Tennessee adds 'talent fee' in 2025 ticket cost hike

Field Level Media|published: Tue 17th September, 14:02 2024

From left, Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel, Athletic Director Danny White, and Chief Communications Officer Jason Baum chat with Pilot CEO Adam Wright after the announcement of a branding partnership between Pilot and Neyland Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.

With revenue sharing between college teams and athletes, the University of Tennessee called on fans to help carry the burden by introducing a ticket price increase labeled a "talent fee."

Athletic director Danny White said he would like to make live game attendance "fair and reasonable," calling the increase one of the hardest parts of his job.

"We're excited about NIL and excited about this new era of rev share," White said in an interview with On3 on Tuesday. "I think it's great that student-athletes are starting to get resources that I think that they deserve. It's a great time for college sports as we march forward. I think Tennessee is well-positioned in that space, we've been a leader in NIL. We've trying to lead in a lot of ways in college athletics."

The increase includes student ticket prices, which went from $10 to $20 for 2024 and will be $25 in 2025.

Tickets are sold out for football and men's basketball in 2024, White said. He said 60 percent of tickets in Neyland Stadium were discounted when he arrived. At present, he said there are 15,000 fans on the waiting list for tickets to home games in Knoxville, Tenn.

College football roster limits allowing for 105 scholarships and, pending approval of a tentative agreement of a House of Representatives settlement that would clear colleges to share around $22.5 million, White said he knew the university would need help to meet the "new world order in college sports."

Court approval is not guaranteed for the NIL and revenue sharing agreement put forth by the House, but White said the financial realities were significant enough that he didn't want to wait for legal entanglements to resolve.

White said the new fee is an investment in student-athletes and said Tennessee opted for transparency, telling fans the purpose of the price hike. White said that opened the door to allow fans to pay even more than the listed price, likening it to a tip at a great restaurant.

"You go out to dinner and you have a great experience," White said, "they might have an 18 percent required gratuity or tip you can add on to it. They'll have the ability to add on to the 10 percent, to the talent fee, for those that have the means and can do it."

--Field Level Media