DALLAS — Dallas-Fort Worth is home to three of the top five girls club volleyball teams in the country. Texas is home to three of the 11 highest-ranked Division I teams entering the 2026 season — No. 2 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 11 SMU.
But the sport's surging success isn't limited to Texas. Nearly 500,000 girls played high school volleyball in 2024-25, making it the second-most popular girls high school sport in the country. NCAA women's volleyball has nearly 20,000 athletes — up 16% in the last decade — and programs like Nebraska are drawing over 15,000 fans, numbers comparable to some NBA and NHL games.
GSE Worldwide and Full Day Productions saw the sport's rapid growth as an untapped opportunity to reach a wider audience and host a first-of-its-kind event. That's why they created Spikes Under The Lights — a one-night-only volleyball showcase at AT&T Stadium featuring four Division I programs and a $1 million cash prize.
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The event is the first college sporting event with a cash payout to players, the first women's college sporting event at AT&T Stadium and has the largest purse ever awarded in women's college sports.
"We wanted to break a lot of records with this event," said Nickole Tara, chief business officer of Full Day Productions, which has produced the ESPY Awards, the Met Gala and the Oscars Red Carpet Show. "In years past, it wouldn't have been possible."
The event, which is set to begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, will feature No. 1 Nebraska, No. 10 Penn State, No. 11 SMU and No. 17 Florida. The programs will compete in the mini-exhibition tournament broadcast live on TNT, each earning $200,000 as an appearance fee and the winner taking home an additional $200,000.
The event's organizers wanted to leave the decision up to the programs on how they'd use the money, whether that's contributing to their NIL funds, equipment needs or travel expenses.
"It's really cool. What we're doing does have value," SMU volleyball coach Sam Erger said. "It's awesome to finally see real dollars attached to the value that we feel like we've always added."
The right stuff
When planning Spikes Under The Lights, Tara said she and her colleagues knew they needed the right combination of product and placement.
They wanted to select four teams that could create an exciting product for both the diehard fan and the fan new to volleyball.
Nebraska — the No. 1 team in the nation backed by one of the sport's most passionate fan bases — was the obvious choice. Penn State ranks among the nation's winningest programs with eight NCAA titles, most recently in 2024. Florida has been a national contender, finishing as the NCAA runner-up twice in its history.
SMU is one of the fastest-rising sports programs in the country and has a hometown tie to the venue.
The venue selection was just as important as the teams participating, Tara said.
"We thought about the four schools as being the main characters, but we really needed the fifth character in the venue to really stack up to the pedigree of these teams," Tara said. "You start looking at elite buildings and venues, and it's a pretty succinct list of the ones that are the most meaningful in culture.
"AT&T sits in a class by itself."
Paired with the elite youth and college volleyball here in D-FW and Texas, the Cowboys' home became a fitting location for their first year of the event.
While any event at AT&T Stadium has a draw, Tara said Spikes Under The Lights should appeal to all sports fans.
"The best part about volleyball is you don't have to know anything about volleyball to understand the experience and to really have a really entertaining outcome," she said. "Volleyball is very fast. It's very TV-friendly. The rules are pretty obvious, and there's fun little nuances of it that make it engaging."
The event is a three-match, single-elimination tournament compressed into one night.
Nebraska and Florida will play in the first semifinal and face the winner of Penn State and SMU, who play in the second semifinal. Following that match, there will be a brief concert featuring a to-be-announced artist before the winners face off in the championship.
Every match is best-of-three sets, rather than the typical best-of-five, to fit into a three-hour TV window.
Event shows new potential of NIL
Nebraska freshman Keoni Williams left her home in Fort Worth to chase the biggest opportunities the sport could bring.
Still, she never expected an opportunity like this.
"That opportunity is surreal," she said. "It's actually insane to know how much this sport is growing for women and just how excited people are to go to the game and see us all compete and play. It's crazy to know how much it's growing, and it's only getting bigger."
Five years ago, no college athlete could profit from their name, image and likeness. Women's volleyball players certainly wouldn't be in a position to earn $1 million in a single night.
Spikes Under The Lights shows yet another way that athletes can now capitalize on their time playing college sports. Most rely on brand deals, social media or even revenue sharing with their schools to earn money. But Spikes Under The Lights is opening the door for events to enter the NIL space.
It's also showing that the big price tags aren't only reserved for football and men's basketball.
"Us getting to compete for this kind of prize just proves that we're on the same level or even better than a lot of men's athletics," SMU opposite hitter Jadyn Livings said.
Those involved in Spikes Under The Lights hope Thursday's event will show a wide audience what they've long known about the sport.
"Volleyball players are beautiful," Erger said. "They're marketable. They're smart. They're entertaining. They're athletic. I could go on and on. It is a fabulous product. And people want to be a part of it."
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