Despite winning neither the 2023 nor the 2024 NCAA championship titles, the Nebraska Huskers have continued to set the standard for women’s volleyball. The Huskers first thrust volleyball to new heights on August 30, 2023, when they filled Memorial Stadium with 92,003 fans. However, new financial information for the 2024 fiscal year has unearthed yet another record.

The 2023-2024 fiscal year, which included the record-breaking 2023 NCAA season for the Huskers, earned them over a million in profit. “Nebraska volleyball continues to set the standard in women’s athletics as it turned a profit of $1.3 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year,” Lincoln Arneal revealed on X. The number is $1.342 million, to be exact.

Volleyball day itself played a huge part in pushing the revenue beyond the million mark. According to the documents, Nebraska Volleyball submitted to the NCAA on August 30, 2023, and it amassed a whopping $2.7 million in revenue. How much of the number translated to profit for the Huskers? Volleyball Day alone generated $850,000 in estimated profit, as per the Journal Star.

This number alone is far more than the meager $6,572 profit they earned in 2022. The Huskers volleyball program has turned a profit for the last ten years (except during the 2020 pandemic). However, they beat their previous record of $1,227,738 by over $100,000. Besides Volleyball Day, the next biggest source of income for Nebraska volleyball was ticket sales.

During the 2024 fiscal year, NU sold $2,569,620 worth of match tickets, a huge leap from the previous year’s $300,000. Apart from tickets, revenue from parking, concessions, and novelties climbed from $805,104 to over $1.789 million. Finally, the ‘other revenue’ category also generated $1,812,912.

In total, Nebraska earned $7 million in revenue from the last fiscal year. However, these massive numbers now pose one question: Will Nebraska volleyball be able to match it for the 2024 NCAA season?

The x-factor that could help Nebraska volleyball exceed their record-breaking earnings

The record-breaking earnings have helped the Nebraska Huskers set a lofty milestone. And while it would be tough to surpass such a milestone, the impossible might just happen during the 2024-2025 fiscal year. While the 2024 season didn’t see another mega event like volleyball day, the Huskers have broken records in other areas.

One of the most prominent areas where Nebraska volleyball set the standard in 2024 was broadcasting records. Besides debuting on NBC, the Huskers helped ESPN post massive viewership numbers. “ESPN aced its 2024 @NCAAVolleyball season,” posted the network on X on 30th December 2024, while revealing that the 2024 season had helped the network reach a combined viewership of 3.7 million.

The Huskers alone weren’t responsible for helping ESPN reach these numbers, but they made a massive contribution. Take the NCAA Championship semifinals, for example. The Huskers vs. Penn State semi-final match peaked at 1.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched NCAA Championship semifinal in history. Although the details of broadcasting revenue remain undisclosed, it could very well be the x-factor that pushes Nebraska volleyball toward a new earnings record.