There is a story I thought was a bit of an urban sports legend. Way back when Title IX came into being, the NCAA realized that each men’s sport had to have a companion women’s sport…baseball to softball etc. However football had no women’s football so volleyball was designated against it for any number of reasons, not the least of which it was a fall sport as well.
I always thought that was a stretch of the truth, but I heard the story again recently as part of a discussion as to why women’s volleyball has suddenly become such a growth sport that people are just now waking up to on the broadcast, media, and activation side, and when it was explained clearly, a lot of things make more sense.
First. Women’s Volleyball did not suddenly arrive. Anyone who has gone to a random convention center in many cities on a weekend during the winter and early spring…in cities from Boston to Phoenix to LA to Miami…have seen the thousands of young girls and their families in massive events. There are scores of prominent men athletes, from Patrick Ewing to Tracy McGrady, who have loyally followed their daughters to these massive events, and have seen their daughters go on to have great college careers as well.
The Title IX story also explains in some ways why the elite volleyball programs have ended up growing and thriving as major sports in conferences with football powers like the Big Ten and the Big 12 vs smaller conferences…the support and the funding has grown steadily, and so has the audience, well beyond the record crowds we have seen at Nebraska and Wisconsin and other places. What has been seen is an opportunity for adoption and exposure…and the Big Ten has led a great deal of it with their emphasis on broadcast and traditional media coverage well beyond campus in the past few years…has now grown into a revenue source and an opportunity to give women athletes a platform for larger success unlike we have seen for the sport before.
Another why for now? There is a market beyond college that is growing and vibrant in North America for the first time. While beach volleyball, the AVP largely, has had its fits and starts over the years, the market for making a living in traditional volleyball has not been there. Athletes who wanted to play beyond their college years had to go abroad. Now, starting with Athletes Unlimited and going forward, there are opportunities to continue a career (one issue by the way…multiple leagues coming to play at almost the same time. Even though they will have different start times and different structures, how much will the market bear? More than one league on the pro level? Hard to see right now but let’s see how it plays out). There have been efforts to create pro leagues for both men and women away from the sand of the AVP before. All failed for various reasons…lack of promotion, wrong cities at the wrong time, lack of media time and of course, poor business models. That was then, this is now.
Another reason for vibrancy? Name Image and Likeness. The massive grassroots volleyball events has created stars in the volleyball community who have gone on to be household names with loyal followings. The sport is now both aspirational…I can be that athlete, as well as inspirational…I follow and know that athlete…really for the first time. Brands who have marketed to the grassroots community and its thousands, maybe millions, of followers now have a pipeline of activation to the college level and soon to the professional level. The data has been collected and can be used for who has followed the sport from a young age, and the elite athletes at the top of the triangle of volleyball success can now reap the benefits to the tune of thousands of dollars while in college.
How about another one. There is a fanbase that if marketed to, will actually show up, cheer and enjoy the game. This is one of those blue ocean opportunities for mid-major schools in what we can call college volleyball deserts. Is it better, or easier, to try and devote thousands, if not millions, of dollars to a non BCS football program, many of which in places like the northeast will draw maybe 1,000 people or 3,000 people on a few Saturdays, or would it be better to look at the thousands of young volleyball fans in an area who can be marketed and sold tickets to? The resources and the event marketing, to break even on women’s volleyball as a “ticketed” sport are probably much lower than all that goes into mid-level college football, so why not take a shot and own the sport with full arenas at schools that are traditionally basketball schools with a smattering of football. A Philly school, a Boston school, a DC school, a NY school, could OWN the sport in their area and draw and promote accordingly. However right now, it seems to be an also ran…but probably not for long.
So while we love to chase the shiny toy…pickleball, esports, MMA etc. etc.…with no real proof of a marketplace, maybe look a little closer at a success story 50 years in the making with all the pieces already built in…brands, years of large audiences, a window that plays well to all forms of content, elite athletes, and proven success at some of the largest venues in the country with professional options coming into view (oh and it is also an Olympic sport).
Volleyball. Its getting attention, but it will be getting more, and the door is just now cracking open wider.
