Volleyball World Grand Prix

[Coyote]

Omaha picked to host volleyball World Grand Prix final

The Omaha Sports Commission on Thursday announced that Omaha has been selected to host the FIVB World Grand Prix final round, bringing Team USA and five other countries to the CenturyLink Center for five games in five days.

The July 22 to 26 event will be the first World Grand Prix event held in the United States, and come about a year before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

[nebugeater]

Omaha picked to host volleyball World Grand Prix final

The Omaha Sports Commission on Thursday announced that Omaha has been selected to host the FIVB World Grand Prix final round, bringing Team USA and five other countries to the CenturyLink Center for five games in five days.

The July 22 to 26 event will be the first World Grand Prix event held in the United States, and come about a year before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Looks to be a BIG GET once you read teh details.

[Omaha1000]

For volleyball fans or fans of international events, this is the finals of the top FIVB volleyball event this year and the first time it is held in the US. The group includes the traditional tops teams of China, Russia, and Brazil if they qualify as expected in the early rounds. There hasn't been a lot of local coverage, but this is a big international event that will be broadcast in many countries including China if they qualify.

[iamjacobm]

Yep another great event for Omaha. I am hoping there is a big media/marking push after the CWS so we can get some good crowds.

[iamjacobm]

Looked like a really weak crowd today.

[MadMartin8]

Looked like a really weak crowd today.

The local newspaper said 5,105


Honestly, I haven't heard or seen this publicized much, so I forgot that this was even happening right now.

[skinzfan23]

The story in the paper yesterday said that they believed they were having a hard time selling tickets because due to another round earlier, the teams weren't known until recently. Hopefully attendance picks up as the weekend goes on. The only advertisement I have seen for this is in the paper.

[Brad]

The story in the paper yesterday said that they believed they were having a hard time selling tickets because due to another round earlier, the teams weren't known until recently. Hopefully attendance picks up as the weekend goes on. The only advertisement I have seen for this is in the paper.

The convention and visitors center puts out a fact sheet to all the downtown businesses for events like this. I wish I still had the sheet because the numbers they were expecting were really high. They give numbers for expected ticket sales, expected hotel rooms book and usually a break down of how many locals and how many out of town people will be attending.

[skinzfan23]

It did say that at least so far, they were disappointed in ticket sales. I don't know why they were expecting so many people in the middle of summer to watch indoor volleyball that no one has ever heard of. I know that they were trying to have it catch on, but in the US baseball, golf and soccer are much bigger summer sports.

[Greg S]

Couple questions, what do tickets cost, and what have they been drawing in other cities?

Greg

[skinzfan23]

For a single day ticket prices are: $35, $25, and $20. All-session tickets are $250, $175, $150, $100 and $75.

From yesterday's story in the world herald:

“The arena in Japan had seating for about 11,000 people,” Cliff said. “They sold out every evening for the game that Japan was playing. During the day, there might have been 2,000 or 3,000 people for the earlier games, but at night, it was full.”

[Greg S]

Thanks. I'd bring my 2 boys, but I'd be down $60 before I even walked in.

Greg

[Omaha1000]

I attended all three games yesterday. I had bought two tickets last December to get good seats at mid-court near the top of the lower bowl. We, like everyone else, moved down even closer to the court. I would have had the same seats if I bought the tickets yesterday. We are going to all five days and I still think that the attendance will increase beginning Friday night.

One disappointment is that this tournament is actually not one of the top three international tournaments of the year. China sent a complete new team to Omaha. The entire team that is officially their national team all stayed home to prepare for the world championships next month in Japan. Therefore the Chinese team that beat the US last week in Hong Kong is not here. We will not be able to see a rematch between the two teams. Japan brought its main team, but left all six starters home. Thankfully Russia and Brazil brought most of their A-team players.

[PobodysNerfect]

I saw highlights from this tournament in Russian and one other venue and it looked packed. Sad that our turnout it so bad, but I heard the OSC was charging for all session tickets at first which meant that even though per game tickets aren't that much, people had to commit to five games. They should have done this day-by-day. Then again, the OSC has botched quite a few events outside of the swim trials it seems. I hardly, if ever, see or hear any advertising for their events until about a week leading up to it. Hopefully they next couple of days start to sell, but looking at the seat map for Friday:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/2015-fivb-w ... 0CEA394047

There are still TONS of open seats. Hoping it sells.

[Greg S]

I saw highlights from this tournament in Russian and one other venue and it looked packed. Sad that our turnout it so bad, but I heard the OSC was charging for all session tickets at first which meant that even though per game tickets aren't that much, people had to commit to five games. They should have done this day-by-day. Then again, the OSC has botched quite a few events outside of the swim trials it seems. I hardly, if ever, see or hear any advertising for their events until about a week leading up to it. Hopefully they next couple of days start to sell, but looking at the seat map for Friday:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/2015-fivb-w ... 0CEA394047

There are still TONS of open seats. Hoping it sells.

Actually I think that's common for these type of deals. I was on the waiting list for the AAA All Star Game and Derby. My first chance, I had to buy tickets for both (as opposed to individual event tickets). Fortunately I was going to both anyway.

Greg

[skinzfan23]

Sounds like attendance yesterday was 6,500.

[Omaha1000]

The night game had a few more people than on the first night. The lower bowl ends were still 95% empty. However the games yesterday seemed to be more entertaining. Tonight's Russia-US game should be a lot of fun. Both teams have looked very impressive. Japan is also generally fun to watch. They have a noticeable disadvantage at the net, but they have such good team spirit and quickness.

[Brad]

So I still have the sheet from the Imaha Convention and Visitors Bureay.

FIVB World Grand Prix 2015
7/20 thru 7/27
Hotel Block = 3090
Anticipated Attendance= 10,000. (70% from Omaha, 30% outside Omaha)

For comparison... Lol

International Cake Exploration Societe Convention
40th annual convention and show
7/30 thru 8/2 - CenturyLink Center
Hotel Block = 2270
Anticipated Attenfance = 650. (3.5% from Omaha, 96.5% from outside Omaha including 100 people from 19 different countries)

[skinzfan23]

What was the total attendance for the event?

[Greg S]

Saw the US National team at Central Saturday morning (was on a tour for my reunion). They'd been practicing there all week. Sounds like when the NCAA's are in Omaha, the different schools practice at Central as well. Makes sense considering the location.

Greg

[Omaha1000]

What was the total attendance for the event?

I haven't seen total numbers, but yesterday's reported attendance for the noon USA-China match was 8,500. I went to every game and I could not see that there were more people than when the US played other matches with 5,500 reported.

Among the five visiting teams, only Russia and Italy sent their main teams. However, the volleyball level was still very high, especially the timing that comes from practicing on a full-time basis year round.

[Omaha1000]

This year's month long Grand Prix volleyball tournament was completed this morning. Brazil beat the USA 3-2 for the gold medal in Bangkok, Thailand.

We watched every match on the world volleyball TV network. Three former Husker players are still on the team, two starting.