mag. 20242025
Best BlockerTourPlayer2002Mike Whitmarsh200320042005200620072008Phil Dalhausser2009Phil Dalhausser2013Theo Brunner2014Theo Brunner2015Phil Dalhausser2016Phil Dalhausser2017Phil Dalhausser2018Phil Dalhausser2019Phil Dalhausser202020212022Theo Brunner2023Andy Benesh2024Andy Benesh2025Phil Dalhausser
Best ServerTourPlayer2002Sean Rosenthal20032004200520062007200820092013Andrei Belov2014Brad Keenan2015Robbie Page2016Jeremy Casebeer2017Phil Dalhausser2018Jeremy Casebeer2019Jeremy Casebeer202020212022Taylor Sander2023Paul Lotman2024Taylor Sander2025Hagen Smith
Best DefenderTourPlayer2002Karch Kiraly2003Casey Jennings2004Todd Rogers2005Todd Rogers2006Todd Rogers2007Todd Rogers, Sean Rosenthal2008Nick Lucena, Todd Rogers2009John Hyden2013John Hyden2014Nick Lucena2015John Mayer2016Taylor Crabb2017Taylor Crabb2018Taylor Crabb2019Taylor Crabb202020212022Taylor Crabb2023Taylor Crabb2024Miles Partain2025Taylor Crabb
Best Offensive PlayerTourPlayer2002Mike Lambert2003Dain Blanton2004Mike Lambert2005Phil Dalhausser2006Phil Dalhausser2007Phil Dalhausser2008Phil Dalhausser2009Phil Dalhausser2013Casey Patterson2014Tri Bourne2015Ryan Doherty2016Phil Dalhausser2017Phil Dalhausser2018Phil Dalhausser2019Phil Dalhausser202020212022Miles Partain2023Miles Partain20242025
Most Improved PlayerTourPlayer2002Casey Jennings2003Casey Jennings2004Jake Gibb2005Sean Scott2006Phil Dalhausser2007Brad Keenan2008Nick Lucena2009John Mayer2013Tri Bourne2014Jeremy Casebeer2015Billy Kolinske20162017Stafford Slick2018Ed Ratledge2019Chase Budinger202020212022Miles Partain2023Cody Caldwell20242025
Newcomer of the YearTourPlayer200220032004200520062007200820092013Tri Bourne2014Trevor Crabb2015Taylor Crabb2016Chase Frishman2017Ricardo Santos20182019David Lee202020212022202320242025
Coach of the YearTourCoach2023Mike Placek
Most UnderratedTourPlayer2023Trevor Crabb
Sinjin Smith Man of the YearTourPlayer2023Adam Roberts
Women's award winners
Best BlockerTourPlayer2002Elaine Youngs200320042005200620072008Kerri Walsh Jennings2009Lisa Fitzgerald2013Jennifer Fopma2014Lauren Fendrick2015Jenny Kropp2016Lauren Fendrick2017Lauren Fendrick2018Alix Klineman2019Alix Klineman202020212022Brandie Wilkerson2023Brandie Wilkerson2024Brandie Wilkerson2025Brandie Wilkerson
Best ServerTourPlayer2002Annett Davis20032004200520062007200820092013April Ross2014April Ross2015April Ross2016April Ross2017April Ross2018Geena Urango2019Betsi Flint202020212022Betsi Flint2023Betsi Flint2024Toni Rodriguez2025Megan Kraft