AVP lands two national TV deals!
All League games to air on traditional outlets with finals and Central Park date broadcast on legacy CBS; 'AVP Saturday Nights' series comes to prime time on The CW
American beach volleyball will put itself in front of mainstream sports fans consistently in 2025 after the AVP swung deals with CBS Sports and The CW to televise all of its League series and the prestigious Manhattan Beach Open.
The landmark agreement was announced by the AVP on Wednesday. AVP Commissioner Robert Corvino called it a “game-changer” and it is all of that for the sport. Such TV coverage has the potential to breathe new life into domestic beach volleyball, which has languished in the backwater of lower-tier cable or has streamed to a few thousand fans on YouTube or a few hundred on an app for the last few years.
Additionally, the AVP will hold its League dates for the New York stop in Central Park (July 19-20), with over-the-air legacy network CBS broadcasting the games on Sunday, July 20. CBS also will air the finals of the AVP League from Chicago on August 31, a Sunday.
A schedule distributed by the AVP shows that all eight of its regular-season League weekends will televised on the over-the-air CW network, branded as “AVP Saturday Nights,” creating consistent prime-time exposure for the series from late May through early August.
“Beach volleyball is one of the most electrifying sports in the world — now, with The CW and CBS Sports, we’re giving it the prime-time spotlight it deserves,” Corvino stated in a release. “This isn’t just a win for AVP. It’s a game-changer for professional beach volleyball itself. Fans are about to experience beach volleyball like never before.”
This aggressive TV package represents the first real chance for the AVP to expand its steadily shrinking audience in decades. All putting the vast majority of its events on the free YouTube channel or streaming them on the Bally Live app did was give convenient access to its tiny base of die-hards.
When the finals of the Manhattan Beach Open aired on the Ion channel last year in a one-off, it had a total-average viewership of 299,000. The title matches of the 2024 Chicago Heritage Series event were watched by 215,000 on The CW, again in a one-off, even though some local affiliates chose to show alternate programming.
With the League dates airing regularly in prime time, the AVP and The CW have a realistic expectation of ratcheting up that audience, while providing the sport much-needed availability to casual fans. With greater visibility, the AVP vastly upped its odds of landing better sponsors.
The dates on CBS give an even greater chance to pop a rating. The PVF All-Star Match that was telecast recently on CBS averaged 414,000 viewers with a peak of 445,000.
CBS Sports Network, a third-tier cable channel, will cover seven of the eight two-day League weekends, showing the games not aired on The CW. The finals from the Manhattan Beach Open will air on The CW, which also will televise the first day of the League Championships. The graphic at the top of the story contains all of the TV dates.
No mention was made about the season-opening Heritage Series event at Huntington Beach, California, on May 10 and 11, one of only two traditional bracket-style tournaments at the top level scheduled by the AVP.
That competition and two earlier single-elimination no-prize-money tourneys on Huntington Beach in April will determine the pairs who will play in the AVP League, other than those who gain automatic entry as postseason League participants last fall or receive wild cards from the AVP. Although the AVP has not announced it, the Huntington Beach event might be held in a single-elimination format.
The new ownership group of the AVP has opted to transition beach away from its traditional tournaments with the team-sports-oriented League, a controversial move that has not been widely embraced by its existing fans. However, regardless of the competitive format, cultivating a wider audience must be done if the AVP ever is to become financially viable.
This TV package is an expensive and, frankly, risky venture. Since the AVP emerged from its second bankruptcy in 2012, the owners were more concerned with not losing more money — “maintenance” rather than growth — and have been (rightfully) criticized for doing things on the cheap. The new owners at least have been willing to invest in their vision of the product.
It's a numbers game, pure and simple. If the AVP can generate strong-enough TV ratings from the mostly older audience that watches TV (not kids), then it is at least in the hunt to obtain media rights from TV partners, rather than likely paying to be on TV. There are no guarantees, but that's almost certainly why the investment is being made.
In an email sent out to AVP athletes, Corvino emphasized the importance of reversing the cycle of dwindling fan support.
“These partnerships are game-changing, bringing more exposure to our sport and creating new opportunities for athletes, fans, and the entire AVP community,” Corvino wrote. “With increased national coverage, we’re taking professional beach volleyball to the next level, growing our audience, and elevating our athletes to national recognition.”
A little help …
Larry Hamel’s All Volleyball! is just getting started. so I ask for your assistance in building its readership base. Please forward this email to your volleyball friends who might find the page of interest and/or share this post to your social-media platforms. Also, your financial aid would be greatly appreciated. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. All Volleyball! is independent third-party journalism bringing you stories you can read. Thanks for your support!
