Yet despite the global acclaim that has followed Volleyball Day, Pettit insists that it is the foundations of the college’s programme that have been central to its enduring success. “Women’s sport is not a one-time event, women’s sport is selling tickets, so you sell out all of the time,” he says. “You need regular events, otherwise people will go to a one-time event and it won’t necessarily have an impact on what is happening every week.”
The continual sell-outs for matches at their regular home mean Nebraska volleyball is in the rare position of being a profitable women’s sport college programme. It made $2.12 million (£1.71 million) in ticket sales alone in 2021-22 – only the University of Connecticut’s basketball team generated more – and Pettit expects an increase in income from other streams, too.
“Volleyball pays for itself through ticket income and that will increase as there is more interest,” he says. “The real money in sport is TV contracts, and, as women’s sport grows, interest grows, and when the TV contract is renegotiated for the Big 10 Conference that Nebraska play in, they will receive more programming and TV money. Women’s sport is now financially generating income.”
He does sound a warning, though: “One of the reasons women’s sport is attractive is it doesn’t have the same baggage that comes with men’s sport sometimes. The irony is the more money is involved, the more TV is involved, there is the potential for the things we see in men’s sport. It will be interesting to watch.”
Pettit is also quick to herald the impact on women’s sport of a law change more than 50 years ago. Title IX is a gender-equity law that was introduced in 1972 and banned sex discrimination in all federally funded schools and colleges. Not only did it give girls and women greater access to education, it changed the sporting landscape for women, particularly in terms of college scholarships.
“It had such an impact on women’s sport,” says Pettit. “A lot of transformational things happened in the 20th century but I believe by far the biggest transformation, the biggest revolution – at least in the US – was Title IX. That legislation changed everything.”
The results were there for the world to see at Memorial Stadium on August 30, 2023.
