On August 30th, 92,003 fans decked out in red and cream gathered at Memorial stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. They were there to watch a women’s volleyball game and in the process, they broke the world record for the largest attendance at a women’s sporting event.
Seven months of planning led up to this one day, now deemed as “Volleyball Day” in Nebraska. The previous record was set in Barcelona, Spain, where 91,648 fans got together to watch a match against Wolfsburg in April this year. But on a Wednesday in August, Nebraska made history – not because of the match, but because of the stands.
Thomas Ward, the brand marketer for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at Adidas believes breaking this record will have an impact on the future of women’s sports.
“It was amazing. I think a lot of other schools will look to say ‘how can we continue to elevate our women’s sports, is there a way that we can break that record?’” said Ward. “Those types of records are going to be chased after and I know Nebraska will take a lot of pride in trying to keep theirs, so I’m sure they will want to stay up top too.”
Ward said the marketing of the team at Adidas promoted the event very well and got people excited to come.
“Adidas hosted the event called ‘the rally’ at the colosseum, […] where Nebraska usually plays. It was pretty cool symbolically for them because the colosseum is right next door to the stadium, so from the storytelling aspect they were celebrating work where it initially started,” he said.
This game will make a difference in the industry, but also more doors will be opened for different groups in the future.
“Creating an event as big as the volleyball game opens up more opportunities and possibilities for other brands and women’s sports and organizations,” Ward said. “Once the first domino falls, you never know where it can go.”
Sophomore and lacrosse player Katherine Warner-Frey thinks the record-breaking game will not only impact the media, but women’s teams within different sports.
“I think this will show people that when you have these big women’s sporting events, people will show up,” said Warner-Frey.
Warner-Frey believes this record will help shine a light on the underrepresentation in women’s sports, and how even at Lincoln, the women’s teams are not recognized as often as the men’s.
“It’s really important because it encourages women to continue playing sports. Showing that people care and that people are supporting them is really significant in continuing them to play,” said Warner-Frey.
