Numbers are up around the country for women's collegiate indoor volleyball. I'm talking live attendance, not television numbers, although it would be interesting to see how ESPNU's faring with their Wednesday night match of the week. Over 4,000 students and fans regularly attend games at Colorado State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Stanford, and Penn State. At USC, UCLA, Washington, Long Beach State, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, New Mexico, and Oregon, similar-sized crowds show up for big home games. Not bad for a small non-revenue Olympic sport which suffers rule changes every other minute.
What can explain this surge in popularity? I offer three reasons. First, the sport is booming in AAU club and secondary schools for girls. For participation, it is a top three team sport for girls (with soccer and softball), particularly strong in the Midwest and the Far West. That explains why the strongest college teams hail from the Midwest and Far West, Duke's efforts notwithstanding. That partially explains why the best-attended matches are in the Midwest and Far West.
Second, while purists may scoff at it, beach volleyball and its television exposure (generated perhaps by exposure of another kind) has made the game more popular and familiar to the average sport fan. Even ESPN's Chris Spielman, while doing an interview with Fox Sports Radio's Petros & Money late this week, admitted he was talking from a Georgia Tech volleyball match where he was watching football broadcast boothmate Urban Meyer's daughter play. The Olympic success of beach volleyball's Kerri Walsh and Misty May definitely helped the positive trending and was far more important to the sport in general than last year's bankruptcy of the pro beach volleyball tour.
The third reason women's collegiate indoor volleyball has gotten off to such a good start in 2011? Believe it or not, it's not the great match-ups and tournaments. That happens every year. While some coaches and athletic directors believe in and strictly adhere to solid cupcake scheduling before conference play begins, most schools crave great matches with great foes. Such contests boost the popularity of the program and the sport. It also boosts network interest.
The third reason women's collegiate indoor volleyball has gotten off to such a good start in 2011? Believe it or not, it's not the advent of social media and video streaming on team websites. Of course, the exposure doesn't hurt. Most teams now have Facebook and Twitter accounts; many schools have video highlights and interviews--a few even stream complete matches. All of that is positive advertising for the program and the sport.
However, I believe the third reason for the sport's upward trending popularity in live attendance is simple: it's the economy, stupid. With underemployment and unemployment both at post-Great Depression highs in the USA, and the price of a college football game getting further and further out of the reach of the average family of four, non-revenue sports and their bargain ticket prices make a wonderful substitute for the school fan or alumnus who still wants to "share the experience" of an intercollegiate rivalry in person. At many venues, obtaining a good seat is easy, making the experience that much more positive.
You may agree or disagree with my reasoning, but one thing is certain: spiking attendance for indoor volleyball is a good thing.
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