KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee announced Tuesday they will add a talent fee on all tickets for the 2025 football season. They said the fee would help find the proposed revenue share for its student-athletes.
The talent fee will be an additional 10% fee on all ticket invoices, according to an email sent out to football season ticket holders.
"There has never been a time in college sports where revenue growth had such a close correlation to winning," UT said. "We strive to equip our coaches with all the resources needed to compete at a championship level and create the best opportunities for Tennessee student-athletes."
For the 2025 football season, fans will also see a "moderate," per-seat price increase averaging 4.5% across the stadium, according to UT.
Ticket renewal begins on Thursday, Sept. 19 and the renewal deadline will be Thursday, Feb. 27. UT said season ticket fans will have the option of a 10-month payment plan to help spread out the impact of the increased costs.
A spokesperson with Tennessee Athletics released the following statement on the ticket fee increase:
"We felt it was important to be direct with our fans about where we intend this fee to go. This fee will enable us to attract and retain the best talent to Rocky Top when resource sharing is potentially approved.
We contemplated including the 10% increase in the overall ticket price and not have it broken out, but we wanted to share where their contribution will go and how it will enable us to attract and retain the best talent to Rocky Top when resource sharing is potentially approved."
While the new fee sparked concerns for many fans, one Vols fan said he would not mind paying the new fee.
"We had witnessed how bad it could be and got to experience the climb. And that's why I think that a lot of fans are willing to pay more money is just because they wanna experience that firsthand," said Joshua Bennett, a fan. "I understand that if you've got a large family, it does make it more of a stress on yourself financially to have to pay for an increase in prices ... If it leads to national championships, I think everybody that wears orange and white will be fine with it."
The new fee would help is expected to help support student-athletes at the school.
"Schools will continue to need to support their athletes, as well as supplement those revenue streets that they've had or need in the future. In order to do that, Tennessee is finding a unique way to do that with their ticket sales," said Celine Mangan, a vice president at ASP College.
