Association of Volleyball Professionals Beach, California in October 2011. In April 2012, the AVP was bought over by Donald Sun and two tournaments, the Cincinnati Open and the 2012 AVP Championships, were held later that year. The first full AVP season under Sun began in 2013. Facing competition from the NVL, the AVP required players competing on the 2017 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour to sign a four-year exclusivity contract. Since its re-emergence in 2013, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour has once again established itself as the biggest professional beach volleyball tour in the United States, with most of the top American players
Beach volleyball first international beach volleyball exhibition was held in Rio de Janeiro with 5,000 spectators. In 1987, the first international FIVB-sanctioned tournament was played on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, with a prize purse of US$22,000. It was won by Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos. In 1989, the first FIVB-sanctioned international circuit, called the World Series, was organized with men's tournaments in Brazil, Italy and Japan. The FIVB and its continental confederations began organizing worldwide professional tournaments and laid the groundwork for the sport's Olympic debut in 1996. The first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and FIVB Beach Volleyball World