The Big Ten is introducing the inaugural Big Ten Women’s Volleyball Tournament this season, and the championship match will get a primetime slot on Fox.
The tournament will run from November 20 to November 25, with 10 of the 14 matches receiving national television coverage. The championship, which will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 25, will be the only match on Fox. Most remaining tournament matches will air on BTN, with four relegated to BTN+.
The championship will air on a busy sports night, competing for attention with Netflix’s inaugural Wednesday NFL game before Thanksgiving and the heart of college basketball’s Feast Week.
Television networks have expanded their investment in women’s volleyball in recent years. In the professional ranks, USA Network and The CW have both announced agreements to broadcast volleyball leagues.
In college, the Nebraska Cornhuskers have become akin to a blueblood in volleyball. Nebraska’s popularity has become so significant that Fox will air the Cornhuskers on a college football Saturday. Fox will air Wisconsin-Nebraska on Saturday, October 10. A start time for that match has not been announced, as it will depend on Fox’s college football schedule.
Overall, Fox will air three Big Ten volleyball matches. In addition to the Big Ten championship and Wisconsin-Nebraska, Fox will also carry Wisconsin-Louisville on August 22.
Fox Sports also has the rights to the State Farm Women’s Volleyball Showcase from Aug. 28-30. The Fox broadcast network will air two additional matches from that tournament featuring Big Ten teams, Purdue-Creighton and Minnesota-Arizona State, both on August 28. The remaining matches from the tournament will air on FS1 or Big Ten Network.
The Fox broadcast network will also have coverage of two matches from the inaugural Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week being played at Wrigley Field. Nebraska-Missouri and Penn State-Kentucky will air in primetime on Fox on Sunday, September 6.
FS1 will also see an expansion of its volleyball coverage, airing 16 regular-season matches featuring Big Ten teams this season, up from nine last year.
Notably, while NBC and Peacock have aired a handful of Big Ten volleyball matches over the last few years, that doesn’t appear to be the case this season. They are not currently scheduled to air any Big Ten matches. NBC’s contract with the Big Ten requires it to air a specific number of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball games each year while allowing it to choose whether to air other Olympic sports.
Despite seemingly losing NBC coverage, Big Ten volleyball is still seeing a significant expansion of its national television coverage in 2026.
About Manny Soloway
Manny Soloway is a Iowa based writer focusing on TV ratings. He is also the founder of the TV Media Blog substack.