Volleyball Grand Prix
Current season, competition or edition: 2017 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix
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| Sport | Volleyball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| No. of teams | 12 in Group 1 12 in Group 2 8 in Group 3 |
| Continent | International (FIVB) |
| Most recent champion(s) |
 Brazil (11th title) |
| Most titles |
Brazil (11 titles) |
The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix is a women's volleyball competition. Created in 1993, the tournament is annual. The men's version of the competition is called World League. This event should not be confused with the other international volleyball competitions, the World Championship, the World Cup and the World Grand Champions Cup.
World Grand Prix was created in 1993 as part of the FIVB's marketing strategy to promote the sport of volleyball by establishing annual international competitions. It was modelled after the World League, a successful event for men that had been introduced three years before.
The Grand Prix made women's volleyball very popular in East Asia; the lack of interest on the part of the audience is nevertheless still significant throughout the world. Today (2004), the competition is maintained mainly with the support of Asian investors.
The budget for prize money has been growing steadily since 1993, but at a rather slow pace. The figures have reached $1.295 million in 2004 - meager when compared to the World League's $13 million.
The predominance of Asian sponsors determined the first major break with the World League's formula. Most of the cities that host preliminary round matches are located in Asia. A host country may or may not have a national volleyball team involved in the competition. A second break was introduced in recent years: in some continents, teams must qualify to participate in the competition.
The history of Grand Prix's previous winners is a clear indication of how women's volleyball has been dominated, since the early 1990s, by four teams: Cuba, Brazil, Russia and China. Along with five-times winner USA, they are the only ones to hold a title at this competition as of 2005.
In 1993, the Cubans padded their already impressive record of a gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games by winning the first edition of the Grand Prix. They were also running for the gold in 1994, but were defeated by an underranked Brazil: at that time, the Brazilians had never been able to catch a single medal in any major women's volleyball competition.
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