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Some of the best beach volleyball players in the sport will descend upon South Florida to compete this weekend. But they won’t be playing anywhere near the beach.
In fact, they will be playing inside a converted film studio.
This one-of-a-kind setup will be the scene inside Medley’s Wayfair Arena this weekend as the Association of Volleyball Professionals returns to South Florida for Week 3 of the 2025 season. The two-day event near Miami begins Friday.
“An indoor stadium — under the lights and out of the sun — makes it feel more like you’re a professional athlete,” said Taylor Sander, a two-time Olympian with the US men’s indoor volleyball team, before he switched to beach volleyball. “Almost feels like you’re playing in the NBA.”
For years, the venue was used as a production house for movies and television. That was until December, when Unrivaled — the startup 3-on-3 women’s basketball league — acquired the property, sold the naming rights and transformed it into a state-of-the-art, 850-person capacity arena.
By the league’s inaugural tipoff in January, the arena was outfitted with massive video boards, a JumboTron hanging overhead, practice courts, recovery areas, a full content studio and lighting.
So how might this LED-lit, 850-person capacity basketball arena get turned into a site suitable for beach volleyball?
The answer is actually quite simple: hauling in over 300 tons of sand.
After trucking in enough sand to completely cover the hardwood basketball court at least 18 inches deep, the floor will be pounded down to create a safe playing surface, while a net and referee stands will be erected to create a regulation-size beach volleyball court.
Coupled with all of the bells and whistles already inside Wayfair, it makes for a unique, immersive setting that you won’t find anywhere else in the sport.
“The AVP has been doing this now for a while, so they’ve got it down to a science,” Sander said. “They do a great job of giving us a great place to put on a show and make it nice for the fans.”
Sander, who competes for the AVP’s Miami Mayhem, also said that an indoor venue creates a louder, more raucous environment than a traditional outdoor setting.
“It just feels more loud,” Sander added. “You can actually hear the fans.”
The AVP’s executive chairman is Heath Freeman, president of Alden Global Capital, an investment firm that owns the Sun Sentinel.
An indoor venue has other differences, too.
“The biggest difference is the weather,” said Taylor Crabb, a 14-time AVP winner. “Outdoors we have the wind, sun, rain, whatever the weather is. Indoors is very controlled.”
Moving indoors, as Crabb explained, takes the natural elements — which normally would have a considerable effect on a match’s outcome — completely out of the equation.
Sure, it is nice being able to escape the South Florida heat radiating off the sand. However, the most notable of changes, players said, is the elimination of a “good” and “bad” side of the court created by the wind.
“The good side is when the wind is in your face, coming at you, because you can hit the ball harder into the wind and it will drop faster,” Crabb explained. “The bad side is the wind at your back. The wind will take the ball further, and maybe out of bounds.”
The event begins at 6 p.m. Friday when the Palm Beach Passion take on the New York Nitro.
Continue reading...
In fact, they will be playing inside a converted film studio.
This one-of-a-kind setup will be the scene inside Medley’s Wayfair Arena this weekend as the Association of Volleyball Professionals returns to South Florida for Week 3 of the 2025 season. The two-day event near Miami begins Friday.
“An indoor stadium — under the lights and out of the sun — makes it feel more like you’re a professional athlete,” said Taylor Sander, a two-time Olympian with the US men’s indoor volleyball team, before he switched to beach volleyball. “Almost feels like you’re playing in the NBA.”
For years, the venue was used as a production house for movies and television. That was until December, when Unrivaled — the startup 3-on-3 women’s basketball league — acquired the property, sold the naming rights and transformed it into a state-of-the-art, 850-person capacity arena.
By the league’s inaugural tipoff in January, the arena was outfitted with massive video boards, a JumboTron hanging overhead, practice courts, recovery areas, a full content studio and lighting.
So how might this LED-lit, 850-person capacity basketball arena get turned into a site suitable for beach volleyball?
The answer is actually quite simple: hauling in over 300 tons of sand.
After trucking in enough sand to completely cover the hardwood basketball court at least 18 inches deep, the floor will be pounded down to create a safe playing surface, while a net and referee stands will be erected to create a regulation-size beach volleyball court.
Coupled with all of the bells and whistles already inside Wayfair, it makes for a unique, immersive setting that you won’t find anywhere else in the sport.
“The AVP has been doing this now for a while, so they’ve got it down to a science,” Sander said. “They do a great job of giving us a great place to put on a show and make it nice for the fans.”
Sander, who competes for the AVP’s Miami Mayhem, also said that an indoor venue creates a louder, more raucous environment than a traditional outdoor setting.
“It just feels more loud,” Sander added. “You can actually hear the fans.”
The AVP’s executive chairman is Heath Freeman, president of Alden Global Capital, an investment firm that owns the Sun Sentinel.
An indoor venue has other differences, too.
“The biggest difference is the weather,” said Taylor Crabb, a 14-time AVP winner. “Outdoors we have the wind, sun, rain, whatever the weather is. Indoors is very controlled.”
Moving indoors, as Crabb explained, takes the natural elements — which normally would have a considerable effect on a match’s outcome — completely out of the equation.
Sure, it is nice being able to escape the South Florida heat radiating off the sand. However, the most notable of changes, players said, is the elimination of a “good” and “bad” side of the court created by the wind.
“The good side is when the wind is in your face, coming at you, because you can hit the ball harder into the wind and it will drop faster,” Crabb explained. “The bad side is the wind at your back. The wind will take the ball further, and maybe out of bounds.”
The event begins at 6 p.m. Friday when the Palm Beach Passion take on the New York Nitro.
Continue reading...
