Let’s just say… if college volleyball was a playlist, it’d be on a loop all year. Just a month back, women’s pro volleyball went full beast mode on the national stage as the Pro Volleyball Federation dropped its first-ever All-Star Match, and it was all gas, no brakes. Team Shondell and Team Collier brought the fire, spiking and diving like their lives depended on it. And as if the action wasn’t star-studded enough, they had none other than NBA royalty Jalen Rose and Olympic champ Shawn Johnson East hosting the night. The Fishers Event Center was straight-up electric with nearly 7,000 fans bringing the noise—and CBS? Yeah, they didn’t just air the match… they launched it into a whole new galaxy of hype.
Then came the jaw-drop moment—Emily Ehman popped off on X, flexing the wild stats like a proud volleyball mom. She spilled that the match peaked at a ridiculous 445,000 viewers with an average of 414,000 riding the high-energy wave. Between 3:00 and 3:15 p.m. ET, screens across the U.S. were locked in, proving once again that volleyball isn’t just a vibe—it’s a movement. Oh, and it didn’t just hold its own—it outperformed FOX’s MLS and even a couple of ACC basketball games. So now? The college volleyball world’s feeling that momentum and big networks are starting to sniff out what’s next.
According to the crew over at Front Office Sports, women’s college basketball may have stolen some spotlight lately, but college volleyball? Oh, it’s been cooking too. Two years back, Fox Sports decided to get spicy with their game plan and aired volleyball matches right after NFL games. Picture this: fans riding the NFL wave from Packers–Vikings or Michigan–Ohio State and then rolling straight into a Wisconsin–Minnesota volleyball showdown. Result? A monster 1.7 million viewers. Yup, that one smashed the regular-season record books.
Fox’s VP Derek Crocker spilled the tea, saying the NFL lead-in move was a game-changer, pulling in new eyeballs and showing off just how much potential this sport’s got. And Fox didn’t stop there. Last season, they bumped up their volleyball coverage from 12 to 18 matches across all their channels—and Big Ten Network? They went all-in with 68 games, the most they’ve ever aired. Viewership was solid too—Wisconsin-Nebraska on BTN? That pulled in 612K in 2023, with another 591K the year before. And this year, BTN’s even showing spring volleyball for the first time ever, proving they’re not just dipping toes—they’re diving in.
And it’s not just Fox in the mix anymore—NBC Sports stepped onto the court last year with four Big Ten matches, even sliding three of them into primetime on the actual NBC broadcast channel. Major vibes, right? Simulcasted on Peacock too. Meanwhile, ESPN’s been stacking volleyball content like it’s gold bars. Over 2,600 matches aired on their platforms in 2024 alone—between TV and ESPN+. And this fall, they’re throwing a whole Block Party in Nashville. Think triple-header madness with Nebraska, Purdue, Illinois facing off against Kentucky, Tennessee, and Vandy on ESPN2. Volleyball meets southern energy? Sign us up. And well, there are other stats to prove that college volleyball is growing!
College Volleyball is indeed rising and bringing a new phase for the sport!
Women’s college volleyball is straight-up living its main character era right now—and the glow-up? Whew, it’s unreal. Fans are packing stadiums like it’s a sold-out concert, and the energy? Off the charts. Nebraska vs. Omaha in August 2023? That wasn’t just a game, that was history, with 92,003 fans showing up and smashing the world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event. And the momentum didn’t stop there—19,598 fans packed in for the NCAA semis, only to be topped by 19,727 at the championship where Texas took down Nebraska. But hold up, because 2024 came swinging harder—with 21,860 fans showing up for Penn State vs. Louisville.
TV screens are lighting up too. That 2023 NCAA final? Pulled in a wild 1.7 million viewers, while going head-to-head with NFL games. That’s not just success, that’s volleyball pulling up to the big leagues. Regular season games saw viewership shoot up by 58%, with peaks hitting 808K like it’s no big deal. NCAA President Charlie Baker said it best—this ain’t a one-hit wonder, this is a full-blown movement. He hyped the rise of young girls diving into the sport and called it straight: the future looks bright, bold, and full of spikes.
And it doesn’t stop at the U.S. borders—volleyball is dancing on the global stage too. The 2025 Volleyball Nations League is getting a glow-up of its own, expanding to 18 teams for both men and women. Last year, they raked in a wild 751,000 fans across the pool phase, with the women’s finals flexing harder than the men’s at an 84% sell-out rate. So yeah, women’s college volleyball isn’t just thriving—it’s rewriting the rules, setting the tone, and leaving glitter trails wherever it goes.
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