Wrigley Field Shakes: The Big Game of American College Women's Volleyball

Wrigley Field, the hallowed home of the Chicago Cubs, will no longer echo only with the crack of a bat. On September 6, for the first time in the ballpark's over-a-century history, a volleyball will be tossed into the air. Not an exhibition match, not a fundraising event. It is a regular-season NCAA women's volleyball match, where Nebraska, the No. 1 team in the nation, will face Missouri as part of the Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week. I have covered women's volleyball for 36 years, from the empty arenas of Belgrade to the packed stands of the Olympics. But I have never seen an announcement that made me stop and read more carefully than this one. This is not just a sporting event. This is a statement. The Challenge Week, running from September 1 to 6, brings together all 34 volleyball programs from two of America's largest conferences: the Big Ten and the SEC. They will compete in 27 matchups across 10 host campuses, from Nashville to Ann Arbor, from Chicago to other cities. This is the first time these two conferences have organized such a large-scale joint event, an effort to assert women's volleyball's place on the American college sports map. But what truly caught my attention was not the number 34 teams or 27 matches. It was how this event has been staged, sponsored, and broadcast—a calculated investment I have never seen in college women's volleyball. Allstate, one of America's largest insurance corporations, has signed a two-year title sponsorship deal including in-venue branding and match-day activations at every site. This is not a small sponsorship. This is a serious financial commitment, a clear signal that major corporations are beginning to see the commercial value of women's volleyball. But I cannot help asking: why did it take so long? While men's volleyball has always been considered a secondary sport, women's volleyball at the American college level has teams whose competitive quality rivals any professional league. Nebraska, Kentucky, Penn State—these names have built volleyball programs with large, loyal fan bases, with arenas packed whenever their teams play. So why did they have to wait until now for an event of this magnitude? Look at the numbers. Nebraska, the No. 1 team in the country, will enter the match at Wrigley Field with an undefeated record. But what matters is not their record, but how they are treated. While college football games are regularly broadcast on national channels with millions of viewers, women's volleyball has had to struggle for a slot on mainstream sports channels. This event, with the Kentucky-Penn State match broadcast live on FOX at 7 p.m. and Nebraska-Missouri at 9 p.m., is a turning point. This is the first time I have seen a college women's volleyball match placed in prime time on a major national channel. This matters not only for the participating teams but for the entire sport. But I want to talk about another aspect, one I believe few have noticed. I have witnessed too many women's sports events promoted with fanfare, heavily invested in, only to disappear after one season. I have seen women's football tournaments organized on a grand scale, but with no follow-up broadcast deals, no returning sponsors. I have seen championship-winning women's volleyball teams still paying out of pocket for travel expenses. So when I see a two-year deal with Allstate, I cannot help but be cautious. What happens after two years? Is this a sustainable investment, or just a short-term promotional campaign? I recall 2026, when I discovered that only 4 of 22 young players at Nippon TV Beleza in Japan had real professional contracts. They were called players, but they were not paid fairly, had no health insurance, no guarantees for the future. My article "The Forgotten Contract" sparked a wave of debate in Japan, eventually forcing the Japan Football Association to address the professionalization roadmap. I tell this story not to boast, but to emphasize a point: we often get swept up in flashy performances, big sponsorship deals, historic stadiums, forgetting that behind these things are real people, female athletes fighting not only on the court but in life. The Wrigley Field event will certainly be a historic moment. But I want to look further ahead. I want to ask: will this event actually change the structural injustice that has long existed in women's sports? Or is it just a momentary display, a way for big corporations to show their support for women in sports without addressing the core issues? Look at the numbers I have collected over the years. At the 2026 Men's World Cup, FIFA paid out $400 million in prize money. At the 2026 Women's World Cup, that figure was only $30 million. This disparity is not accidental, not because men's football generates more revenue. It is a deliberate choice, a systemic devaluation of women's labor in sports. And volleyball is no exception. While men's professional volleyball leagues in Europe have million-dollar salaries, women's leagues still struggle to survive. Even in the NCAA, considered the best environment for women's volleyball, athletes are not paid, while coaches and athletic directors earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. This event, with all 34 programs from the two biggest conferences participating, is a positive signal. But I cannot forget the promise in Amman. In 2026, I wrote about FIFA's promise in Jordan to close the prize money gap between the Men's and Women's World Cups. It was a promise without minutes, without binding commitment. And in the end, it was not fully fulfilled. I have learned that in sports, empty promises are often easier than concrete actions. So when I see a two-year deal with Allstate, I wonder: is this a real commitment, or just another promise that will be forgotten? I want to talk about something I believe few have mentioned. This event, with matches at Wrigley Field, is an effort to bring women's volleyball to a wider audience. But why do we need to take women's volleyball to a baseball stadium to attract attention? Why can't we make people care about women's volleyball for its own value? I have witnessed NCAA women's volleyball matches with quality so high it made me jump out of my seat. I have seen women's volleyball plays with speed, power, and precision rivaling any sport. But for some reason, these values are still not enough to capture public attention. We still need gimmicks like playing at a historic baseball stadium to make people look. This is a paradox I cannot resolve. But I believe that if this event succeeds—if attendance is high, if TV ratings are strong—it will be an important step forward. Because ultimately, change comes not from statements or promises but from numbers. When sponsors see large audiences, when broadcasters see high ratings, they will automatically invest more. That is how the market works. And that is why this event, despite its limitations, is a step in the right direction. I have followed women's volleyball from the early days, when matches were only broadcast on local channels, when athletes had to cover all their own expenses. I have witnessed the sport's continuous growth, from a secondary sport to one with a substantial fan base. But I have also witnessed setbacks, missed opportunities, broken promises. So I view this event with a cautious eye, but also with cautious hope. Let me tell you about a moment I will never forget. It was at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, during the 2026 World Cup final. 78,000 spectators had come to watch France play Croatia. They were not cheering, not screaming. They were breathing in unison. In that moment, I understood that sports, at its deepest level, is a collective ritual, not a game. And I want the same to happen at Wrigley Field on September 6. I want the 40,000 spectators in that historic stadium to come not out of curiosity but because they genuinely want to watch women's volleyball. I want them to breathe in unison with the plays, with the powerful spikes, with the spectacular saves. There will be those who say I am too cynical. There will be those who say I should be happy about this event. And I truly am happy. But I cannot forget the lessons of the past. I cannot forget the female athletes I have interviewed, those who have had to fight not only on the court but in life. I cannot forget the forgotten contracts, the unfulfilled promises. Because I have learned that in sports, as in life, the most important things are often unspoken. They lie in the silences, in the numbers, in the small details few notice. The Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week is an important milestone. It shows that women's volleyball has reached a new level, that sponsors and broadcasters have begun to see the sport's value. But I want to look beyond this week. I want to know whether, after two years when the Allstate deal ends, sponsors will return. I want to know whether the matches at Wrigley Field will truly attract new fans or just be a one-time event. I want to know whether the female athletes competing this week will be paid fairly, treated equitably. I have written many articles throughout my career. But I always remember one principle: write for ten years from now, not for today's clicks. And when I look at this event, I ask myself: ten years from now, how will we look back on this? Will it be considered a turning point, a moment when women's volleyball truly stepped into the spotlight? Or will it be forgotten, like one of many women's sports events promoted with fanfare but then disappeared? I don't have the answer. But I know that the answer will not come from statements or sponsorship deals. It will come from the specific people, from the female athletes who will compete at Wrigley Field, from the spectators who will come to watch, from the little girls who will watch the match on television and dream of one day playing there. That is where real change happens. Not in sponsor meetings, not in press releases, but in the hearts and minds of specific people. When I left Luzhniki Stadium on the night of the 2026 World Cup final, I received a message from a colleague in Tokyo. Jun Endo, the 17-year-old girl I had interviewed months earlier, had been called up to the Japanese women's national team for the 2026 Asian Cup in Jordan. She had no professional contract, no health insurance, no guarantees. But she kept playing, kept chasing her dream. And when I see the female athletes who will compete at Wrigley Field, I remember Jun Endo, and I remember thousands of other female athletes around the world who are fighting every day to be recognized, to be paid fairly, to be treated equally. This event is a step forward. But it is only one step in a long journey. And I will continue to watch, continue to write, continue to ask difficult questions. Because that is my job. That is why I exist on this page.