Penn State Women's Volleyball Introduces the Future of College Sports

The Nittany Lions will play in a $1 million volleyball exhibition at AT&T Stadium.

Penn State women's volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley talks to her players during a timeout in a Big Ten volleyball match against UCLA. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As one of the top brands in college women's volleyball, Penn State can compete on the game's cutting edge. And next season, the Nittany Lions will help introduce a new marketing strategy for their sport.

Penn State is one of four teams that will compete in the $1 million Spikes Under the Lights, a new women's volleyball exhibition that will be a model for college athletics. Penn State, Nebraska, Florida and SMU will play a one-day tournament Aug. 27 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Each team receives a $200,000 appearance fee, with another $200,000 in prize money available. According to Sports Business Journal, the teams will decide how to distribute the money.

Spikes Under the Lights, sponsored by Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide, looks to capitalize on the growing popularity of women's volleyball and set the sport's attendance record. The teams will play a pair of best-of-three semifinals, with the winner advancing to the championship match. According to Penn State, network television coverage will be announced.

For Penn State, the exhibition represents another marquee event on the 2026 schedule. Ten days after Spikes Under the Lights, the Nittany Lions will play in the new Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge at Wrigley Field. Penn State will take on Kentucky in the first college women's volleyball event in Wrigley Field history.

𝙄𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙪𝙢 🏐🏈#WeAre pic.twitter.com/Bj05iMx6Vr

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) May 5, 2026

Spikes Under the Lights is a new model for college athletics, one in which Penn State is eager to participate. The Nittany Lions won the 2024 NCAA women's volleyball championship on an epic run that elevated the program's brand nationally. And head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley received an ESPY award for courage by leading the title run while undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

However, like most university teams competing in Olympic sports, Penn State lost money during its championship season. According to Penn State's most recent financial report, the women's volleyball team had a budget deficit of $2.6 million for fiscal year 2024-25, which included the championship campaign.

The team had operating expenses of $3.9 million against revenues of $1.3 million. And Penn State's athletic department budgeted just $10,000 of its nearly $18.3 million NIL expenditures to women's volleyball, according to the financial report.

Olympic sports teams are going to have to generate more revenue-producing opportunities to be competitive, or even continue operating, in the NIL and revenue-sharing era. Penn State women's volleyball has the national brand and historic success to create such opportunities.

The Nittany Lions last season made their 45th consecutive NCAA Tournament, extending their run as the only team to play in every NCAA women's tournament since 1981. Penn State won its first-round match against South Florida before falling to Texas in Round 2.

Penn State has won eight NCAA women's volleyball titles, second only to Stanford (nine).
Senior Kennedy Martin is three-time All-American and earned first-team honors last season, her first at Penn State. Martin previously played at Florida, which she could see at Spikes Under the Lights. She set Penn State single-season records for points (728), points per set (6.22), kills (634), and kills per set (5.42) last season.

Strong and stylish 💅

The team showed out for the Nittanys last night #WeAre pic.twitter.com/HXr0BeZkQm

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) April 28, 2026

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