The NCAA women’s volleyball final, featuring Texas and Nebraska, shattered viewership records on Sunday, outshining even NFL competition. Airing on ABC, the match set a new standard in popularity for women's college volleyball, drawing an impressive 1.69 million viewers and earning a 0.8 rating. This milestone surpassed a regional FOX broadcast in October, which benefitted from an NFL lead-in.

The Texas Longhorns' victory over Nebraska not only marked their second consecutive title win, but also represented a significant uptick in viewership. This year's final soared past the previous record set two years ago in the Nebraska-Wisconsin championship, which attracted 1.20 million viewers, as reported by Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. The surge in interest was also evident in comparison to last year’s Texas-Louisville title game, which saw a 95% jump in ratings and a 115% increase in viewership.

Interestingly, the NCAA women’s volleyball final ranks fifth among major college championships over the past year, trailing only the title games in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball. Notably, none of these other championship events faced the challenge of competing against NFL broadcasts, making the volleyball final’s success even more remarkable.

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The Texas women’s team, with a record of 28-4, demonstrated their dominance in the postseason by defeating top-ranked teams, including Nebraska, who had only lost one other match in their 35-game season. Senior Madisen Skinner led the charge with 16 kills, contributing to Texas' decisive 25-22, 25-14, 25-11 victory.

This extraordinary viewership milestone and the match's broadcast on ABC signal a growing interest in women's volleyball, a trend further evidenced by a record-setting event in Lincoln earlier in the year. That match featured Nebraska take on Omaha in front of a record-breaking crowd of 92,003 people.