Las Vegas women's college volleyball event in August will be 2nd to offer $1 million purse

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — A second million-dollar college volleyball event will be played in late August, and national power Nebraska will appear in both.

The inaugural Players Era Volleyball Showcase is set for Aug. 29-30 at T-Mobile Arena and will have $1 million in name, image and likeness opportunities for the four participating teams, organizers announced Friday.

That event follows Spikes Under the Lights on Aug. 27 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, that will distribute $1 million among four teams.

Nebraska plays UNLV and Texas faces TCU on the first day of the Showcase. It will be Nebraska-Texas and TCU-UNLV on the second day.

Nebraska, Florida, Penn State and SMU are the teams in Spikes Under the Lights. Two semifinals will be followed by a final, with all played in a best-of-three set format designed to fit a three-hour broadcast window. Semifinal matchups and broadcast details will be announced later.

The Spikes Under the Lights matches will be exhibitions and the Players Era Showcase matches will count in the regular season.

Players Era has put on a November men's basketball tournament in Las Vegas since 2024 that has provided millions of dollars in NIL opportunities. That event has grown from an initial field of eight teams to 24 for this year.

“NCAA women’s volleyball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, with record ratings and surging attendance, and we’re thrilled to have some of the biggest programs in the sport headlining our first-ever volleyball event as we expand beyond college hoops to create more amazing events for players, coaches and fans,” said Players Era CEO Seth Berger.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports