New FIVB World Tour calendar 2018 – eleven 4-star events and a shift to Asia
The World Tour calendar for the next season being released by the FIVB last week has some remarkable aspects. Besides twice as many events as before and significantly more prize money, the new FIVB calendar features eleven 4-star events, increased focus on Asia and early announcement of future tour dates.
Eleven 4-star events with $300.000 prize money each
Apart from the five Major Series (5-star) events, the new calendar includes eleven 4-star events with $300.000 prize money each. When announcing the calendar, New Events Business Director Angelo Squeo said:
“In the years to come, I foresee a constant growth in the number of events and prize money as well as in the staging of events at iconic locations. This will definitely add more attractiveness to the sport.”
More than 20 events in 13 Asian countries
Another remarkable fact of the World Tour 2018 is that more than 20 events will be taking place across 13 countries in Asia: Australia, Japan, China, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, Oman, Iran, Qatar and India. Amongst them is a pre-Olympic 4-star event in Tokio (Japan). Tokio will host the Olympic Summer Games in 2020. The above mentioned events are not only at the lower end but also include four 4-star events, besides Tokio namely Doha (Qatar), Xiamen and Yangzhou (both China). This increased focus on Asia underlines FIVB efforts to further push beach volleyball in Asia.
Early announcement of future World Tour calendars
The next calendar for the season 2018/19 will be announced in July 2018 which will disconnect the World Tour dates from the European and American summer. One the one hand, this will provide event organizers with more time to promote their events. Angelo Squeo:
“This decision […] will also provide more opportunities to the World Tour properties in terms of media exposure and will enable organisers and promoters to enhance how they stage and prepare their events.”
On the other hand, it will extend the World Tour season period significantly. This is going to challenge the athletes in their season’s preparation and will result in rather long breaks between major tour events.
Get an overview on the 2018 FIVB beach volleyball calendar with different view, filtering and download options!
Hi Juan,
Just read your page, thanks for the great info and the whole FIVB World Tour calendar sounds very interesting and jammed packed, could you tell me when they are playing in Australia?
Thanks for your comment, Charlie. Checking the calendar, the next event in Australia will take place in Shepparton in February 2018.