University of Tennessee Athletics
2004 Fall Athletics Board
September 25, 2004 | General
Sept. 25, 2004
Dr. Greg Reed, chairman of the NCAA Steering Committee for Recertification, announced a draft of the self-study portion of the process is complete. The committee is now receiving feedback and comments and will put forth a final draft in the coming months. The final version of the self-study will be forwarded to the NCAA and site visit is likely to occur in April.
"The recertification process is progressing well," Dr. Reed said. "Many hours of work have been put into this document by the Steering Committee and is subcommittees. We are now seeking input on ways to improve the document."
Dr. Reed's report was a part of the fall Athletics Board meeting held Saturday in the Ray Mears Room at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Facility improvements were the other primary focus in the report presented to the Athletics Board. A master plan for renovating Neyland Stadium and Thompson-Boling Arena will be presented at the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting. Groundbreaking on the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center is scheduled for early November. Additional renovations are also planned for Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Additional facility improvements in the planning stages are for soccer, softball and a practice facility for men's and women's basketball.
"We have lots of things going in the right direction, and facility upgrades are our next priority," women's athletic director Joan Cronan said. "It takes a lot of people doing the right things to make our athletic programs successful, and we have that."
Financially, the men's athletic department had $60.2 in revenues for the 2004 fiscal year. The women's athletic department had revenues of just more than $13 million including $7.2 million in support from men's athletics.
Additional revenue streams have been generated through the temporary chair-back program in Neyland Stadium and the decision to outsource merchandise concessions to eSports. A letter of intent has also been signed with adidas for the renewal of the apparel agreement between it and the University. The five-year contract will begin July 1 with an estimated value of $19.3 million during the life of the contract. A change has also been made in opponent ticket policy as unused portions of the allotment are now returned July 1 instead of Aug. 1. This gives the University additional time to market and sell the unused portion of the opponent allotments.
"It is important that we continue to find new sources of revenue but it is also important to continue to manage our resources well," men's athletic director Mike Hamilton said.
Hamilton also reported the change in the grandfathered ticket policy resulted in $750,000 in additional revenue. There will be no grandfathered tickets on the sideline by 2006. The additional revenue will allow for improvements to Neyland Stadium to make it more fan friendly. This will include wider concourses and improved restroom and concession facilities.
Tennessee has 501 student-athletes representing it. Fifty-six percent (280) are males, and 44 percent (221) are females. Sixty-nine percent receive (348) receive either a full or partial scholarship, and 31 percent (153) are walk-ons.
