Tennessee Football Adds 10% ‘Talent Fee’ To Season Tickets To Help Pay Players Ahead Of Revenue Sharing

The University of Tennessee continues to try and find ways to raise money for the upcoming revenue-sharing with student athletes, and they’ve come up with an interesting solution. 

Starting in 2025, Tennessee will add a 10% ‘Talent Fee’ to season tickets for fans of the Vols, along with an increase in ticket prices of an average overall 4.5%. 

The decision to make this move now all goes back to the school trying to get out ahead of the upcoming House vs. NCAA settlement that is going to change how student-athletes are paid by the schools themselves. Now that we are headed down a road where schools across the country are trying to find the resources to help off-set these payments to players in all sports, schools are having to get creative with fundraising. 

So, Tennessee has decided that starting in 2025, it will charge the ‘Talent Fee’ to all season-ticket holders, which will be per seat on all single-game tickets and season tickets plus donations. This means that the donation you pay, just to be able to purchase tickets, along with tickets for every game will be hit with the 10% increase, which would come out to around a 14.5% increase in total. 

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 07: Nico Iamaleava #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers rushes for a touchdown during the third quarter of the Duke’s Mayo Classic against the NC State Wolfpack at Bank of America Stadium on September 07, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

As we have seen across college athletics, schools are desperately trying to raise the money needed to take some of the burden off the entire sum of money needed to pay for this new venture. 

In the case of Tennessee, they are looking at a $30 million annual sum that they will need to raise funds for, according to a UT spokesperson. So, with this new plan to add a ‘Talent Fee’, the school is projecting that they will raise $10 million off this new venture alone. 

I’m sure fans will have questions as to why such a big increase, but this is the new reality that we’re living in with college athletics. Schools across the country will be looking at different ways to raise money. Just last week, Georgia announced they would be increasing the price of tickets for each game, and they will no longer have separate prices for SEC and non-conference games. 

In order to help fans with the new prices for season-tickets, Tennessee is also offering a ten-month payment plan to help with the increase.

Tennessee Finding Success In Sports Outside Of Football Helps

While the new ‘Talent Fee’ might have fans in a little bit of a tizzy, the school is certainly doing everything they can to make sure the gameday environment meets the standards going forward. Tennessee is continuing to remodel of Neyland Stadium, while also enhancing the experience for fans in other capacities. 

At the same time, the boom in sports on the campus in Knoxville has helped. There is currently a waitlist for football season tickets that has crossed the 15,000 person mark. Tony Vitello just led the Vols to a national championship in baseball, and the men’s basketball program continues to sell out games on a weekly basis during the season. 

OMAHA, NEBRASKA – JUNE 24: Head coaches Josh Heupel, Tony Vitello, and Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate after game three of the Division I Men’s Baseball Championship against the Texas A&M Aggies held at Charles Schwab Field on June 24, 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska.  (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

So, there is a lot to be thankful for if you are a fan of Tennessee athletics. At the same time, there will be some fans who are thrown-off by this new plan to raise prices, or add different fees to their overall donation per year. It’s safe to say that this will not only hit football, but basketball and baseball as well down the road, especially with the school in the middle of remodeling the baseball stadium. 

The overall point is that we are headed in a new direction for college sports, and if a school can get ahead in some areas to raise funds, they will do it. 

In the case of Tennessee, athletic director Danny White and his team have found a new way to categorize the increase in prices to attend football games. You could just look at this as a price increase because of success on the field, but as folks in Knoxville have noticed, Danny White is trying to stay out in front of the changing landscape of college athletics. 

The ‘Talent Fee’ is a nice way to start raising the money needed to keep up with the times.