New record crowd for a woman's sporting event: Nebraska volleyball

[StupendousMan]

(and, to be clear, that's "A record crowd for any women's sporting event, anywhere, ever")


For a number of years, the women's volleyball program at Nebraska has been very strong, but they kicked it up another notch this weekend.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/with-92003-fans-nebraska-sets-new-world-record-for-attendance-at-womens-sporting-event-180982844/

 

[mauidano]

It was something to rally around for sure as a great exposure for Women's Sports in general.

Been following this on TV and other media. Very cool! But is it considered a "stunt"? A "one-off"? What is their average attendance? The previous record was 18,755.

Scotty McCreery was the post-match concert; how much if any did that draw? Kind of like when the U of Michigan has their outside hockey games in Michigan Stadium.

 

[Pedro's Complaint]

I've lived in Omaha for the last 5 years. It's remarkable how much people care about women's volleyball in Nebraska. After college football, it's arguably the biggest sport. You could make a case for men's college basketball with Creighton or college baseball since the College WS is here, but the interest in volleyball is widespread and real.

 

[StupendousMan]

It was a one-off, for this season, at least: all the remaining home games will take place in the ordinary fieldhouse on the Nebraska campus (which, by the way, has been sold out for every home volleyball game for more than 20 years). The goal was to draw attention to the team, and the event did exactly that.

I used to watch Cal women's volleyball games back in my grad school days, and the crowd for most matches was pretty small -- maybe a few hundred people. Those were some pretty good teams, too. I'm glad to see more people appreciating the game!

 

[BaseballJones]

Having been a college volleyball player I can say that aside from the incredible nature of this event, playing six on six indoor volleyball OUTDOORS is remarkable. It may seem like the same game to most people but I can assure you… it’s quite different playing that particular sport in the outdoor elements. Kudos to everyone involved for an amazing event, and to the players especially for performing so well outside.

What an awesome thing!!!

 

[BigJimEd]

Definitely a one-off but Nebraska has done a tremendous job with that program. As mentioned they have over a 300 match sellout streak. One of the few D1 women's sports to turn a profit. They continue to elevate the program and the sport in general. Wisconsin last year sold out their basketball stadium for a record regular season of just under 17,000. 92,000 is insane and they sold out in minutes.

Having been a college volleyball player I can say that aside from the incredible nature of this event, playing six on six indoor volleyball OUTDOORS is remarkable. It may seem like the same game to most people but I can assure you… it’s quite different playing that particular sport in the outdoor elements. Kudos to everyone involved for an amazing event, and to the players especially for performing so well outside.

Excellent point. Relatively calm day but the wind was still doing some things with the ball. Great job by the athletes to adjust to the unusual conditions.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Turns out it's not actually the largest crowd for a women's sporting event after all.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/sep/08/copa-71-when-112500-fans-packed-out-the-unofficial-womens-world-cup-final

The 1971 women's soccer tournament in Mexico had multiple games with over 100k spectators. A new documentary on the tournament is Executive-Produced by Venus and Serena Williams.

Why didn’t we know about a women’s football tournament held in Mexico in 1971, 20 years before Fifa hosted its first Women’s World Cup? Or that the tournament included sold out games, each played in front of more than 100,000 paying fans? That tournament – played between teams from Mexico, England, Argentina, France, Italy, and Denmark – has until recently been one of sport’s best kept secrets.
The tournament’s reemergence sweeps aside a claim that a recent Nebraska college volleyball game played in front of 92,000 fans was the highest-ever attended women’s sports event. No matter how huge that audience was and how much acclaim it received, the 1971 final between Mexico and Denmark was played in front of 112,500 spectators at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, a figure now acknowledged by Fifa’s online museum.

Nebraska still claims to have the highest confirmed attendance. And it's still the US record, and the college sports record.

Copa 71, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, tells the story of a competition that took place on an unprecedented scale. While the tournament – and its 1970 predecessor held in Italy – has been written about before, it is the color footage of matches, crowds, and off-field activity that reveals the challenge of holding the event. It also brings the players, many of whom were teenagers at the time, to life.
“It’s not [Nebraska’s] fault or the university’s social media team’s fault that they didn’t know about this either,” says Rachel Ramsay, Copa 71’s co-director (supporters of the Nebraska record had claimed their record was the highest confirmed attendance).

Erskine says comparisons with the Nebraska volleyball game are a distraction. What is important is the fact that women’s sport will attract fans if events receive adequate investment and promotion.
“The question isn’t whether there are 99,621 or 99,672 people at games,” he says. “What matters is that there is a volume of people attending an event and paying for it. There was a big question of whether the people at the 1971 games paid for tickets. But they were paid for and the games were sold out.”
Ramsay adds: “We have the posters and ticket stubs. They were the same price as the tickets for the men’s World Cup in 1970. Some were even more expensive.”