Women’s Final on NBC This Sunday at 4:30 P.M. ET; Early Round Men’s Match Saturday at 3:30 P.M. ET on NBC

Three-Part Champions Cup Series from Long Beach, Calif., Replaces 2020 AVP Beach Volleyball Season Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Real-Time Results Throughout the Weekend Can Be Accessed Here

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 16, 2020 – The AVP Champions Cup Series, a three-part event replacing the 2020 AVP professional beach volleyball season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, kicks off this weekend in Long Beach, Calif., with two matches on NBC.

NBC broadcasts an early round men’s match at 3:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, July 18, followed on Sunday, July 19, by the women’s final at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Veteran broadcaster and Olympic gold medalist Chris Marlowe calls the action this weekend, joined by beach volleyball Olympian and three-time All-American Kevin Wong (analyst), and Dain Blanton (reporter). Saturday’s coverage will also include three-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor as an analyst.

The Saturday NBC broadcast features Trevor Crabb and Tri Bourne vs. Chase Budinger and Chaim Schalk. The top-ranked duo of 2008 Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhausser and his partner Nick Lucena will also be in action on Saturday.

This weekend’s women’s competition features the top-two teams in the world, Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman and Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes, who faced off in the gold medal match at last year’s world championships and aim to meet in Sunday’s final on NBC.  

Held over three weekends – Monster Hydro Cup July 18-19, Wilson Sporting Goods Cup July 25-26 and Porsche Cup August 1-2 — the AVP Champions Cup Series, presented by Acer, is an eight-team main draw with a 12-team qualification cap. Each event is run separately with a $200,000 purse, plus a $100,000 bonus pool up for grabs for the teams with the top finishes at the end of the series.

The AVP has partnered with Task Force Lab (TFL), a privately-owned full service, concierge COVID-19 testing provider based in Pasadena, Calif. to facilitate the processing of hundreds of PCR swab tests on-site each week in an effort to ensure that the competition site stays free of the novel coronavirus.

–NBC SPORTS–