College sport is a much bigger deal in the United States, with interest reaching new levels on Wednesday as a volleyball match between the Nebraska Huskers and Omaha broke the world record attendance for a women's sports event; 92,003 fans filled the Memorial Stadium in Lincoln
Thursday 31 August 2023 08:19, UK
A college volleyball match in the United States was the unusual setting for a new attendance world record, as over 90,000 packed in to watch the Nebraska Huskers beat Omaha.
The crowd broke the previous world record for women's sports attendance - 91,648 - set last year in a Champions League match between Barcelona and Wolfsburg.
Nebraska-Lincoln University took aim at the record last spring when it announced it would hold a day-long celebration, dubbed 'Volleyball Day in Nebraska', of a sport that enjoys immense popularity in this state of fewer than two million people.
The Memorial Stadium's official capacity in Lincoln, Nebraska is just over 85,000 for football, but that number was higher for this event because there were seats and standing room on the field.
"We took a chance by playing in Memorial Stadium, and to go for the record and break it... I don't think anybody could have envisioned that when this whole thing started," Nebraska coach John Cook said.
"It feels like a great accomplishment for this sport called volleyball played by women. It's a state treasure. We proved it."
This was paid attendance, too. Tickets for the double-header - Wayne State beat Nebraska-Kearney in a Division II exhibition before the Huskers and Mavericks played - were originally priced at $25 for adults and $5 for high school students and younger. But tickets reached as much as $400 on the secondary market.
"It's incredible, I don't have enough words to describe it," Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson said. "We were walking out of the tunnel after the second set, and we heard on the speaker we had just broken the world record.
"Everyone was trying to stay locked in, but we were also so excited. I can't describe how grateful I am to be a part of it."
Though 91,648 was widely acknowledged as the women's sports attendance record, at least one match at the unofficial 1971 Women's World Cup in Mexico City reportedly drew 110,000 people.
The American record attendance for a women's sporting event had been 90,185 for the 1999 World Cup soccer final between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California - the game where Brandi Chastain ripped off her shirt after scoring the decisive penalty for the US win.
