UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE ATHLETICS 2009 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 2007-08 school year more than 80 student-athletes graduated from the University of Tennessee in 27 different majors. Fifteen student-athletes were Chancellor Citation recipients and six were Academic All-Americas.
- In the fall of 2008, 216 student-athletes had a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
- UT men's athletics won the 2007-08 SEC All-Sports Trophy while the Lady Vols finished fourth.
- Tennessee advanced 17 of 20 teams to post-season competition in 2007-08 and more than 75 Tennessee student-athletes claimed SEC accolades and 27 received All-America bids.
- Tennessee brought home national championships in women's basketball and dance and SEC championships in men's basketball and women's basketball. Six Tennessee coaches were recognized as Coach of the Year in their field.
BUDGET OVERVIEW
- For the current fiscal year (2008-09) UT Athletics has an $87 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 fiscal year, UTAD contributed approximately $4.5 million in direct cash for various non-athletic campus purposes.
- The athletic department paid $7.574 million for scholarships for student-athletes in fiscal year 2008.
- 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. Last year, the athletics program contributed more than $26.9 million to the university in some fashion.
For fiscal year 2008, the athletics department contributed the following money to the university:
| Academic scholarships for non student-athletes | $ 1,375,000 |
| Self-funding of academic scholarships for student-athletes | $ 7,575,000 |
| Private gifts to Alumni assoc. for athletic benefits | $ 4,000,000 |
| Annual debt service on UT parking garages | $ 1,125,000 |
| Game day parking, staffing & clean up of parking | $ 1,000,000 |
| Travel/scholarships for Pride of Southland/Cheer | $ 1,030,000 |
| Arena Support and Original Debt | $ 1,930,000 |
| Turfgrass Research Partnership | $ 107,000 |
| Miscellaneous University support | $ 608,000 |
| Total | $26,950,000 |
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.
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