The Nebraska Cornhuskers women’s volleyball team made history on Wednesday. There were 92,003 fans who saw Nebraska defeat Omaha 3-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. It’s the largest crowd to witness a women’s sports event, breaking the record of 91,648 fans for a 2022 soccer match between Barcelona and Wolfsburg. Nebraska also drew the largest crowd in the 100-year history of Memorial Stadium.
The event was called “Volleyball Day in Nebraska” and took months of planning. And ESPN said it was a paid attendance, as the price ranged from $5 to $400. “It’s incredible. I don’t have enough words to describe it,” Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson said. “We were walking out of the tunnel after the second set, and we heard on the speaker we had just broken the world record. Everyone was trying to stay locked in, but we were also so excited. I can’t describe how grateful I am to be a part of it.”
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When it comes to the previous women’s sports attendance record in the United States, there were 90,185 fans who attended the Women’s World Cup final match between Team USA and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on July 10, 1999. Team USA won the match via penalty kicks. “I remember that like it was yesterday,” Nebraska coach John Cook said of that World Cup match. “It was so impactful seeing those women compete and their celebration afterward. It made a mark on women’s sports in this country. They showed what could be done.”
Nebraska is one of the top college volleyball programs in the country. Along with winning multiple regular season conference titles, the Cornhuskers have appeared in 10 national championship matches and won five of them. Cook has been the head coach since 2000 and was inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
“There’s a great business case and strategy around women’s athletics long term that maybe college athletics hasn’t embraced,” Nebraska athletic director and former Huskers football star Trev Alberts said. “And we think here in Nebraska, long before I became the athletic director, we’ve significantly invested in women’s athletics, and you’re seeing the result of that by seeing the success of the volleyball program and the fan base surrounding it.”
