Ex-agent Armato bounces back to beach volleyball. (Up Front).

Leonard Armato is betting that close contact with world-class athletes and the lure of the Southern California lifestyle will help revitalize professional beach volleyball, a sport he helped put on the map two decades ago.

Oh, and don't forget a liberal dose of sex appeal.

"You have the athletes wearing bathing suits and bikinis, the fans wearing bathing suits and bildnis, a lot of action and a sport that is easy to follow," said Armato, a former sports agent whose clients included Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. "It's like 'Baywatch' for the 21st century... It has all the elements sponsors want."

Since acquiring the defunct Manhattan Beach-based Association of Volleyball Professionals, Armato and a group of investors that includes Oracle Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Ellison, music producer Quincy Jones and Christie Hefner, chief executive of Playboy Enterprises Inc., has poured nearly $6 million into revitalizing the league.

The comeback started last year with seven tournaments and increased this year to nine -- still far from the heady days a decade ago when the tour included more than 20 stops around the country. But there are positive signs.

The AVP has signed a handful of high-profile sponsors, including Nissan North America, Bud Light, Aquafina, Microsoft's Xbox, Paul Mitchell, ChapStick and Gatorade. Those sponsorships, which include a range of promotional and advertising rights, will bring in between "mid-six figures and seven figures per year," according to Armato.

That will help cover the $10 million and more it will cost to stage the events, as well as the prize money for the competitors, who do not receive any base pay or appearance fees.

In addition, the league this year inked television deals with NBC and Fox.

After airing two AVP tournaments in 2002, NBC will air three on six dates this August. Fox Sports will carry taped versions of three other tournaments in July, and the cable sports network is in discussions with Armato about developing related programming - including a reality show - to help rebuild the AVP brand.

Armato says he is interested in promoting the excitement of the game and the skill of the athletes, many of whom, including his wife, Holly McPeak, have competed in the Olympics. Still, he acknowledged that the league is unabashedly selling the appeal of toned bodies on a sandy beach.

"That might play these days. The beach lifestyle is something that everybody loves," said Tom Hollerbach, president and chief executive of advertising firm BBDO West. "The more relaxed atmosphere around these type of sports is really appealing for a lot of people who are disgruntled with the major sports."

Side out

Jon Miller, senior vice president of NBC Sports, said the AVP's weekend time slot would pit it largely against regional baseball and golf for the attention of male viewers. NBC has committed to the AVP through 2005.

"We like the property a lot. It's fresh, fun, third-quarter programming," Miller said, referring to the summer period. "It is clearly one of the most well-attended events at the summer Olympics, first in Atlanta and especially in Sydney."

An avid player, Armato helped found the AVP in 1983 and he became the league's executive director in 1985. By 1990, with the operation on solid footing, Armato stepped down. It continued to thrive for several more years before disagreements among players, who were managing the league on their own, led to its disintegration in 1998, Armato said.

Armato's group, Digital Media Campus, acquired 80 percent of the AVP in 2001 from New York venture firm Spencer Trask Yentures Inc., which had purchased the league out of bankruptcy two years earlier. DMC took the stake in exchange for an agreement to finance the league's revival. Armato said DMC has since acquired the remaining 20 percent.

Part of the problem was a conflict between the AVP and the sport's international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Volleyball. To qualify for the Olympics, players must compete in a certain number of FIYB events, which often were held in conflict with AVP events.

Although several of the AVP's big names will miss a tournament or two for FIVB events, Armato said the league has reached a truce with that organization and attempts will be made to avoid scheduling conflicts. In addition, the top players, including volleyball legend Karch Kiraly, 2000 Olympic gold medalist Eric Fonoimoana and women's sensation Misty May will be required to play in the events televised by NBC.

Meanwhile, a pilot for a magazine-style show is in the works for the local Fox Sports Net and a reality series that follows young players as they try to qualify for the tour is in development for next year.

"Now that (Armato) is back in the league there's a feeling things are going to go more smoothly," said Steve Simpson, vice president and general manager of Fox Sports Net and Fox Sports Net 2 in Los Angeles. "The partnership between the network and the AVP is going to grow.

Unlike the indoor version, in which teams of six players face off across the net, beach volleyball is played by two-person teams in single elimination. The top seeded teams get early-round byes, and prize money -- topping off at $17,500 for the winners -- generally goes to pairs who make it through several rounds.

One change in the revamped AVP is that men's and women's tournaments are now staged in the same place at the same time.

And with no charge for admission, the AVP has been drawing big crowds so far this year.

"Where else can you sit literally on the edge of the court and watch world-class athletes," said Steve Wilhite, vice president of marketing for Nissan North America. "It's all about being outdoors and having fun. To present your brand in that kind of environment is tremendous."

Armato, who still owns management company Management Plus Enterprises, said the appeal of the game and beach lifestyle is easily exportable. Next year he said the plan is to add perhaps two more tournaments.