Vols Athletic Department Generated Over $234-Million Last Year

(utsports.com) The University of Tennessee Athletics Department submitted its annual financial data report to the NCAA on Wednesday. For the third consecutive year, the department eclipsed a program record in revenue generation.

For fiscal year 2024, Tennessee Athletics had $234,058,790 in total operating revenue. The fiscal year ran from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

The $234 million in total operating revenue was a new high watermark in UT Athletics history, eclipsing last year’s record total of just over $202 million.

The historic total was due to impressive levels of self-generated income for Tennessee Athletics. Ticket sales increased over 16 percent from $39.7 million in FY 2023 to $46.6 million in FY 2024. It marked the best year of ticket revenue in Tennessee Athletics history. The top two years of ticket revenue on Rocky Top have occurred over the last two fiscal years.

Contributions soared to new levels for the third straight year, with $72.7 million coming in FY 2024. It marks a staggering increase of 233 percent since FY 2021.

One of the top priorities in “Rise Glorious” was to intentionally grow the annual operating budget as part of a relentless commitment to resource all Tennessee Athletics programs and departments at an elite, championship level. UT is already outpacing the 2026-27 goal of a 200+ million-dollar budget.

“As we enhance our championship legacy across all sports, it is crucial to generate new revenue, especially in this new era of college sports. This enables us to invest significantly in our student-athletes, coaches, and staff, giving us a powerful competitive advantage,” said Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Danny White. “The passion and commitment of Vol Nation is truly second to none. This support strengthens our position and provides the necessary resources for strategic investments in our programs and future success.”

Tennessee Athletics reached a new revenue benchmark, which coincided with an exceptional year of athletic success.

The wave of momentum on Rocky Top reached a historic level in 2023-24. Tennessee Athletics finished its best year as one of only two Power Five schools to send all its teams to the postseason, the first occurrence in UT history.

The across-the-board success helped Tennessee earn a third-place finish in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings, its best mark ever, and its third straight SEC All-Sports Trophy. Tennessee became the second school to win three consecutive SEC All-Sports titles.

Tennessee never won the SEC All-Sports Trophy before White’s arrival.

Eleven sports finished in the top 10, with six in the top five. The banner year concluded with the baseball team winning its first national championship, the 24th team crown in Tennessee history, and the first since 2009.

In 2023-24, UT also became the first school to win the SEC championship in men’s basketball, softball and baseball in the same year. In total, it collected four SEC titles, running its tally to 12 since 2021 after amassing just two in the four years prior to White’s arrival.

Tennessee has reached the postseason in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball in all three of White’s full years at the helm, the only school in the nation to do so.

Tennessee also had excellent academic success, posting its best department GPA (3.40) ever in the fall 2023 semester and following that with its second-best spring GPA (3.37) ever.

The NCAA requires that institutions submit revenues and expense information for their athletic department and other general details online annually.