Olympic-caliber volleyball coming to LB?
City Hall says AVP tour may be too big
An Olympic-caliber volleyball tournament may be hitting the sands of Long Beach this summer, but City Hall says that the three-day event may be too big for the city to handle.
Long Beach is one of four East Coast locations — along with Jones Beach, Times Square and Belmar, N.J. — that are being evaluated as potential hosts for a stop on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, tentatively scheduled for June 18-20. AVP is a professional volleyball organization featuring current and former Olympic gold medalists competing in 12 events nationwide, including defending Olympic gold medalists Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser and Misty Trainer and Kerri Walsh. The events are televised on ESPN.
AVP officials will visit Long Beach and the other East Coast locations this week, to determine which is the most viable option for the tour. AVP began getting acquainted with Long Beach when City Council member Mike Fagen, who was sworn into office on Jan. 3, introduced the organization to the city. “Through my relationships in the sports marketing world, we’ve gotten the AVP to consider Long Beach,” said Fagen, a sports marketing consultant.
Fagen said he believes that bringing the tour to Long Beach would be an exciting opportunity for the city and would have a significant economic impact as well. “It would display to investors who would want to invest in this city in any way, shape or form that we are a first-class city,” Fagen said. “It’s the equivalent of New York City hosting the Olympics.”
In a press release it sent to the Herald last week, AVP stated that in comparable new markets, the direct economic impact can be as high as $2 million “and increased in subsequent years due to the in-market equity that will inherently build.”
Other AVP events are held in San Francisco, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Coney Island, and Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach in California. In the latter two locations, which host the organization’s two premier events, three-day attendance often approaches 100,000.
