Pro Beach Volleyball On The Rise
Professional beach volleyball is more popular than ever, combining sun, buff bodies and athletic skill.
Four of the world's best were on The Early Show plaza Thursday, in town for the first Brooklyn Open, a new stop in the 16-city Association of Volleyball Professionals tour.
Kerri Walsh, Holly McPeak, Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger played a couple of volleys with Dave Price and Hannah Storm.
McPeak told Storm: "We have four women in the millionaire's club for pro beach volleyball. And that's a huge step in the growth of our sport. … We're growing and getting bigger and better every year."
Added Walsh: "The (most recent summer) Olympics were huge. The AVP has been growing for many years, but the Olympics were a catalyst that took us to where we are now. … We are growing, all across the country. There's so many good things about this sport."
Lambert told Price his parents were fine with him going into volleyball for a living.
"They said go for it. We were chasing a dream. We love the sport," he said. "We're at the beach, in the sun, living the California beach lifestyle, and getting paid for it. We just hope we can keep (the sport) growing."
Beach Volleyball has the fastest growing fan-base of any sport in the country, by some measures.
Its expanded 2006 schedule comes on the heels of a successful 2005 season. The AVP tour's growth last season included a 48 percent increase in fan base, according to Scarborough Sports Marketing, and that compares favorably to the growth in other sports properties over the same time period.
As AVP CEO and Commissioner Leonard Armato puts it: "We are 'Baywatch' with real competition at the core. It's got everything — great athletes, beautiful people and great lifestyle."
To watch The Early Show segment,