How Tina Graudina Leveraged Her NIL Deals To Fuel Her AVP Fort Lauderdale Win

Tina Graudina maintains a habit of collecting firsts. In 2021, she was the first active NCAA beach volleyball player to make the Olympics, as well as part of the first Latvian women’s beach volleyball team in Olympic history. Fast forward to 2022, Graudina playing in her debut AVP tournament of the summer, joined her USCSC
Trojan partner Hailey Harward to grab first place at the 2022 AVP Fort Lauderdale Open.

Graudina put the world on notice at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a 4th place finish, and it has been full steam ahead ever since. She returned to USC in 2022 after competing in Tokyo to win 30 straight matches alongside Harward. With her NCAA career now in the rear-view mirror, she recently discussed how the new NCAA NIL legislation helped her transition to a full-time professional career.

During her first three years at USC, Graudina felt like she was walking on eggshells dodging anything that might run afoul of NCAA rules. The concept was foreign to the Latvian-born star, who was trying to adjust to a new system both on and off the court.

‘Those were three years of hardcore paranoia,” Graudina said. “What if I actually wanted to do something that’s even really small [am I violating my eligibility]?”

In her senior year, the NIL rules changed to allow student-athletes to pursue monetizing their name, image and likeness off the court. The announcement relieved Graudina from having to look over her shoulder to see if she was jeopardizing her scholarship.

“The last year at college, they changed the NIL [rules] and it was a breath of relief,” she said. “We started thinking of all the endless opportunities. It felt like we had freedom. There were people who wanted to support my journey as an athlete, and beach volleyball isn’t one of the most lucrative sports. It was amazing to finally get support from companies that would like to help me, and it would now be legal.”

Graudina quickly signed on with KVA Sports. It was move she said allowed her to solely focus on being the best player on the court.

“I know I have somebody who I can trust their only job is to think about how they can help me get more sponsors,” she said. “I don’t have to have all that on my mind. I can focus on my volleyball so that I can get the best results possible, while they can work on the financial aspect so I can support my career.”

The partnership quickly paid dividends, with Graudina earning sponsorships from Red Bull, Six Star Pro Nutrition, Laird Superfood and Olybet, a European sports betting platform. She explained how these backings allowed the budding beach volleyball star to make it through the intense summer competition season, where tournament payouts are inconsistent at best.

“It costs about $30,000 Euros to train and travel during June, July and August,” she said. “I come from Latvia, that’s a pretty hefty price! To put it in perspective, if you win one tournament and you’re the best in the world’s Elite 16, you as an individual get $10,000. If you finish anywhere lower, you get like $5,000 or $3,000. It’s incredibly hard to make a living just from the tournaments; sponsorships are the way to balance it.”

Graudina picked up $7,000 for her victory in Fort Lauderdale, which will certainly come in handy fueling her next competition. While she was quickly whisked away to play in Europe with her Latvian partner Anastasija Kravcenoka, she anticipates returning to the electric AVP atmosphere in between international play.

“This is the first summer I get the opportunity to play in the AVP,” she said. “Now that I am done with USC, I am free to play in any tournaments I want to. The AVP has a very high competitive level, higher prize money than the international tour and it is just so fun. Americans are just so good at throwing the show and the show business aspect into the sport.”