• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 5, 2009

The AVP Pro Beach Volleyball tour has tapped fantasy sports platform provider RotoHog.com to create a new fantasy game for the sport and its fans.

Slated to begin at the end of the month and run through the end of the AVP season in September, the game will allow fans to create their own lineups and follow the statistics of individual players through the AVP Web site.

While the popular notion of fantasy sports is presently dominated by football and baseball, other sports offer fertile ground for the genre's expansion, according to Kelly Perdew, CEO of RotoHog.

"Great male and female athletes, individual and team play, a loyal following, recognition amongst the casual fan and loads of statistics," Perdew said of pro volleyball, in particular. "It has everything a fan could want."

The number of U.S. consumers who participate in fantasy sports leagues ranges from 12 million to 15 million. While baseball was the first popular sport to spawn fantasy leagues, football is now the undisputed champion of fantasy play.

The 2009 AVP Fantasy Challenge--so-called, powered by RotoHog--will allow fans to follow players all season by signing up at any time. Prizes will be then awarded for short-term contests as well as for the full season to winners who score the most fantasy points based on AVP player statistics such as aces, blocks, digs and hitting percentage.

RotoHog's other clients include NBA.com, Turner Digital, Pro Football Weekly, LG Electronics and Grupo RBS in Brazil.

Seeking new opportunities to expand its user base and distribution network, RotoHog earlier this year tapped GoDaddy.com, the popular domain name registrar, to sponsor a new Pro Football Playoff Fantasy Football Game on Facebook.

RotoHog is a product of Sports Composite DE, is privately held, and based in Los Angeles. Investors include Allen & Co, DFJ DragonFund, Mission Ventures and SCP Worldwide.