$1M volleyball event to be held at AT&T Stadium

May 4, 2026

Four women’s college volleyball teams—Florida, Nebraska, Penn State, and SMU—will compete for a $1 million total purse in “Spikes Under the Lights,” a made-for-TV exhibition at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on August 27, 2026. The event features two semifinals followed by a championship final, all played in a best-of-three sets format designed to fit within a three-hour broadcast window.

Each team receives a $200,000 appearance fee, with an additional $200,000 in prize money at stake (with the winner taking the largest share). The event is produced by GSE Worldwide and Full Day Productions, and while each school decides how to distribute the money among players, the matchup marks the first volleyball event of its kind at the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium.

Organizersplan to make Spikes Under the Lights an annual event with rotating participants, building on the growing visibility of women’s college volleyball following Nebraska’s 2023 outdoor record attendance of 92,003 at Memorial Stadium. With AT&T Stadium capable of holding up to 100,000 fans, the exhibition could draw one of the largest crowds ever for a college volleyball match. All four programs are powerhouses: Penn State has 45 NCAA appearances and eight national titles, Nebraska has 44 appearances and five titles, Florida has 36 appearances, and SMU has reached three straight NCAA tournaments. espn