Tell Your Friends About Olivia Babcock

If you're reading this newsletter, I'm assuming that you've seen Olivia Babcock play. You know how incredible it is to watch her fire a jump topspin serve through an opponents' back row, to see her launch from beyond the 10-foot line for a kill, to witness her throttling a team’s hopes from her spot on the right pin.

She leaps. She bounds. She destroys.

Even volleyball novices are able to see, from the opening set of a match, that Babcock (or Liv, as you'll often see on social media) has that 'it' factor. The rest of the country has noticed: she enters her junior year with a National Player of the Year Award, a Honda Award and an ESPY nomination.

And yet. I see a player with plenty of room to grow and more attention to grab. Babcock is on a path to making the U.S. Olympic Volleyball Team for her hometown Olympics in Los Angeles, but I can safely wager that most Pittsburghers have never seen her play. That's a shame!

A Unique Opportunity in Women's Sports

I've written before in this space – covering a potential pro volleyball team for Pittsburgh – that our city is an untapped market for top-tier women's sports. This summer, the new Pittsburgh Riveters soccer team drew 6,077 fans to the first-ever match (the fourth-largest crowd in Highmark Stadium history) and 5,761 to its final regular season match. And this was essentially a well-marketed collegiate summer league side.

No shade, though – I was a season-ticket holder and greatly enjoyed the Riveters' season.

Even rarer than a top-flight Pittsburgh women's sports team to cheer on? A top-flight Pittsburgh female athlete. We simply haven't seen many superstar athletes who competed at an elite level in our city. When I think of the greatest female athletes in Pittsburgh history, it's largely a list of people who grew up here but achieved fame and championships elsewhere:

• Suzie McConnell-Serio – Penn State basketball player, Olympic gold medalist
• Swin Cash – UConn and WNBA, two-time Olympic gold medalist
• Meghan Klingenberg – UNC soccer, Houston and Portland of the NWSL, World Cup champion
• Lauryn Williams – University of Miami track star, Olympic gold medalist

Sports superstardom in Pittsburgh as a female athlete? That's a unique opportunity.

The closest Pittsburgh has come to rooting on stars near their peak might have been Trecia-Kaye Smith for Pitt track & field in the late '90s and goaltender Brianne McLaughlin for Robert Morris hockey in the late 2000s. With apologies to both programs, neither one broke through to mainstream appeal like Pitt Volleyball has the opportunity to do.

Olivia's Not Alone

Babcock has done quite well for herself in the Name, Image and Likeness world. She has set up her professional future in a deal with League One Volleyball (LOVB) and is a featured athlete for Red Bull – maybe you've heard of it.

But across the net from Liv in her opening match was her good friend, Harper Murray. Nebraska's outside hitter had just inked an NIL deal with Huskers sponsor Adidas, complete with store takeovers and giant projections on buildings in Lincoln.

The only other college right-side hitter garnering acclaim close to Babcock would be Kennedy Martin. And if you believe the rumor passed along this week by former Nebraska coach Terry Pettit, Martin took $1 million over two years to jump from Florida to Penn State.

Now, I believe Pitt is doing right by Olivia Babcock. She certainly seems happy to be a Panther. Still, I can't help but look at the Adidas activations for Murray and the million-dollar reports for Martin and wonder if Pitt – and Pittsburgh – could be doing more.

Get Olivia's face on more billboards and commercials. Find some more old-school interview opportunities with radio and TV. Strategize on new-school online collaborations (why does Jalapeño Hannah get more love on Instagram than any real woman in Pittsburgh sports?).

At the very least I'd better see and hear some marketing for Pitt Volleyball at the next couple of football games beyond the cursory “next game” scoreboard mention.

We as fans have a role in this too: good ol' word-of-mouth advertising.

If you've loved watching Babcock and the Panthers play, invite someone to do the same. There are plenty of good seats still available for the Labor Day weekend matches at PPG Paints Arena. And make sure your local sports bar knows to change the channel to FS1.

Are your volleyball-curious friends out of town for the holiday? Lower-level seats for Sunday, September 28 at the Petersen Events Center are still available – $20 apiece, or $10 apiece if you can cobble together a group of 15 or more. I'm looking forward to welcoming my run club to that match.

Spread the word! Odds are good they'll love watching Liv as much as we do. And if you happen to own a multi-national corporation looking to sign a young star to an NIL deal...

Here exists the chance to let young star athletes know that Pittsburgh is the place for you. Convince them that the best opportunities to thrive in volleyball don’t exist in Lincoln or State College or Austin — but in the City of Champions. Come here. Be a winner. Build your brand. This city will support you.