Hermosa Beach Open Takes Center Stage

The Manhattan Beach Open historically has been considered the crown jewel of the AVP Nissan Series, but a schedule quirk caused by next month’s Olympics has made the Hermosa Beach Open this year’s marquee event.

For the first time since the Austin Open in early May, all of the top players and teams will be present. NBC will broadcast the men’s and women’s finals live for the first time and the total purse for the event is $175,000 -- $50,000 more than Manhattan.

“For this year’s tour, this is the flagship event,” said Leonard Armato, the AVP commissioner. “As far as TV coverage, prize money and depth, this is it.”

Manhattan probably will take back its crown next year, but Hermosa is “the chosen event” because it is the final AVP event before the Olympics. All eight Olympians are scheduled to play, a rarity for most of this season because many had scrambled to accumulate points in overseas Olympic qualifying tournaments.

That means that this is the last chance to catch Misty May, Kerri Walsh, Holly McPeak, Elaine Youngs, Stein Metzger, Dax Holdren, Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard before they begin their quests for gold.

“It’s going to be pretty exciting,” Walsh said. “Everybody is going to be there duking it out.”

Two weeks ago, NBC televised only the women’s final in the Belmar event, a final that did not include May and Walsh, the top-ranked team in the world, because May was recuperating from an injury. Still, the ratings were up 27% over a similar telecast in a similar time slot with the same lead-in -- a NASCAR race -- last year.

The pace of the game and natural breaks in play make beach volleyball ideal for television, and athletes who play in bathing suits certainly don’t hurt its appeal for viewers.

It also helps the AVP that NBC has a partnership stake in the tour and thus a vested interest in televising the events, which could explain why beach volleyball will be among NBC’s top priorities at the Olympics.

NBC will show matches every day from Aug. 14 through the medal matches on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25.

Some will be carried on MSNBC, but the majority will be on the network, including eight days during the prime time slot. Of the 12 days, nine feature live coverage.

“There will be plenty of coverage,” said Kathy Connors, manager of communications for NBC Sports. “Beach volleyball was a terrific success in Sydney and will again be a featured attraction in Athens.”

Karch Kiraly, who will be the color commentator for NBC during the Olympics, said he had been assigned about five or six matches a day for the first six days. The elimination rounds begin after that.

“They’re planning to keep us busy,” Kiraly said. “People will get to see almost half of the beach volleyball in this country, which is great.”

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Beach Volleyball

* What: Hermosa Beach Open.

* Where: Hermosa Beach Pier.

* When: Today-Sunday, main draw. Women’s final is Saturday, 1:30 p.m.; men’s final is Sunday, 1:30 p.m.

* 2003 men’s champions: Scott Ayakatubby and Brian Lewis.

* 2003 women’s champions: Misty May and Kerri Walsh.

* TV: Both finals will be carried live on Channel 4.