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The Knoxville News Sentinel reported earlier today that the University of Tennessee’s Athletic Department raked in around $10.8 million in profit for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
This comes as no surprise considering the fervor - mostly around the football program - and excitement surrounding the university’s major sports programs. Not only does UT have an extremely passionate fan base, but the assorted athletic programs have also seen a recent uptick in success, as well.
Almost half of the surplus - around $5 million to be exact - will be allocated towards the Neyland Stadium renovation project, with the other $5.8 allocated for ongoing facilities projects - such as the Haslam Field expansion, new stadium scoreboards for soccer, and exterior painting for Neyland Staium.
Media rights were responsible for the largest income total, paying the university $32.1 million to broadcast games from multiple departments.
The total amount of income is down from previous years, but the 2016-2017 numbers still feature Tennessee as one of the nation’s top-grossing universities.
You can check out the entire Statement of Revenues and Expenses here.