The AVP beach volleyball circuit now features team play. But will it be a dream (from Dallas) or chaos (from Miami)?

When Chase Budinger played in the NBA, he had a locker room full of teammates who worked together to win and support each other off the court.

Since he switched to beach volleyball, it has always been just him and one partner.

That’s changing this season on the AVP tour, with a new league format that brings a team concept to the two-person game, and with it a home city, a nickname and all the other features of more traditional team sports.

“It just brings that team atmosphere, that team bond that’s something I’ve missed in my basketball days,” Budinger said in a recent phone interview as he transitioned from the Paris Olympics to the new AVP league.

“It’s something I feel again, when you’re cheering on your teammates and you really have the support of another team,” said Budinger, who played seven years in the NBA before making the Olympics in beach volleyball. “It’s really cool, because it’s something very different from normal beach volleyball.”

Although it has long been the most prestigious beach volleyball circuit in the United States, the AVP has struggled to find a place in the sand as it attempts to bring the sport’s quadrennial Summer Games spotlight to non-Olympic years.

The new format is an attempt to solve some of the problems that may be hindering the sport’s growth, including shorter matches that are more televisable and more predictable matchups to capitalize on the name recognition of its biggest stars.

Most visibly, the AVP league moves away from traditional beach volleyball, where two people traveled and competed on their own, by forming teams of two men and two women and assigning them a city in hopes of encouraging support from their city. native. Teams do not play for tournament titles, but to move up the season standings and reach the season-ending championship in Los Angeles on November 9-10.

“It’s a complete change from what’s been happening for the last few decades,” said Brandie Wilkerson, a Canadian who won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics with Melissa Humana-Paredes; The pair now play for the AVP’s Palm Beach Passion, along with 2008 gold medalist Phil Dalhausser and Avery Drost.

“The team camaraderie is interesting,” Wilkerson said. “I’ve never really had to think about another teammate other than Melissa. It’s been fun and we’re getting into it, we’re getting to know these players better. “We support each other.”

Other teams include San Diego Smash, New York Nitro, Dallas Dream, Austin Aces, Miami Mayhem, LA Launch and Brooklyn Blaze. So far, the league has bounced from Los Angeles, where it played at the UCLA Tennis Center, to Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

“Playing in cities like other professional teams do and having big crowds in the stadiums, what’s not to like about that?” said Olympic gold medalist Alix Klineman, who plays for Miami.

“It takes time. “I don’t think people became Laker fans overnight,” he said. “It was learning to love the organization and the players, and as they got better, more people became fans. Hopefully this format has the staying power that everyone is hoping for, and then I think the fans will come on board.”

The competition heads this weekend to the Honda Center, home of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. While beach volleyball events are often held far from the coast on trucked-in sand, including on the Champ de Mars under the Eiffel Tower at the 2024 Paris Olympics, existing stadiums offer amenities that do not. They are always possible in Manhattan Beach or Copacabana.

“It feels professional,” said April Ross, a three-time Olympic medalist who won gold in 2021 with Klineman in Tokyo. “We have air-conditioned locker rooms and lounges for players. “I really enjoy those places.”

It’s also different on the court, with sets going to 15 (instead of 21). The fast-paced game keeps fans interested and it doesn’t hurt that matches can fit more reliably into a television window. (A traditional beach volleyball match can last anywhere from 30-odd minutes to over an hour, meaning a two-match broadcast would end a two-hour television window just when things are most exciting.)

“It’s definitely a great sprint,” Ross said. “It’s intense, I’ll say that. I think it’s fun to watch and every point matters a lot. “Strategically, it is difficult: if you have a slow start, there is not much room to change your strategy and make a comeback.”

This year’s season was scheduled for the fall, to take advantage of the Olympic momentum; In 2025 it is expected to return to summer. There are three women’s teams from Paris: Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, and Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, in addition to the Canadians. The men’s side features the two American couples from the recent Olympics: Budinger and Miles Evans, and Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, and former Olympians Dalhausser and Brazil’s Alison.

An AVP spokesperson declined to provide attendance figures, except to say they increased each week for the first six events of the season. Players, many of them from Southern California, say they hope the format will help grow beach volleyball as the sport’s birthplace prepares for the return of the Olympics in 2028.

“Los Angeles has a lot of work ahead of it to try to surpass Paris,” Klineman said. “I’m excited for Los Angeles. I believe our city has a lot to offer. But we also have to take a step forward to do something like Paris.”