University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Ticket Hike to Fund Facility Improvements
April 09, 2001 | General
Bob Kesling Interview with Doug Dickey KNOXVILLE -- For the first time since 1998, the University of Tennessee Athletic Department is raising ticket prices to help keep pace with facility costs.
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| Doug Dickey |
"Maintaining first rate facilities is critical to competing for championships in the SEC," said UT Athletic Director Doug Dickey. "We don't make decisions like this lightly, but we've determined that some adjustment in our ticket prices is consistent with what our competitors are doing and necessary to continue to recruit, educate and train world-class student athletes."
Effective next season, football game tickets will increase from $30 to $38. Chair back seats will increase from $33 to $41. Three dollars of each ticket will go toward funding the general operations of the athletic department. The majority of this increase ($5 per ticket) will go toward improving facilities. Over the next several years, 17 sports will be affected, as preliminary plans call for the construction, renovation or expansion of eight different facilities.
"The Athletic Department can fund physical improvements and general operations through four sources: ticket income, donations, borrowing money, and careful fiscal cost management. To address these long-term needs we have decided to borrow as little money as possible (which will save about $20 million in interest costs over the next 20 years) and we'll only build projects for which we have money available," said Dickey. He added that total facility expenditures over next five years are estimated to be in the $45-$50 million range.
| "Maintaining first rate facilities is critical to competing for championships in the SEC. We don't make decisions like this lightly, but we've determined that some adjustment in our ticket prices is consistent with what our competitors are doing and necessary to continue to recruit, educate and train world-class student athletes." Doug Dickey |
Lady Vol and men's basketball tickets will see an increase in the 15-20% range. Over a five year period the football and basketball increases are projected to net $20 million for facility improvements.
Over the next five years, the athletic department is also committed to providing $7.5 million for UT academic scholarships and $5.25 million for debt reduction on university parking facilities.
