The AVP – Association of Volleyball Professionals was the premier beach volleyball tour in the United States between 1983 and 2010. Its greatest heights were achieved in the early to mid 90′s with record numbers of tournaments, record purses in prize money and national television exposure.
The AVP ran into tremendous financial and legal issues and collapsed in 1997. This just one year after AVP teams took men’s Olympic gold and silver in the first ever Olympic beach volleyball event.
The AVP struggled and rebuilt itself over the next 10 years and again became almost as popular as it had in the early 90′s. However history would repeat itself as the AVP again collapsed due to tremendous financial problems in 2010. This just 2 years after AVP teams took Olympic gold in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
