It is cool to be a well-known professional beach volleyball player; however does this mean that those players are actually making money, or are they rather struggling to make a living out of their passion?
In this article, I breakdown exactly how much money beach volleyball players make, how they get paid as well as the kinds of competitions/tournaments that seem to yield the most amount of revenue for them.
How much money do professional beach volleyball players make?
Well this question will be answered accordingly to the statistics of the Bureau of Labor statistics of the US …
According to US statistics the average professional beach volleyball player annually makes between 19.910$ and 187.200$ annually. The average however is around 104.000$. There is also the fact that the average maximum during a professional beach volleyball career is around 2.6 million US $.
There is a difference between Europe and the US. Players in Europe usually play under a contract. Once it is signed, it usually guarantees them regular pay, and in some cases a flat/apartment.
The amount that beach volleyball players make per contract in Europe can vary, and there are no strict values to the amount. But we can assume that they probably make the same amount as their US counterparts.
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How do beach volleyball players make money?
Beach volleyball players mainly make money by just playing games in competitions, under the condition that they win or are in the top 3.
The money that they make from winning in a competition largely depends on the competition itself and its rank, the level of proficiency and the team. If a competition is of lower rank, the prizes will be lower, if the competition is of higher rank, naturally the prizes will be higher.
The second way beach volleyball players make money are sponsorships. Sponsors are a big deal in the sports. There are team sponsors, competition sponsors, league sponsors etc.
Sponsors usually divert some of their profit to sports events and to individual sportsmen. By diverting their money to the various sport, they get a good marketing opportunity, while the players, teams, leagues etc. get a portion of that money.
Players that have sponsors usually have an agreement/contract with the sponsor. The sponsorship usually includes some benefits and a regular pay, and in return the player has some obligations towards the sponsor.
What sand volleyball Competitions provide the most rewards …
There are many beach volleyball competitions out there that are held throughout the entire season. Accordingly to their rank the competitions have different prizes and rewards.
The lower ranking competitions often do not have money prizes or high amounts of rewards, they usually have medals and diplomas. The high ranking competitions however have all kinds of money sums as rewards.
The competition with the highest prize is the FIVB World championships games. The FIVB World championships has a reward of 500.000 US $ per gender, making it a staggering 1 million US $ for the first places, for both genders. One more reward that goes with this is the automatic qualification to the Olympics for the gold medals.
There is also the FIVB men’s nations league with the prize money set again to 1 million US$ for the first place, 500.000 US$ for the second place and 300.000 US $ for the third place. This is just one more example of how much players can make in volleyball.
When it comes to the competitions that can reward players the most, then the FIVB sponsored ones are the best ones. The other competitions are of course rewarding players too, but not as much as the FIVB sponsored competitions.
Do sponsorships help beach players make money?
Yes, sponsorships help beach volleyball players make money. The only thing is that it is often not known publicly how much beach volleyball players make from their contracts with their sponsors.
The sponsor is the one who makes the first contact even with very good players. After the contact is made, the sponsor then proceeds to ask the player and negotiate with the player, or his manager about the price and the terms under which the player will accept the contract.
The third step is to sign a contract with the player. A player-sponsor contract has mutual benefits and responsibilities. The player has certain responsibilities towards the sponsor, while the sponsor has also certain responsibilities towards the player.
The player will usually wear the logo of the sponsor on his shirt, and in some cases on his forearm, like a sticker.
You can learn more about how popular actually is beach volleyball …
Who gets paid more, males or females?
In the previous section we can see that the FIVB sponsored events have the same awards for both males and females. That is the FIVB World championship has a prize of 500.000 US$ for both genders, meaning that 1 million $ is distributed equally.
However we can speak of there are variations when it comes to individual players pay gaps, no matter the gender, that all depends on the sponsors, their ability to win games and competitions, their contract as well as the level of proficiency they are at.
If a player is not on a satisfactory level of proficiency, that is, if he plays low to mid rank games and competitions, he will get paid less, no matter the gender. We can say with confidence that males and females are paid equally.
Do beach volleyball referees make money too?
Yes, beach volleyball referees make money, that is, they have a regular salary, even more regular than the players, because they do not play the game, they do a completely different job.
However, referees tend to have a low average pay in the sports world. The average salary of a referee is around 30.000$ annually. Meaning that the referees make around 2500$ monthly.
The US Bureau of Labor has some official statistics that have various numbers regarding the salary of the referees in beach volleyball. The lowest salary is around 16.310$, the middle number stands around 18.810$ while the median number stands at around 22.000$. That is not much.
However we need to take into account that this is not the case in the FIVB. The FIVB pays the referees daily wages, or we may say that the referees get additional money when attending an event in beach volleyball. The numbers again, vary but, the daily pay oscillates between 80$ and 150$ in the US.
How does this compare with indoor volleyball players?
When it comes to the comparison between indoor and beach volleyball players salaries there are not so many differences as there are similarities. In the US the professional volleyball players salary is looked at annually, while in Europe, the case is the same as in beach volleyball, a contract is signed and the player gets a yearly salary, with some other benefits.
A professional indoor volleyball player in the US has an average annual salary of about 104.000$, as of 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor. Again, the total annual salary of indoor volleyball players is determined by the team’s ability to win.
If the team is winning on tournaments, or if it is going in the top three, there is a chance that the team will get a reward. Do not forget the sponsors and all the other revenues the players get during a professional career.
In Europe, the situation is different. Players that play volleyball professionally will have to sign a contract that usually decides the amount a player will be getting paid monthly. The contract will also establish mutual responsibilities of the player and the team he is playing for.
Players in Europe may also get a paid flat, a car to use and a person/helper to guide them through the city, if the city is not their native city/town. Players in Europe may get paid up to 10.000$ a month.
Final Thoughts …
So as you can see, the payment situation is not that bad. Of course it could of been better, because when we compare that with how much soccer players are making for example, we can see that there is a huge gap …
However, I won’t be surprised if the numbers I’ve just shared here in this article double or even triple in the next few years. Beach volleyball is only getting popular year after year and this should definitely be reflected on the players pay.
Finally, I would love that you check this simple guide on how you can become a professional beach volleyball player …