Ohio State women's volleyball ready for revenue share

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio State women’s volleyball coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg knows very well what it means to be a Buckeye.  

"As a player, we were pretty good,” she said about her time as a women’s volleyball player for Ohio State. “We had just come off Final Four runs, and as a player, I never got back there and it was like, ‘Man, I want to do that.’” 

Now she’s working to get the program back there as a coach, and Ohio State has made it clear they see the work and potential by including women’s volleyball as one of four teams in its revenue-sharing plans.  

"Volleyball is big in the Big Ten, and in order to compete, you have to compete with the big dogs,” Flynn Oldenburg said. “And by saying that we're one of the four at Ohio State to get revenue share, we're going to compete with the big dogs in volleyball." 

"Volleyball is a booming sport. The Covelli Center is an amazing atmosphere,” Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork said. “So we thought volleyball could be a sport that, you know, could drive more revenue, but also the attention that it gets within the Big Ten." 

The historic House vs. NCAA settlement that led to this new era of college sports has drawn the attention of the sports world, but it has also drawn many more questions.  

For example, how will all of this work with Title IX? 

"I think there's always Title IX concerns,” Flynn Oldenburg said. “But I also understand, like the revenue that's created is not always through a women's volleyball match. At the end of the day, football drives this place and we want and need football to be good." 

"From a Title IX standpoint, we think we will be in a better position to support our female athletes,” Bjork said. “The revenue share and the NIL world is not subject to Title nine per se, but we do have an obligation to support our female athletes, just like we do our male athletes. The Buckeye Sports Group allows us to spread out the attention so we can promote 100 female athletes and 100 male athletes just the same." 
 
"I think it's more making sure we are in a space where we are supporting student-athletes, and especially female student-athletes,” Flynn Oldenburg said. 

And that support needs to come from beyond the walls of Ohio State. Yes, revenue sharing now means athletes will get paid by the schools. It also means there is an expectation from those sports to bring in revenue. That is where women’s volleyball has huge potential.  

"Columbus really has shown that it's a volleyball city,” Flynn Oldenburg said. “Not only in our facility here in Covelli, but also, you know, the Fury matches. We sold out the NCAA a couple years back. We are hosting again in a couple of years. You know, I think that just shows the support that the city has and so to be able to give them a little more what they've earned, what they're worth. It's good for our sport.”