Volleyball Deal May Spike Interest <br> Sports
business: Agent Armato wants to unify two competing beach
tours in effort to save sport. <br><br><br>By MIKE
BRESNAHAN, Times Staff Writer<br><br><br><br><br><br> Agent
Leonard Armato is close to buying two competing beach
volleyball tours and merging them into one, marking the
latest effort to reverse the sport's fortunes. <br>
Armato, who represents Laker center Shaquille O'Neal,
would unify the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals and
the newer Beach Volleyball America, which have been
at odds in the last year. <br> Armato, who has long
had an interest in beach volleyball, is chief
executive of the company making the purchase, Digital Media
Campus, an incubator for sports and entertainment
properties. <br> Armato, a former beach player in the
mid-1970s and one of the founders of the AVP in 1983,
declined comment Wednesday. <br> AVP and BVA officials
confirmed the sale, pending due diligence by Digital Media
Campus. <br> Charlie Jackson, chief executive officer of
BVA, said he approached Armato for sponsorship
opportunities last month, but the talks turned from investment
to acquisition. It is believed that BVA will receive
about $200,000 from the El Segundo-based company. <br>
The venture capital firm that purchased the AVP from
bankruptcy court in March 1999 will become a minority
shareholder in the newly aligned tour in lieu of cash. <br>
"I don't think there's ever been a better shot than
this," said Spencer Segura, a senior manager at Spencer
Trask Ventures Inc. in New York. "If this doesn't work,
I don't know who will ever want to try it." <br>
The newly formed tour will probably keep the AVP's
name, a source said, and will try to reverse a negative
financial trend of several years. The AVP reached the top
of its popularity curve in the mid-1990s, but
questionable management and extremely high payouts for players
led to fiscal straits.