By Travis LeBlanc, Austin Peay State University Associate Head Beach Volleyball Coach and Assistant Women’s Indoor Volleyball Coach
The growth of volleyball, both indoor and beach, has been nothing short of incredible.
In 2016, I joined the staff at Austin Peay as a graduate assistant coach. That year, Stanford’s NCAA Championship victory against Texas had an overall viewership of 576,000, according to ESPN. Just six years later, Wisconsin’s thrilling, five-set victory over Nebraska in this season’s title match, drew a record-shattering 1,118,000 viewers. Comparatively, that figure represents a 106 percent rise over the 2016 final, a 71 percent increase over the Spring 2021 championship match, and is 119 percent above the ratings from the 2019 final.
High school girls volleyball has seen a 12 percent growth in recent years, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, and the numbers continue to go up. There are over 100,000 more USA Volleyball members today than there were in 2010.
And, it has not just been women’s volleyball that has seen a dramatic increase in recent years. Men’s volleyball has been one of the largest growth sports across the country. Evidence of this can be found in the more than 70 NCAA men’s volleyball teams, across all three divisions, that have been added since 2013....
After the NCAA added beach volleyball to its list of sanctioned/championship sports in 2016, we began offering it at Austin Peay. There are already 64 Division I programs and more than 170 total college beach teams, and I foresee the numbers continuing to increase.
The growth of volleyball, both indoor and beach, has been nothing short of incredible.
In 2016, I joined the staff at Austin Peay as a graduate assistant coach. That year, Stanford’s NCAA Championship victory against Texas had an overall viewership of 576,000, according to ESPN. Just six years later, Wisconsin’s thrilling, five-set victory over Nebraska in this season’s title match, drew a record-shattering 1,118,000 viewers. Comparatively, that figure represents a 106 percent rise over the 2016 final, a 71 percent increase over the Spring 2021 championship match, and is 119 percent above the ratings from the 2019 final.
High school girls volleyball has seen a 12 percent growth in recent years, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, and the numbers continue to go up. There are over 100,000 more USA Volleyball members today than there were in 2010.
And, it has not just been women’s volleyball that has seen a dramatic increase in recent years. Men’s volleyball has been one of the largest growth sports across the country. Evidence of this can be found in the more than 70 NCAA men’s volleyball teams, across all three divisions, that have been added since 2013....
After the NCAA added beach volleyball to its list of sanctioned/championship sports in 2016, we began offering it at Austin Peay. There are already 64 Division I programs and more than 170 total college beach teams, and I foresee the numbers continuing to increase.
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