Volleyball Day in Nebraska provides NIL opportunities for Huskers

On Wednesday night, Nebraska volleyball will play in Memorial Stadium. A culmination of the program’s dominance in the sport, it has the opportunity to set U.S. and world records for a women’s sporting event.

What initially started off as a joke between head coach John Cook and athletic director Trev Alberts will come to fruition Wednesday. Nebraska gave students the day off; construction began on the court last Thursday.

It’s been a major undertaking. The world attendance record for a women’s sporting event sits at 91,648 – a Barcelona vs. Wolfsburg UEFA Champion League match in 2022. The Huskers are expecting to break that record, especially after they sold 82,900 tickets over three days in April.

Nebraska vs. Omaha will begin at 7 p.m. local time and will be televised on the Big Ten Network and streamed on FOX Sports. Roughly 15 minutes after the match, country music star Scotty McCreery will perform a 75-minute concert. Since the American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings debuted in 1982, the Huskers have appeared 102 times at No. 1.

Thanks to college athletes now profiting from their name, image and likeness, plenty of opportunities have come with Volleyball Day in Nebraska. Each member of the Huskers’ volleyball team has opted into group licensing agreements with The Brandr Group.

The brand management, marketing and licensing agency allows for the collective use of student-athletes’ NIL in licensing and marketing programs, co-branded with the institution’s logos and marks. TBG facilitates group licensing opportunities on behalf of the student-athletes and represents more than 54 Division I institutions. 

“I’m pumped,” Husker middle blocker Bekka Allick said about the Tunnel Walk – a Nebraska tradition usually reversed for the football team. “I kind of wish I had a couple of pads on and we could just like run into each other and like feel like a bunch of dogs. But it’ll be sick.”

Breakdown of NIL deals for Volleyball Day in Nebraska

A source told On3 this is the largest women’s NIL activation next to UConn basketball. Some merchandise featuring athletes’ NIL is also being sold around Lincoln retailers, including Scheels and Best of Big Red.

With every player on the Nebraska team opted into the group licensing program, four NIL activations have been launched surrounding the day:

• ONIT released team-specific trading cards. One in every 10 packs will feature an autographed card with select athletes who do autographed cards receiving additional compensation. Athletes will also be able to earn additional compensation for selling cards through their social and digital platforms. The first 5,000 production run of ONIT packs are fully guaranteed and paid, with projected payouts of more than $1,000 per player.

• Through Campus Ink’s NIL Store network, each athlete has their own personalized apparel for sale. To mark the special day in Nebraska volleyball history, the company released a slew of merchandise to mark the occasion. A T-shirt and sweatshirt featuring the entire team is for sale, along with a limited-release volleyball football jersey. Fans can also purchase custom volleyball jerseys for $79.99. Each athlete profits between $8 and $15 per item sold.

• Athlete’s Thread has a full set of apparel for Volleyball Day in Nebraska. While the exact revenue share is not publicly known, the merchandise includes shirts and hoodies with every Husker volleyball jersey featured. Volleyball Day in Nebraska apparel is also for sale, with each athlete’s name on the back and an image of Memorial Stadium.

• Multiple posters from The Athletic Collection have also launched featuring Alick and Kennedi Orr. Brent Pitarro with The Athletic Collection said, “Players make more money from our posters than they do from a jersey sale.” The company’s website says 10% of profits from poster sales are also donated back to the local community of the college.