Pro beach volleyball looks glamorous on TV, but for players outside the very top tier, staying on the world tour can come down to who’s paying for the plane tickets. For Avery Poppinga, the answer turned out to be OnlyFans. According to IBTimes UK‘s Briane Nebria, the 27-year-old American says a sponsorship with the platform eased money worries she links to panic attacks she was having while competing abroad.
A $50,000-a-year habit
Poppinga estimates that travel, hotels, coaching, gym access and equipment run her about $50,000 a year, most of it out of her own pocket, according to Medical Daily‘s Renz Soliman, citing her interview with NewsNation. Before the deal, she was paying those bills while also working a remote desk job.
“I was having panic attacks when I was traveling overseas, just because I didn’t know that this is something that I should keep doing just to fulfill this childhood dream of mine,” she told NewsNation. Now, she says, “It’s absolutely changed my life, like for the better.”
Both outlets are careful to note that she’s describing her own experience. Nebria points out there’s no indication in the interviews that she was diagnosed with panic disorder.
How the OFTV deal works
A fellow pro beach volleyball player first pointed Poppinga toward OnlyFans. In February 2025 she signed a formal sponsorship through OFTV, the company’s safe-for-work streaming service. Nebria reports the deal involved filming videos, promoting the platform on social media and wearing OnlyFans gear at competitions. Poppinga also appeared in OFTV’s Perfect Set, where pro volleyball players coached contestants competing for a $50,000 grand prize.
Her page isn’t only match footage. Citing Front Office Sports, IBTimes UK says she also posts swimsuit modeling shots and content for paying subscribers, so her income mixes subscriptions with the sponsorship. “Every athlete is open to do whatever they’d like. A lot of my content is strictly volleyball. My uniform is my swimsuit,” she told NewsNation.
More events, a coach on the road
The money changed her options. Poppinga told Front Office Sports she can now enter more tournaments, bring her coach to international events and help cover her playing partner’s costs. By May 2026 she had renewed the sponsorship and left her remote job, and IBTimes UK reports the agreement now runs through 2027.
A bigger funding gap
She’s far from alone. An OnlyFans spokesperson told Front Office Sports in May that about 285 professional athletes use the platform, from surfers and tennis players to winter-sports competitors. The deals aren’t frictionless, though. Nebria notes reports of restrictions on the OnlyFans logo at some competitions, plus worries that the brand’s adult reputation could scare off other sponsors.
The takeaway
Poppinga’s story is a clean example of what OnlyFans is trying to sell with its athlete program: steady creator income filling the gap that prize money and governing bodies leave behind in niche sports. For athletes willing to handle the stigma, a subscriber base can be the difference between quitting and staying on tour.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
