KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Athletics Department unveiled its new renovations to Neyland Stadium on Tuesday.
The first part of the renovation includes club-level seats close to the field. UT added more comfortable and larger seats including access to a field-level club area with concessions and bathrooms. On the north side of the stadium, they also added a standing room section with a 360-degree bar.
New video boards in the stadium are some of the brightest in college football, UT says.
The athletics department said they want to update the stadium with some of the luxuries in new stadiums, while maintaining the traditions of Neyland Stadium.
"We want to honor the traditions of the past," said Ryan Alpert, the Deputy Athletics Director at Neyland Stadium. "Whether it's your grandfather that brought you to the stadium and you came up Gate 21 ... We want to keep those elements, but we also have to think about the future and what's coming next."
Alpert said revenue from these luxury sections was one factor that helped them decide to reduce ticket prices for 60% of seats across the stadium.
"Our goal was to be able to decrease the overall ticket costs for the majority of our fans," Alpert said.
Next, Alpert said UT would like to add Wi-Fi to the stadium, add restrooms and upgrade some of the concourses. He said those modifications will be part of the second phase of the project. The second phase could begin as early as the end of this football season.