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By Jim Caltagirone
For the Mirror
During a six-week stretch that spanned late August to mid-October, three significant attendance records were set at sports events in this country.
That's interesting news, but there is an inspirational aspect to it.
Women were competing in all three events -- a college volleyball match in Lincoln, Nebraska, professional soccer game in Seattle, and college basketball game in Des Moines, Iowa.
Integral to the feats were three phenomena -- the University of Nebraska volleyball team, Megan Rapinoe and Caitlin Clark.
The Huskers have won five NCAA volleyball championships, advanced to the finals ten times and appeared in the NCAA Tournament 41 times, one shy of Penn State's record.
On Aug. 30 in Memorial Stadium, Nebraska and Omaha played before 92,003 fans, which is the largest crowd to witness a women's sports event -- ever. The previous world record was 91,648 for a Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Wolfsburg on April 22, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain.
Rapinoe ranks in the top 10 in goals and assists in U.S. Women's National Team history and has been impactful off the field with her advocacy of societal issues. On Oct. 6 in Seattle, 34,130 spectators turned out for Rapinoe's final regular-season home game as a member of OL Reign, setting a new attendance record for an NWSL game.
Clark, who has been described as "the face of women's basketball across the United States," led Iowa to the national title game last March. She is the reigning National Player of the Year.
On Oct. 15, the NCAA women's basketball attendance record was broken when 55,646 tickets were sold for an exhibition game between Iowa and DePaul at Kinnick Stadium. The previous record was 29,619, which was set during the 2002 UConn-Oklahoma national championship game.
As perspective, attendance at the exhibition game was larger than at 41 FBS games that weekend, including No. 1 Georgia at Vanderbilt. Put another way, only 14 FBS games attracted more paying customers than Iowa and DePaul.
Common threads run through the new attendance records. Marketing strategists believed that the record-setting attempts would succeed, exceptional athletes were front and center, and the fans pursued the opportunity to be part of history with passion and delight.
"There's a great business case and strategy around women's athletics long term that maybe college athletics hasn't embraced," said Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts. "And we think here in Nebraska, long before I became the athletic director, we've significantly invested in women's athletics, and you're seeing the result of that by seeing the success of the volleyball program and the fan base surrounding it."
The results of the volleyball match, soccer game and basketball game were incidental.
Whether an intentional consequence or not, the athletes who will benefit most from the shattering of the attendance records are those in the generations to follow.
As a United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women emphasizes, "Sport has the power to change lives. The ability to drive gender equality by teaching women and girls teamwork, self-reliance, resilience and confidence. Women in sport defy gender stereotypes and social norms, make inspiring role models, and show men and women as equals."
Ultimately, those are the results that matter most.
By the way, Nebraska won the volleyball match, OL Reign's game ended in a draw, and Iowa triumphed in the basketball game.
Caltagirone writes a monthly column for the Mirror. He also comments on college football's national scene for Gameday.