Elite women athletes are juggling side jobs and roommates to keep pace with the cost of living, particularly in Southern California, where many beach volleyball players train and live.

Now, a growing number are turning to OnlyFans to close the gap.

Professional beach volleyball player Avery Poppinga estimates she spends nearly $50,000 a year on flights, hotels, coaching, gym memberships, and gear, largely out of her own pocket, just to continue competing at the professional level.

Poppinga, who graduated from Loyola Marymount University, joined the subscription platform in 2024 after a fellow beach volleyball pro suggested it as a way to earn extra income while she worked a remote job on the side.

In February 2025, she signed an official sponsorship deal with the company through OFTV, OnlyFans’ safe-for-work streaming division. The agreement includes social media promotion, branded merchandise worn during tournaments, and video content production.

OnlyFans, long associated with adult entertainment, has quietly expanded into sports sponsorships over the last two years.

The platform now works with roughly 285 professional athletes, according to a company spokesperson, including competitors in surfing, speedskating, tennis, motorcycle racing, bobsledding, ultrarunning, and cliff diving.

The company says it is especially focused on helping athletes in niche sports where traditional funding opportunities remain limited.

That financial strain is especially visible in beach volleyball.

Despite being one of the Olympics’ most-watched events, the sport receives little national television coverage outside the Games, limiting exposure and sponsorship revenue for players trying to build careers.

USA Volleyball reportedly provides stipends to only its top four teams, leaving many athletes to finance the rest themselves.

Poppinga’s OnlyFans presence now serves as a meaningful income stream. Her free page has drawn more than 17,000 followers, many funneled there through Instagram and OFTV promotions.

Subscribers on her VIP page pay $9.97 per month for exclusive bikini and lingerie content along with direct messaging access. After the platform takes its 20% cut, the account generates a little over $2,500 monthly before tips and custom content purchases.

Fellow beach volleyball pro Falyn Fonoimoana says the economics of the sport have forced athletes into exhausting routines for years.

Even during successful seasons, she says prize money often tops out between $20,000 and $30,000, much of which immediately goes toward travel and tournament expenses.

The 34-year-old, born in Hermosa Beach, says she has worked as many as four jobs at once during her 14-year professional career while raising a child as a single mother.

“I should have been recovering and doing all the right things to make sure that my body was ready,” Fonoimoana told Front Office Sports. “Instead, I was working to make sure that I could pay rent and pay for my kid’s food.”

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Even with more than 133,000 Instagram followers, Fonoimoana says brand partnerships often pay just a few hundred dollars. Some collaborations bring in $1,000 to $2,500, but many offer closer to $500.

Last year, she also signed a sponsorship agreement with OnlyFans.

Her content focuses on fitness, workout clips, and bikini photos, and she describes herself as a “SFW worker,” meaning safe-for-work and non-nude.

“We’re not wearing less than we were before,” she said. “It’s the same exact uniform.”

Fonoimoana says inappropriate messages were already common on Instagram long before she joined the platform.

“Of course,” she said, there are “creepers,” but “at least they’re paying for the privilege.”

The platform’s association with pornography has still created complications. Some sports governing bodies have reportedly banned athletes from displaying the OnlyFans logo during competitions, and connections to the company can make traditional sponsorship negotiations more difficult.

But for players struggling to survive financially in one of America’s most expensive regions, the extra income can outweigh the stigma.

“Our sport needs a lot more exposure,” Poppinga said. “Whatever people think about me representing [OnlyFans], it’s drawing more attention to the sport. So I feel like I’m doing some good.”