Tennessee to add 10% 'talent fee' to football, other sports tickets

Here's what you need to know as Tennessee is adding a fee to its sports tickets, as the program prepares for a world after the NCAA vs. House settlement.

Tennessee football fans will be expected to chip in paying players with a new charge added to game day tickets. | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Tennessee will be adding a 10 percent surcharge to all season and single-game tickets in an effort to generate more revenue for players starting in 2025, athletic director Danny White told On3 Sports.

"It's a talent fee, and it's going directly to the talent," White said.

"It's going to our student-athletes as part of this new world order in college sports. So I know our fans will embrace it," he added.

The move comes as schools are looking for new models to make more money that will be shared with student-athletes in anticipation of a settlement of the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit.

Should the settlement be approved by a federal judge, the terms would dictate that schools will be allowed to pay about $22 million to athletes every year starting in 2025-26.

The new fee will be used to fund a revenue-sharing pool for student-athletes.

Tennessee is hoping to raise an estimated $30 million annual sum for the direct payments and project that $10 million of that number will come from the surcharge on tickets.

(On3)

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