The sport of volleyball has been exploding in Nebraska for years, but it feels like the sport's popularity is hitting a fever pitch within the Cornhusker State.
Evidence of that was about as strong as it could be in late April. The University of Nebraska announced on Feb. 24 that it would host Volleyball Day in Nebraska on Aug. 30 featuring two matches played at Memorial Stadium – one between Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State, one pitting the Huskers against Omaha and a concert with a national recording artist to follow.
Tickets went on sale, and on April 27 the Huskers announced that tickets had already been sold out – just three days after they opened to sale for the public.
On Monday night, Nebraska AD Trev Alberts gave the latest major update on the first-ever volleyball event of its kind – and the Huskers are looking like they will make history.
“Well we’re pretty excited about it," Alberts said on the Huskers Radio Network. "Again, we keep pinching ourself going, ‘are you kidding me?’ But we’re still working through a few things, but we actually think that the final total capacity’s gonna be at 91,000."
Alberts said they are still working with a fire marshal, details to hash out on standing-room only tickets, and they are working toward an official announcement for the artist who will perform at the concert that's expected to come on June 5.
Once the school and athletic department get those approvals, Alberts said he believes the Huskers are set to break a 24-year record for the most fans to ever attend a women's sporting event in the United States – a mark set at 90,185 fans inside the Rose Bowl at the 1999 Women's World Cup Final during the United States' historic shootout win over China.
"If we can get to 91,000 (expected capacity), we think the all-time record for a women’s sporting event in the United States is at risk," Alberts said. "We’ll have an opportunity here with our volleyball program to break that."
RELATED: How Volleyball Day is coming to Memorial Stadium | Join the Inside Nebraska community
There are still, of course, many other details to be sorted out, Alberts said.
"Obviously, we’re working with our campus a little bit," he said. "We’re hoping that, as you can imagine if you try to bring 91,000 people here in the middle of the week and you think about parking and those types of things. There will be some processes to go through, there will be some policies that we’ll have to look at. We’ve had some great conversations and collaboration with our campus partners and with the rest of the folks that are competing alongside with us. Hoping to have some more of those additional details, but I think we’re gonna end up with a total capacity at 91,000.”
During such a monumental event, and the result of such an unexpected ticket explosion, Alberts said he understands that things will get hectic that day – and he is asking fans to understand the same.
“The one thing I’m gonna ask our fans, and I went through this a little bit back at UNO: We built an arena, and what’s interesting is if you’re coming to a hockey game there, everybody kind of knows how to navigate it. They’ve been there multiple times," Alberts said. "And then, President (Barack) Obama came and spoke at Baxter Arena. The reality is we had 83,000 people who had never been to Baxter Arena before, and it was total chaos. I don’t think it’s gonna be the same thing here, but the reality is — and I know this is gonna sound weird to some — we will have people coming to Memorial Stadium who don’t come here very often or who haven’t been here.
“So I’m just gonna ask our fans — this blew up a little bit in a true Nebraska way — we would ask for a little grace and a little mercy. Remembering, too, that our community is going through a whole lot of construction that’s happening around downtown, the Haymarket, so we’re gonna work really hard on it. We’ve got some realities on our campus that are gonna be challenging. It’s a whole lot more difficult than the typical Saturday football game. But because of the realities of scheduling and when football is on the road, we were really limited in terms of when we could do this. This is a great problem to have. I’m not complaining. But if you had 25,000 people, that’s a little different than 91,000. So our campus is aware. We’re gonna try to find a way to alleviate some of the pain points, but I would tell you the reality is this is gonna be logistically a bit of a challenge for all of us. And we’re gonna have to all be adults and work together on solutions.”
In addition to the uptick in fan attendance at Volleyball Day in Nebraska, another circumstance is lending evidence to the sport's increased popularity: Ticket demand for the Huskers' regular season games in the fall.
Therefore, Alberts and the athletic department looked into ways to create more room at the Huskers' home arena, Devaney Center, and believe they have found a solution.
“Listen, we have such a waiting list for tickets at volleyball, and I’ve gotta be very clear on this because I don’t wanna get too many people excited," Alberts said. "But we think we’ve found an additional 400 seats that we can add to Devaney, but I think I also have to be fair: We’ve got a pretty extensive waiting list, so I’m not sure we’re gonna have a bunch of new availability for the general public to buy tickets. But we’re trying to find an additional 400 seats to get as many people in front of our volleyball program as we can.”
Discuss Volleyball Day in Nebraska and more with other Husker fans on the Insider's Board.
