UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE ATHLETICS 2010 FACTS

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE ATHLETICS 2009-10 FACTS

OVERVIEW OF UTAD

Background:

Member of NCAA Division 1A and Southeastern Conference
Support 20 varsity intercollegiate sports
Provide 260.2 scholarships to over 500 male and female student-athletes

Goals:
Athletics seeks to:

Graduate all student-athletes;
Compete for and win SEC and NCAA titles; and
Produce young men and women to be ambassadors for our University and our state.
Athletics must be fiscally responsible:
Self-supporting
Receive no state funding or tuition derived dollars.

ACADEMIC & ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS

During the 2008-09 school year 78 student-ath¬letes graduated for the University of Tennessee.
In the spring of 2009, 227 out of 493 (46%) student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Nineteen student-athletes were Chancellor Citation recipients, six were Academic All-Amer¬icas and two were NCAA post graduate scholar¬ship winners.
Lady Vol Swimmer Christine Magnuson was the SEC female Boyd McWhorter winner.
Eighteen of 20 sports advanced to postseason competition.
Women's track won the SEC and NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship and set multiple World, American and Collegiate records.
Men's swimming, men's tennis and women's tennis finished the season ranked in the top 10 in the country.
Women's soccer won the SEC Tournament Championship.
Pat Summitt earned her 1000th career victory.

BUDGET OVERVIEW

For the current fiscal year (2009-10) UT Athletics has an $100.85 million operating budget.
UT Athletics is one of only a handful of departments in the country that receives no funds from state subsidies or taxes. The only non-athletic department generated revenue is a $1 million contribution to women's athletics department coming from student fees to fulfill Title IX responsibilities.
A May 2008 report in the Chronicle of Higher Education stated that only 17 of the more than 300 athletics programs in all of Division I - about 5 percent - earned a net profit between 2004 and 2006.
During the FY 2009, UTAD contributed approximately $6.26 million in direct cash for various non-athletic campus purposes. In FY 2010, UTAD's total direct contributions to the university system will exceed $10.35 million.
The athletic department paid $7.65 million for scholarships for student-athletes in fiscal year 2009.
UTAD is the most highly taxed athletic department in the country, with Tennessee fans paying 14.25% tax ( 9.25% state and 5% city/county) on all football and men's and women's basketball tickets.
Peer institutions such as Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Texas pay no tax on athletic tickets. UT Athletics paid approximately $4 million in sales tax in 2007-08.
UTAD leverages football and basketball programs to generate ticket revenues, private gifts and marketing sponsorships and utilizes revenues generated by football and basketball success to fund other sports programs and supporting infrastructure.

SUPPORT OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY
The athletics department is committed to giving back to the University and the community through a variety of ways. For fiscal year 2009, the athletics department contributed more than $6.26 million in direct cash support to the university:

$1.45 million for Thompson-Boling Arena's operating deficit
$1.375 million in academic scholarships awarded to non-student athletes
$1.125 million in annual debt service on five University parking garages
$1 million for game day parking, staffing & clean up of parking areas
$425,000 for travel and operating expenses for the Pride of the Southland Band
$ 280,000 for Gibbs Hall operating deficit (in addition to standard housing fees)
$140,000 from Aramark partnership
$107,000 for Turfgrass Research Partnership
$ 365,500 for miscellaneous University support
$ 75,000 to James Hodges library from Orange and White game proceeds

In fiscal year 2010, UT Athletics total direct contributions to the University system will exceed $10.35 million with the addition of the following funds:

$2.7 million from the Tennessee Fund, which allows academic donors to receive athletic benefits for academic donations.

$1 million through the SEC Television Agreement

$375,000 for the Lake Loudoun Boulevard Campus Beautification Project

UTAD COMPARED TO PEERS
In 2007-08 UTAD contributed over $4.5 million in direct cash support to university programs. By comparison:

Alabama, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Virginia's athletic department made no contributions.
Georgia's athletic association donated approximately $75,000 in scholarship gifts.
Auburn's athletic department provided $200,000 for scholarships.

Nationally student fees are one of the most common ways universities help fund intercollegiate athletics. UTAD receives $1 million annually from UTK student fees to meet Title IX requirements. By comparison:

University of Virginia receives $8.77 million/year
Auburn athletics receives $4.9 million/year
Georgia athletics receives $3.7 million/year
UNC-Chapel Hill receives $2.364 million/year
Florida receives $2.5 million/year
Virginia Tech receives approximately $3.36 million/year
UT-Chattanooga athletics receives $4.3 million/year
UT-Martin athletics receives $3.9 million/year

ECONOMIC IMPACT
A survey conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in July 2008 based on data from the 2006-2007 school year found:

UT Athletics contributes nearly $119.5 million to the total income in the Knoxville MSA.
The direct and indirect impact of the athletic department supports 2,814 full-time equivalent jobs.
UT Athletics generated nearly $24.1 million in sales and amusement tax revenue from concession and tickets sales and from the expenditure and visitor/fan effects, including close to $4 million in state, city and county taxes in fiscal year 2008.

University of Tennessee Athletics

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