It was the the beach volleyball event of year. An enthusiastic crowd. One week of world class beach volleyball, sun and party. Probably the best beach volleyball event ever. The 2017 FIVB World Championships in Vienna.
Vienna will host a World Tour Event in August 2018
Last week Austrian Presse Agentur (APA) announced that beach volleyball will be back in Vienna next year! From July 31 to August 5 Vienna will host an FIVB World Tour event. Prior to this year’s World Championships, the City of Klagenfurt used to be Austria’s beach volleyball hub. Due to financial reasons though, the annual Klagenfurt World Tour event will not take place anymore and now it is up to Vienna to fill the spot.
The 2018 World Tour Event will again feature a centre court at Vienna Donauinsel similar to the one this year with around 10.000 seats. Contrary to the World Championships, the World Tour event will not see partcipation of teams from rather exotic countries. This is due to the qualification mode of the FIVB World Tour.
Public funding and a long-term perspective for Vienna
The City of Vienna is going to fund the event with 800.000 Euro in its effort to promote Vienna as a modern, sportive city in harmony with nature. For the World Championships this year financial support was around 1 million Euro. This time activities will not only be limited to the centre court and the “Beach Village” at Donausinsel area but will also be extended to the downtown of Vienna. In case of a successful event in 2018, for the long term Vienna is even considering establishing a permanent beach volleyball stadium.
