Tennessee
Tennessee’s 10% NIL Ticket Surcharge is Insulting to Volunteer Fans
University of Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White recently announced that the university is implementing a new 10% surcharge on ticket prices for the upcoming 2025-2026 season. The strategic move comes in response to potential NIL revenue sharing for college athletes that could arrive as early as next season and cost the most prominent schools roughly $22,000,000 annually –– White has aptly monikered the new cost a “talent fee.” The “talent fee” implicates both single-game and season ticket sales and will complement the projected average 4.5% increase in ticket sales at Neyland Stadium in the coming year.
This is enough for Volunteer fans to revolt. In an interview with On3 White stated “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.” I’d think twice about the embrace of a price hike on fans who have seen nothing but constantly increasing ticket costs. After begging fans to donate hard-earned money to their NIL collective for the last three years, the Volunteer Athletic Department also wants those same fans to subsidize their athlete payment costs. How far can Volunteer administration expect fans to stretch their wallets?
Power 5 colleges have gotten away with not paying their on-field talent while often raking in over nine figures annually from media rights partnerships, donations, ticket sales, and licensing fees. In the 2022-23 academic year, the Volunteers athletic department generated $202,097,305 in revenue –– this was before the 2024 SEC media deal that now entitles Tennessee and every other SEC program to an extra $15,000,000 in media rights payments every year. You can see the full financial breakdown of every public university here.
The NCAA system that restricts direct athlete payment has allowed schools in big-time conferences to rake in money without ever having to pay their talent –– in the professional sports landscape players and owners hover around a 50-50 split in revenue. The proposed NCAA direct NIL payout of $22,000,000 is closer to a 90-10 split in favor of ownership when looking at Tennessee’s 2022-23 revenues.
For so long, college athlete labor exploitation has allowed power conference athletic departments to have tremendous bloat — unnecessary expenditures in personnel, facilities, and inflated coaching and administrative salaries are pervasive around campuses. Most power conference schools are public, meaning they have a “use it or lose it” mentality. There are no shareholders at public institutions like Tennessee; if the Vols were to experience a year with an incredible profit margin, no institutional shareholder would be directly richer for it.
In practice, that means that every dollar the athletic department earns should be spent. In 2023, Tennessee spent over $191,000,000 in athletic expenditures. The restriction of athlete payment and lack of profit incentives have made college sports economics wonky. It is the reason why twelve offensive coordinators in the college ranks are making over $1,000,000 in 2024. It is also why so many power conference football locker rooms have price tags above $100,000,000 – below is a rendering of the recent $30,000,000 upgrade to Tennessee’s locker room.
Prioritizing the student-athlete experience.
Unveiling the approved plans for a $30 million upgrade and expansion of the current 145,000-square-foot Anderson Training Center — the home of Tennessee Football.
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) November 11, 2021
Yes, non-revenue athletic programs hemorrhage money. The rational reader would point out that if you want to fix the budget, the best move is to cut these programs, which have become increasingly costly in an era of non-geographical conference realignment. That would be a fair argument, but in a purely revenue-driven collegiate sports landscape, why have such a large revenue split discrepancy from the industry standard?
The 90-10 revenue split in favor of ownership accounts for the subsidies necessary for non-revenue and Olympic sports programs to be supported through football and basketball. In a system that is truly profit motivated a 50-50 revenue split seen from every large American sporting league would be expected. A school like Tennessee would be on the hook for $100,000,000 and not $22,000,000 annually for athlete payment — meaning a lot more belt-tightening and a lot more loss of opportunity.
Danny White made $2,310,000 in 2023, and the entire athletic administration, excluding coaches, made a total of $36,040,365. Tennessee coaching salaries in 2023 totaled $34,916,833: Josh Heupel made $9,000,000; Rick Barnes made $5,700,000; Women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper made $1,100,000; and Defensive Coordinator Tim Banks made $1,500,000. White is asking hard-working Tennessee fans to pay 14.5% more in ticket prices so his salary can continue to climb and he can maintain a bloated athletic department.
The $15,000,000 increase in media rights payment is shockingly left out of SEC stakeholders’ messaging when discussing the “rapidly evolving landscape of college sports.” Schools in the Big Ten earn roughly $40,000,000 more annually from their new giant media rights contract, yet continue to message that they NEED more money to survive in the new landscape –– where did those dollars go?
The NCAA has opened opportunities for schools to generate new revenue streams to prepare for the additional costs of athlete payment. Many schools have quickly cashed in on the NCAA’s removal of prior restrictions against on-field sponsorships. Tennessee has inked a new multi-year deal with Pilot, including on-field sponsorship, which is expected to bring substantial funding.
There are plenty of ways athletic departments can cut costs and generate revenue to offset potential athlete NIL revenue share payments. Passing the buck to those wanting to attend games is a selfish and tone-deaf move to preserve the opulent spending within Tennessee’s athletic department.
Tennessee
Tennessee AMC theater worker, 85, receives $146K from strangers for retirement after viral video
A viral Tennessee movie theater worker, 85, was surprised with $146K as strangers rallied together to help her “enjoy retirement.”
Mary Ellen Eron was seen hauling a heavy black garbage bag and pushing a cleaning cart during her shift at the theater in Maryville, Tenn., which has since been viewed more than 13 million times.
“Let’s secretly help retire this beautiful woman. No one deserves to work at this age,” movie customer Brooklyn Green, who filmed the video, captioned the post.
Green launched a fundraiser last weekend after watching Mary, who has been a movie theater staffer for 45 years, hard at work – even though she’s a stranger.
“I knew nothing about her. I didn’t even know her name when I went to the theater,” Green told WATE reported. “I just decided that she was working so hard, and I aspired to be like her one day.
“Her physical appearance didn’t look too comfortable, especially since the way she was working so hard.”
Green set a target of $200,000 – and she raised $146,317 before pausing donations. More than 7,500 people donated to the charitable cause.
On Wednesday, Green posted the moment that she presented Eron, who helps the homeless and her local church, with the total figures from the crowdfunding page.
“Oh my goodness. That’s a lot of money,” Eron said as she realized the number on the piece of paper.
“That’s a lot of money and you deserve every bit of it,” Green said.
The clip also featured a message from Eron, who addressed the people who had contributed.
“Thank you so very much to all the wonderful people that have donated money to the GoFundMe,” she said.
“I’m overwhelmed and certainly blessed by the Lord and you wonderful people. Thank you once more.”
The theater’s manager revealed it will be Eron’s decision when she retires.
The Tennessee Volunteers have had their fair share of bad news as of late when it comes to the college baseball transfer portal, but luckily, they have received some great news.
The great news that they have received is that they will be returning one of their breakout stars from this past college baseball season, as he has no intentions of entering the college baseball transfer portal.
Trent Grindlinger Will Return to Tennessee
The player who is set to return to Tennessee is Trent Grindlinger, who was electric this season and is expected to be a future top 10 MLB draft pick. This is expected for the first draft that he is eligible for, which is the 2027 MLB Draft rather than this upcoming draft that will feature multiple Vols, including Tennessee ACE, Tegan Kuhns.
Grindlinger finished last season with a batting average of .345, while hitting eight home runs and only striking out 28 times. This would be an electric season for the talented Volunteers’ batter, and he is set for a season that could and should be even better than that, which would be good enough to consider for some major college baseball end-of-the-season awards. He is just one of the few players who opted to stay and return rather than enter their name into the college baseball transfer portal, but if they were going to return anyone, he is the player they would want to return in the field.
Had he entered the transfer portal, there wouldn’t be a single college in the nation that wouldn’t want to add him, as every college would want to add the elite prospect. Not only that, but he would become the nation’s No. 1 player on the portal more than likely.
Luckily for the Vols, though, they don’t have to worry about that.
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Tennessee
Franklin police ticket 13-year-old after e-bike crash, and a new Tennessee law brings more changes July 1
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Franklin police cited a 13-year-old following a crash involving a motorized bike, and a new Tennessee law taking effect July 1 will bring additional restrictions for young riders.
On April 21, Franklin officers responded to a fender bender at the Interstate 65 off-ramp at the Goose Creek Bypass involving a 13-year-old on a motorized bike and a vehicle. Both the teen and the adult driver were waiting for officers when they arrived. The woman behind the wheel was visibly shaken and told officers the bike came out of nowhere while she was attempting to turn right on red.
The bike turned out to be more powerful than a standard e-bicycle. Under the law, it is not considered a bicycle at all — it is classified as a motor scooter, which falls under different laws than Class 1, 2, and 3 e-bikes.
“Downside is kids are about to get a bunch of tickets. He can’t ride that e-bike because it’s not just an e-bike — too much voltage, it’s a motor scooter,” Officer Spry with the Franklin Traffic Unit said.
“He can’t be on a sidewalk, he has to be in a bike lane, and it can’t be more than 28 miles an hour,” Spry said.
The driver of the car was cited for failure to exercise due care. The 13-year-old was cited for several violations, including not having a driver’s license, insurance, or registration. Franklin police say the citations issued to the teen are all appropriate under current law. Officers told the teen’s parent the citations would need to be answered in juvenile court. The family promised to trade the bike in for something safer.
Spry made clear this is not an isolated case.
“You’re not the only one that I’ve written this ticket to,” Spry said.
“This is probably one of the greatest opportunities for us to provide safety and save a life that we’ll ever see,” Franklin Alderman Greg Caesar said.
Starting July 1, only those 16 years and older will be legally allowed to ride Class 3 e-bikes, which can reach speeds of 28 miles per hour. The new law changes the age of those allowed to operate Class 3 e-bikes and does not affect the motor scooter classification that applied in this case.
Franklin city leaders are debating changes to local e-bike laws. Alderman Greg Caesar described it as a nuanced problem but said educating parents should start now.
“It needs to be considered, as some of these e-bikes and riders can do real and significant damage,” Caesar said.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Students help relaunch donation drive for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
Young or old, we all love to play board and card games! Those games become even more important when you are indoors and don’t have the ability to get outside, like patients in a hospital. Austin Pollack shares the story of students in a Nashville family who have helped re-launch the Red Wagon project to collect games for patients at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
– Lelan Statom
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