Manhattan Beach Rejects Admission Fees for Volleyball

Manhattan Beach this week became the second local city to reject a plan to charge admission to its annual beach volleyball tournament.

Promoters of the nationwide volleyball competition had sought to impose an admission fee for court-side seats at all 24 cities on the 1992 tour as a way to increase the professionalism of the sport, better control crowds and boost revenues.

But the Manhattan Beach City Council on Tuesday night unanimously blocked the plan by the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals, agreeing with residents who opposed the idea of charging for a space on the sand.

“It’s the principle of the freedom of the beach and the ocean,” said Mayor Bob Holmes. “They belong to everybody. It rubs a number of people the wrong way to restrict access to the beach.”

The council did, however, agree to work with the volleyball association to come up with rules to prevent fans from bringing high-backed chairs to the event or reserving sand space with a towel early in the morning and then leaving until the tournament begins.

Manhattan Beach joins Hermosa Beach and Honolulu, both of which have nixed the paid-seating plan. Promoters say a majority of the stops on the tour, including Seal Beach and San Diego, have approved the admission charge, though others are still undecided.

After Hermosa Beach’s vote last week, AVP tour director Matt Gage reacted angrily and suggested that the association might pull the tournament out of the city. But organization officials were conciliatory after Manhattan Beach’s vote.

AVP general manager Bob Ogilvie said he is disappointed but respects the city’s decision. He said the group plans to renew its contract with Manhattan Beach, which expires this fall. But Ogilvie added that the organization will be pressuring cities that rejected the ticket plan this year to impose it during the 1993 tour.

“It is very unusual these days to watch professional athletes and not pay an admission charge,” he said. “These are the world’s best beach volleyball players.”

Organizers argue that the sport has changed drastically since the early days in the 1940s and 1950s when it was no more than a pickup game on local beaches. Now broadcast on national television, the tour gives away millions of dollars in prize money and attracts thousands of serious spectators--even in cities without beaches.

Manhattan Beach resident Allen Green disagreed with what he called the “pay-per-view proposal.” An avid volleyball fan whose son is a standout on the Mira Costa High School team, Green told the council that he has “a fundamental disagreement with whoever tells me I can’t use my beach when I want.”