When Chase Budinger played in the NBA, he had a locker room full of teammates who worked together to win and supported each other off the court.

Since I switched to beach volleyball it was always just him and one partner.

That’s changing on the AVP tour this season; It’s a new league format that brings a team concept to the two-man game, and with it comes a city, a nickname, and all the other trappings of more traditional team sports.

“He brings the team atmosphere, the team bond, which is something I’ve missed since my basketball days,” Budinger said in a recent phone interview as he transitioned from the Paris Olympics to the AVP’s new league.

“It’s something that I feel like once again, where you’re cheering on your teammates and you’re really behind another team,” said Budinger, who played seven years in the NBA before reaching the Olympics in beach volleyball. “It’s really cool because it’s something very different from regular beach volleyball.”

Although long the most prestigious beach volleyball tour in the United States, the AVP has struggled to find footing in the sand as it tries to maintain the spotlight of the sport’s quadrennial Summer Games in non-Olympic years.

The new format is an attempt to address some of the issues that could hinder the growth of the sport, including shorter matches that are more TV-friendly and more predictable matchups to capitalize on the name recognition of the biggest stars.

Most noticeably, the AVP league departs from traditional beach volleyball, in which pairs travel and compete for themselves, by teaming a male pair with a female pair and assigning them a city in hopes of increasing hometown support. Teams are not playing for the tournament championship, but to move up the season standings and reach the end-of-season championship in Los Angeles on November 9-10.

“This is a complete change of what has been going on for the last few decades,” said Canadian Brandie Wilkerson, who won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics with Melissa Humana-Paredes; The duo currently plays for AVP’s Palm Beach Passion team, working alongside 2008 gold medalist Phil Dalhausser and Avery Drost.

“The team camaraderie is interesting,” Wilkerson said. “I’ve never had to think about another teammate other than Melissa. It’s been a lot of fun and we’re just getting involved, getting to know these players better. We support each other.”

Other teams include San Diego Smash, New York Nitro, Dallas Dream, Austin Aces, Miami Mayhem, LA Launch and Brooklyn Blaze. The league has jumped from Los Angeles to Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, where it now plays at the UCLA Tennis Center.

“Playing in cities and having big crowds in stadiums just like any other professional team does – what’s not to like about that?” said Olympic gold medalist Alix Klineman, who plays in Miami.

“It takes time. “I don’t think people become Laker fans overnight,” he said. “We were learning to love the organization and the players, and as they improved, more people became fans. “I hope this format has the staying power everyone hopes for, and I think the fans will get on board.”

The contest heads to Honda Center, home of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, this weekend. While beach volleyball events are often held far from shore, on trucked sand, including the Champ de Mars beneath the Eiffel Tower at the 2024 Paris Olympics, existing stadiums offer amenities not always possible in Manhattan Beach or Copacabana.

“It feels professional,” said three-time Olympic medalist April Ross, who won gold with Klineman in Tokyo in 2021. “We have air-conditioned locker rooms and player lounges. “I really enjoy these places.”

The situation is different on the field as well, with sets of up to 15 (instead of 21). Fast-paced gameplay keeps fans interested and it doesn’t hurt that matches can fit more reliably into the TV window. (A traditional beach volleyball match can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, meaning a two-game broadcast would clock out from a two-hour TV window right when things are at their most exciting.)

“This is definitely a big sprint,” Ross said. “It’s very intense, I will say that. I think it’s fun to watch and every point is very important. “It’s strategically difficult: If you get off to a slow start, you don’t have much room to change your strategy and make a comeback.”

This year’s season was planned for the fall to build on success at the Olympics; It is expected to return to summer in 2025. There are three women’s teams from Paris: Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, as well as Canadians. The men’s side features American pairs from the last Olympics: Budinger and Miles Evans, Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, and former Olympians such as Dalhausser and Brazil’s Alison.

An AVP spokesman declined to provide attendance figures other than to say it has increased each week for the first six matches of the season. The players, mostly from Southern California, say they hope the format will help beach volleyball grow as it prepares for the Olympics to return in 2028 to the sport’s birthplace.

“Los Angeles has work to do to get to the top of Paris,” Klineman said. “I’m excited for Los Angeles, I think our city has a lot to offer. But we also need to step up our efforts to do something like Paris.”