New tournaments to take beach volleyball further than ever before

Lausanne, Switzerland, November 8, 2017 - The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) is increasing opportunities for fans around the world to experience first class beach volleyball by announcing the tournaments set to take place in 2017/2018.  

2017/2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Calendar - Download here.

The announcement was made at the World Tour Council meeting on Tuesday at the FIVB headquarters which ratified the 2017/2018 Beach Volleyball calendar and discussed the further development of the FIVB’s properties around the world.



Speaking at the meeting, FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° said: “We want beach volleyball to be a profitable business for both National Federations and organisers to grow the sport. This meeting was an important event to discuss how to achieve this goal going towards Tokyo 2020.”

Organisers from a large number of countries from the five confederation territories as well as player representatives took part in the annual meeting.

Prize money for the 2017/18 season will be in excess of $7 million, including $800,000 at the World Tour Finals and $600,000 at each of the 5-star Major events in Fort Lauderdale, Croatia, Gstaad and Vienna, up $3.3 million from last year.

Prize money 2017/2018
World Tour Finals is $400,000 per gender
5-star is $300,000 per gender
4-star is $150,000 per gender
3-star is $75,000 per gender
2-star is $25,000 per gender
1-star is $5,000 per gender

The number of events has also more than doubled. Extending opportunities for the teams participating in World Tour events, qualification tournaments will be spread to all events. Modified pool play will also be introduced at all 1-star to 4-star events for the first phase of the Main Draw tournaments.

Increasing opportunities worldwide
New Events Business Director Angelo Squeo said: “The new star system with five different categories of events launched in 2016 is proving to be an excellent idea. A very large number of countries can now seize the opportunity to stage a World Tour event at the level they wish. This is the way to go!

“In the years to come, I foresee a constant growth in the number of events and prize money as well as in the staging of events at iconic locations. This will definitely add more attractiveness to the sport. The decision to announce the 2018/2019 calendar in July 2018 will also provide more opportunities to the World Tour properties in terms of media exposure and will enable organisers and promoters to enhance how they stage and prepare their events.

“The New Events Business department will continue to approach potential stakeholders, meeting them in their respective countries and setting up customized projects and long- term partnerships.”

Since the introduction of ranking tournaments from 1 to 5 stars based on the quality of venue, facilities and technology, more events are being added to the calendar every year, with more tournament organisers expressing interest than ever before. Countries committing to longer agreements have also reflected beach volleyball’s growing popularity around the world.

Competitions ranked 5-star and 4-star are considered the elite events, while those with a lower rating are considered as opportunities to develop the sport around the world, providing more countries with the chance to gain hosting experience and inspire spectators to engage in beach volleyball.