Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series | |
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Full name | Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series |
Region | International |
Date span | February–September |
Tournaments | Men & Women |
Type | Beach volleyball |
CEO | Hannes Jagerhofer |
History | |
First tour | 2015 |
Number of tour stops | 4 (2015), 5 (2016), 4 (2017) |
Most tournament wins | |
Women (team) |
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Men (team) |
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Present World Tour Final winners | |
Women |
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Men |
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The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series (or Swatch Major Series) is an international series of beach volleyball tournaments which began in 2015. The tournaments consist of Tour Stops and form part of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The series concludes with the Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals.
The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series arose out of a joint-venture between Austrian companies Red Bull and the ACTS Group.
Red Bull was established in 1987 by Dietrich Mateschitz. Aside from the energy drink, Red Bull’s direct marketing focuses heavily on sports and lifestyle.
ACTS Group is a marketing agency founded in 1990 by Hannes Jagerhofer. It offers services including event-marketing, event-organization, external-communication and public relations. The group has also been responsible for the organizing beach volleyball tournaments, including the FIVB Grand Slams in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria.
Swatch is the title sponsor of the Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series.
The Series will continue for a third year in 2017 with three Major stops and one World Tour Finals tournament in September.
The competition is overseen by the FIVB, the international governing body for the sports of indoor, beach and grass volleyball.
In the category of Beach Volleyball, the FIVB oversees three competitions, namely: the FIVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and lastly the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.
The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series forms part of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
Beach volleyball was formally recognized as an Olympic discipline in 1996. In order for a beach volleyball athlete to participate in the Olympics, minimum requirements must be met and one of these requirements as stipulated by the FIVB is that all athletes must have participated in a minimum of 12 official FIVB Olympic qualification tournaments as an individual.