This outdoor Volleyball game held at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, in Lincoln, Nebraska, drew the biggest crowd in history for any women’s sports game. The attendance of this game at 92,003 set a U.S. as well as a world record for highest attendance for a Women’s sporting event. The previously recognized world record was 91,648 fans in a UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Wolfsburg on April 22, 2022, at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain.

But there’s still the question of why this specific game was so highly attended and popular. Some spectators say, “The interest was not primarily in whether Nebraska won that match; the interest was in the celebration of women’s sport(s).” The Huskers’ matches were usually hosted at their home facility the Devaney Center, where they had a streak of selling out for 306 consecutive regular season matches. Wednesday’s match where they played at the Memorial stadium did not count toward that streak because it was played at the Memorial stadium where the football team usually plays, however, this allowed them (the Huskers) to bid for record attendance. Nebraska Coach John Cook stated, “It feels like a great accomplishment for this sport called volleyball played by women. It’s a state treasure. We proved it.” 

The attendance to this Volleyball game was more than just breaking a record, it proved that as John Cook stated this sport (and many others) played by women is a treasure and it’s time we start treating it accordingly.