It’s not hard to see the initial appeal of the Model Beach Volleyball Tournament: working models sweating it out in a friendly but competitive event in Miami Beach. But taking that compelling concept and expanding it into a successful, sponsor-driven event that just wrapped up its seventh year has taken a different kind of team effort.
Model Volleyball co-founder Olivia Ormos recalled attending a similar event, Ocean Drive magazine’s Volleypalooza, as a spectator when she was in high school. The event had folded after the magazine was sold, so Ormos and her partners decided to revive it and give it their own spin. In three weeks, they pulled together the coed volleyball tournament, drawing 1,000 spectators and six sponsors for the debut in 2010. This year’s event, held in February at Lummus Park, counted 15,000 spectators and 30 sponsors.
“The goal then is different from the goal now,” said Ormos, who has her own event production company, OO & Company. “We didn’t know exactly what we were doing. I was 24 years old when we started the event. The mentality was, let’s create something amazing. It wasn’t about money; it was about elevating our business. We’ve put in the legwork and sweat equity on this one. We’ve grown it into an extremely profitable event.”
The event offers free admission, so it relies on sponsorships and concessions for revenue. It tries to provide sponsors quantity through the crowds it draws, as well as quality by the celebrities and influencers who spend time in the V.I.P. hospitality tent. A new sponsor innovation for 2016 was having official uniforms designed by LaBellaMafia instead of the team T-shirts from past years. Each team had its own color and its agency’s name on the back of either the sports bras or shorts. Also new for 2016 was a partnership with Snapchat that saw the event featured in a three-minute story in the social media channel's Live section.
Another key to the event’s growth has been celebrities and entertainment. Joe Jonas performed at this year’s event with his band DNCE, the first time an entertainer had been scheduled and promoted specifically for the tournament. Actor Jamie Foxx has also attended, and gave impromptu performances in 2013 and 2014.
Ormos said she believes it’s time to expand beyond Miami Beach. This summer, producers are looking to host a pop-up version of the tournament in the Hamptons, and in 2017 they plan to host tournaments in both Miami Beach and Los Angeles. “We feel that the event is in a great place where it has legs and can grow and become a tour,” Ormos said.
Correction: The dates of Jamie Foxx's attendance have been updated.
