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A crowd of 92,003 fans watched Nebraska beat Omaha in a US college volleyball match, setting a new attendance record for a women’s sporting event.
Confirmed:
- Capacity of Memorial Stadium in Nebraska is just over 85,000 for American football, but that number was higher for the volleyball game on 30th August due to seats and standing room on the field
- Universityof Nebraska-Lincoln had targeted the record last spring when it announced it would hold a day-long ‘Volleyball Day in Nebraska’ celebration for the sport, which is hugely popular in the state
Context:
The previous record attendance for a women’s sporting event was set in April 2022 when 91,648 saw Spanish soccer giants Barcelona play German club Wolfsburg in a Uefa Women’s Champions League (UWCL) match at the Camp Nou.
The former record in the US had been 90,185 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California when the USWNT beat China in the final of the 1999 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
The milestone reflects the rising profile of women’s sport, and women’s college sport in particular, in the US.
Coming next:
In-game attendance has been regarded as integral for continuing the momentum of women’s sport and establishing life-long fans. According to research from the Women’s Sport Trust (WST) and Two Circles, people attending games, and the excitement of those events, particularly when played in a ‘captivating atmosphere’, are two significant metrics in driving habitual change in UK fans.
