Beach Volleyball Major Series

The Beach Volleyball Major Series (or Beach Major Series and formerly the Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series) was an international series of beach volleyball tournaments from 2015 to 2020. The tournaments consisted of Tour Stops and formed part of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The series concluded with the FIVB World Tour Finals.

Beach Volleyball Major Series
Full nameBeach Volleyball Major Series
RegionInternational
Date spanFebruary–September
TournamentsMen & Women
TypeBeach volleyball
CEOHannes Jagerhofer
History
First tour2015
Number of tour stops4 (2015), 5 (2016), 4 (2017), 4 (2018), 2 (2019)
Most tournament wins
Women (team)Brazil Talita/Larissa (5 wins)
Men (team)Norway Mol/Sørum (5 wins)
Present World Tour Final winners
WomenGermany Ludwig/Kozuch
MenRussia Krasilnikov/Stoyanovskiy

Each tournament in the series had a prize pool of US$300,000 per gender, except for the World Tour Finals which had a prize pool of US$400,000 per gender.[1]

History

The Beach Volleyball Major Series arose out of a joint-venture between Austrian companies Red Bull and the ACTS Group.[2]

Red Bull was established in 1987 by Dietrich Mateschitz. Aside from the energy drink, Red Bull's direct marketing focuses heavily on sports and lifestyle.

ACTS Group is a marketing agency founded in 1990 by Hannes Jagerhofer.[3] It offers services including event-marketing, event-organization, external-communication and public relations. The group has also been responsible for the organizing beach volleyball tournaments, including the FIVB Grand Slams in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria.

Swatch was the title sponsor of the Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series between 2015 and 2017.

The Series will not continue because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Relation to the FIVB

The competition was overseen by the FIVB, the international governing body for the sports of indoor, beach and grass volleyball.[4]

In the category of Beach Volleyball, the FIVB oversees three competitions, namely: the FIVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and lastly the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.

The Beach Volleyball Major Series formed part of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.

Olympic qualification

Beach volleyball was formally recognized as an Olympic discipline in 1996. In order for a beach volleyball athlete to participate in the Olympics, minimum requirements must be met and one of these requirements as stipulated by the FIVB is that all athletes must have participated in a minimum of 12 official FIVB Olympic qualification tournaments as an individual.

Also an athlete hoping to participate in the Olympics must earn FIVB World Ranking points which tallies up to make up the Olympic Ranking.

Participation in Major Series tournaments counts towards Olympic qualification tournaments and also earns athletes FIVB World Ranking points. An exception is the FIVB World Tour Finals – participating teams do not earn FIVB World Ranking points for this event.

In 2016, the smart Major Hamburg was the final tournament where Olympic ranking points for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro could be obtained.[5]

Tournaments

2015

The first Beach Volleyball Major Series began in 2015. There were Tour Stops in Poreč, Croatia; Stavanger, Norway and Gstaad, Switzerland. The Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals took place in Fort Lauderdale Florida, United States.

DatesTour StopMajorHost countryMen's winnersWomen's winners
2–7 JunePorečPoreč MajorCroatia CroatiaBrouwer/Meewusen Netherlands[6]Larissa/Talita Brazil[7]
9–12 JuneStavangerStavanger MajorNorway NorwayEvandro/Pedro Solberg Brazil[8]Juliana/Antonelli Brazil[9]
7–12 JulyGstaadGstaad MajorSwitzerland SwitzerlandAlison/Bruno Schmidt Brazil[10]Larissa/Talita Brazil[11]
29-Sept-4 OctFort LauderdaleSwatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour FinalsUnited States United StatesAlison/Bruno Schmidt Brazil[12]Larissa/Talita Brazil[13]

2016

The 2016 Major Series schedule began in Hamburg, Germany, and took in further stops in Croatia, Switzerland and Klagenfurt in Austria. The Series culminated with the Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals in Toronto.

DatesTour StopMajorHost countryMen's winnersWomen's winners
7–12 JuneHamburgsmart Major HamburgGermany GermanyLucena/Dalhausser United States[14][15]Ludwig/Walkenhorst Germany[16][17]
28-Jun-3 JulPorečPoreč MajorCroatia CroatiaAlison/Bruno Schmidt BrazilLaboureur/Sude Germany
5–10 JulyGstaadGstaad MajorSwitzerland SwitzerlandEvandro/Pedro Solberg BrazilLarissa/Talita Brazil
26–31 JulyKlagenfurtA1 Major Klagenfurt/KärntenAustria AustriaSamoilovs/Smedins LatviaLudwig/Walkenhorst Germany
13–18 SeptemberTorontoSwatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour FinalsCanada CanadaAlison/Bruno Schmidt BrazilLudwig/Walkenhorst Germany

2017

The 2017 Major Series schedule was released in October 2016.[18] As part of the FIVB World Tour, the Swatch Major Series did include trips to Poreč and Gstaad. The 2017 tour began in February in Fort Lauderdale, the site of the 2015 World Tour Finals. The 2017 Finals were held in August in Hamburg. The Swatch Major Series was also responsible for the organization of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Vienna in July and August.[19]

DatesTour StopMajorHost countryMen's winnersWomen's winners
7–12 FebruaryFort LauderdaleFort Lauderdale MajorUnited States United StatesAlvaro/Saymon BrazilLarissa/Talita Brazil
27-Jun-2 JulPorečPoreč MajorCroatia CroatiaGuto/Pedro Solberg BrazilPavan/Humana-Paredes Canada
4–9 JulyGstaadGstaad MajorSwitzerland SwitzerlandLucena/Dalhausser United StatesLaboureur/Sude Germany
22–27 AugustHamburgSwatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour FinalsGermany GermanyLucena/Dalhausser United StatesLudwig/Walkenhorst Germany

2018
DatesTour StopMajorHost countryMen's winnersWomen's winners
27 Feb - 4 AprFort LauderdaleFort Lauderdale MajorUnited States United StatesLucena/Dalhausser United StatesSeixas/Alves Brazil
5–10 JulyGstaadGstaad MajorSwitzerland SwitzerlandMol/Sørum NorwayHumana-Paredes/Pavan Canada
31 Jul –5 AugViennaVienna MajorAustria AustriaMol/Sørum NorwayHermannová/Sluková Czech Republic
14–19 AugustHamburgFIVB World Tour FinalsGermany GermanyMol/Sørum NorwayAgatha/Duda Brazil

2019
Dates Tour Stop Major Host country Men's winners Women's winners
9 - 14 July Gstaad Gstaad Major Switzerland Switzerland Mol/Sørum Norway Klineman/Ross United States
31 Jul - 4 Aug Vienna Vienna Major Austria Austria Mol/Sørum Norway Pavan/Melissa Canada

2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all three tournaments as well as the whole Beach Volleyball Major Series have been cancelled .[20] [21]

DatesTour StopMajorHost countryMen's winnersWomen's winners
7–12 JulyGstaadGstaad MajorSwitzerland SwitzerlandCancelledCancelled
12–16 AugustViennaVienna MajorAustria AustriaCancelledCancelled
19–23 AugustHamburgHamburg MajorGermany GermanyCancelledCancelled

Mascot

The Major Series' official mascot was Marnin. Unveiled prior to the 2016 season, Marnin is described as a cross between a kangaroo and a fox.[22] Marnin made his debut courtside on the FIVB Tour at the Hamburg Major.

See also

References
  1. "FIVB Sports Regulations: Beach Volleyball" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Volleyball. November 30, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  2. Beach Majors GmbH (2015-09-17). "Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series | About". Swatch Major Series. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  3. "Event Agentur Wien, Web Agentur Wien, Marketing Agentur Wien". Archived from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  4. "FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2015". www.fivb.org.
  5. "smart Major Hamburg". www.fivb.org.
  6. "Porec MAJOR". www.fivb.org.
  7. "Porec MAJOR". www.fivb.org.
  8. "Stavanger MAJOR". www.fivb.org.
  9. "Stavanger MAJOR". www.fivb.org.
  10. "Gstaad MAJOR". www.fivb.org.
  11. "Gstaad MAJOR". www.fivb.org.
  12. "Ft. Lauderdale Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals". www.fivb.org.
  13. "Ft. Lauderdale Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals". www.fivb.org.
  14. "Dalhausser/Lucena close 2016 Olympic qualification with a gold". Archived from the original on June 24, 2016.
  15. "smart Major Hamburg". www.fivb.org.
  16. beach-volleyball.de. "beach-volleyball.de: Gold für Ludwig/Walkenhorst beim Hamburg Major". www.beach-volleyball.de.
  17. "smart Major Hamburg". www.fivb.org.
  18. "News". www.fivb.com.
  19. "FIVB - Volleyball". www.fivb.org.
  20. "Beachvolleyball: Major auf Wiener Donauinsel abgesagt". 25 March 2020.
  21. ""Aus diesem Grund haben wir auch den Gedanken der Major Series ad acta gelegt..."". www.leadersnet.at (in German). Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  22. "Hi everybody, I'm Marnin!".
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