By: Kathryn Bird
In August 2023, 92,003 people packed Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska, to watch a women’s college volleyball match. The crowd was larger than the population of many American cities and set a world attendance record for a women’s sporting event at the time. Two years later, Nebraska and Creighton drew 17,675 fans to set a new indoor regular-season attendance record.
Now, the sport is preparing for another major test. On August 27, 2026, Nebraska, Penn State, Florida, and SMU are scheduled to compete in Spikes Under the Lights at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. The event will feature a $1 million prize pool, which organizers describe as the largest ever offered in women’s college sports.
These events make one thing clear: people are interested in women’s volleyball. The harder question is whether that interest can be turned into a lasting business.
More Than a Large Crowd
A successful sports business depends on more than athletes and competition. It needs fans who buy tickets and merchandise, television networks willing to show games, and companies willing to pay for sponsorships. In other words, a crowd is not just a group of spectators. It is also a sign that there may be a market.
Women’s college volleyball is beginning to show that market on television as well as in arenas. ESPN reported that its 2025 NCAA women’s volleyball tournament coverage averaged 666,000 viewers across 15 matches, an increase of 13 percent from the previous year. The national championship attracted 1.4 million viewers, while regular-season viewership across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 grew by 36 percent.
The audience is also becoming broader. Women made up 45 percent of the 2025 tournament audience, and viewership among adults ages 25 to 34 increased by 83 percent. That matters to sponsors because companies are more likely to invest in a sport when they know it can consistently reach valuable groups of consumers.
The upcoming event at AT&T Stadium shows how this attention can create new business opportunities. Fans may spend money on tickets, parking, food, travel, hotels, and team merchandise. Sponsors receive publicity inside the stadium and during the broadcast. The stadium, schools, media companies, and nearby businesses can all benefit from the same night of volleyball.
However, one successful event is not the same as a successful industry.
The Challenge After College
College volleyball has an advantage that professional volleyball does not: built-in loyalty. Nebraska fans may support the team because they attended the university, grew up in the state, or have followed the program for years. A new professional team has to create that emotional connection from the beginning.
That is why the future of professional volleyball is so important. If fans only follow athletes while they are in college, the sport’s business potential will remain limited. A sustainable professional league must convince those fans to keep watching after their favorite players graduate.
Major League Volleyball, or MLV, is attempting to do exactly that. During its 2026 season, more than 400,000 fans reportedly attended its 116 matches. The league also reported that its three championship broadcasts reached nearly 3 million unique viewers, while the championship match averaged almost 200,000 viewers. Those numbers are far smaller than the audiences for major football or basketball games, but they show that professional volleyball can attract attention beyond the college level.
The leagues still face difficult questions. Can teams fill arenas throughout an entire season rather than for one historic match? Will viewers learn when and where games are shown? Can organizations earn enough from tickets, sponsors, broadcasts, and merchandise to pay athletes fairly while covering travel, staffing, and arena costs?
Professional volleyball also has to avoid growing too quickly. Adding teams can bring the sport to more cities, but every new team requires reliable owners, local sponsors, an arena, and a loyal fan base. Expansion may look impressive, but it only helps if the teams survive.
Turning Attention Into a Business
For volleyball to become a major American sports business, it first needs consistency. Fans should be able to find matches easily, follow familiar teams, and know when the season begins. Regular television and streaming coverage would make the sport easier to discover and would give sponsors repeated exposure instead of attention from only one major event.
Teams must also market the athletes, not just the matches. Volleyball players already use social media to share training videos, game highlights, fashion, and their lives away from the court. When fans feel connected to individual players, they are more likely to follow them from college into professional competition. Recognizable stars can help sell tickets, attract sponsors, and give new fans someone to support. Finally, professional teams can build loyalty by connecting with the large youth and club volleyball community. Hosting clinics, partnering with local clubs, and making games affordable for families could turn young players into lifelong fans. The sport already has participants; the next step is converting more of them into regular customers and viewers.
So, can women’s volleyball become America’s next major sports business? The answer is yes, but its future will not be decided by one crowd of 92,003 or one night with a $1 million prize pool. Those moments prove that the opportunity exists. Long-term success will depend on whether leagues can create the same excitement on an ordinary weeknight, in multiple cities, year after year.
Women’s volleyball no longer has to prove that people will pay attention. Now it has to prove that it can keep them watching.
