Tennessee football is increasing ticket prices by an average of 14.5% ahead of the 2025 season, they announced in an email to season ticket holders on Tuesday morning.
The increase will be larger for some season tickets and donations and smaller for others. Tennessee stated that 10% of the increase in ticket prices will go to a “talent fee” that will help the university pay athletes in this new upcoming era of revenue sharing.
While the “talent fee” would typically make people think about the money going to name, image and likeness that doesn’t seem to be the case. The House v. NCAA federal antitrust case is currently unresolved. However, the expectation is that universities will have the ability to pay student athletes.
SEC and Big 10 universities will almost certainly end up paying student athletes if that resolution is reached. All schools will need additional funding to both pay student athletes directly and to provide more scholarships, something that has been discussed in a number of sports like football and baseball.
“As the collegiate model changes, we have to remain flexible,” Tennessee Director of Athletics Danny White said in the email. “We have to continue leading the way. That connection between resources and competitiveness has never been tighter. Only now we have the ability to share these resources with our athletes. We can generate revenue that will go directly to our players. This will give our teams the best chance to be successful and bring championships home to Rocky Top.”
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Under White’s leadership, Tennessee is raising money at the most effective rate in university history. The Tennessee Fund raised $139.7 million last academic year which was the most in school history.
Tennessee has also raised money through corporate sponsors in recent seasons including a Neyland Stadium preservation project with Pilot and a Thompson-Boling Arena naming contract with Food City.
The Vols are currently undergoing a number of expensive projects on campus in addition to upcoming revenue streaming. Tennessee is currently renovating Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Neyland Stadium and the Anderson Training Center— three massive construction projects at a time where costs are rising for athletic departments across the country.
Tennessee football enters this week’s SEC opener at Oklahoma 3-0 and ranked No. 6 in this week’s AP Poll.
