CHICAGO — Midway through his weekly media availability, Nebraska women’s volleyball coach John Cook was asked about Fox’s viewership for a Minnesota-Wisconsin matchup.
It was 1.66 million, more than any Sunday sporting event shy of the NFL and barely less than the NASCAR race. The volleyball match’s TV numbers dwarfed the NBA, NHL, Formula 1 and multiple soccer matches that day.
Cook was stunned.
“Wow, that’s awesome for the Big Ten and awesome for volleyball,” Cook said. “I did not know that. We’ve got another record to go after.”
Women’s volleyball and basketball have grown steadily in viewership and took a major ratings jump last winter. From the regular season and NCAA women’s basketball tournament shattering records to now the most-viewed women’s volleyball match in history, the Big Ten sees the environment as ripe for major investment. It’s a moment when strategy meets the phenomenon.
“It’s a viewer-friendly sport to watch in the sense that whether you’re there in person or you’re watching on TV, it’s a fast-paced game,” Big Ten chief operating officer Kerry Kenny said. “It’s also a sport that over time we’ve identified where it seems to trend younger and more female in terms of the demographic audience of who’s actually…
