Tennessee fans have more space in Neyland Stadium south end

Saturday, Tennessee opens the 2025 home schedule as they take on ETSU. For those in attendance in Neyland Stadium they will see a very different looking south end zone concourse as that project hits completion.

“It’s a three year project,” senior deputy director of athletics Cam Walker said. “It’s continuing to make the experience better every year for the fans whether it’s wi-fi, now more concessions, more restrooms, making it more enjoyable for them. The fans are what feed the energy of this building. The fans are what make it such a unique advantage and being able to provide them with a better experience is the goal. I can’t wait to see people’s faces when they come in and they see the space is triple the size and you can actually see outside and there’s fresh air blowing through. I think it’s going to be great.” 

The biggest change is just the width of the concourse. Neyland Stadium’s south end concourse has more than double in size for foot traffic in the lower bowl of the stadium. 

“For anyone who has sat on this it for any amount of time it’s been so cramped. Anyone trying to get east or west it was really difficult to do. Now I can walk more freely. I can go to the restroom and there are 50 stalls. I think the experience is going to be so much more comfortable for our fans,” deputy director of athletics Alicia Longworth explained.

The renovated area will feature 11 concession stands with several new options. Calhoun’s has a concessions area and are several new in house menu options in the stands including chicken tenders, curley fries and mac and cheese. There is also a new soft serve ice cream concession option as well. 

While the amenities are nice, the biggest improvement is in freedom of movement. Not only is the concourse 2.5 times wider the entrance at gate 9 is tripled in size. Fans are encouraged to use that gate if you sit on that end of the stadium. 

“Anyone in the south end zone,” Longworth said of who should take advantage of the new entrance way. “Anyone in the south portion of the west concourse I would come in gate 9. Everything on the west side from gate 21 to gate 9, those gates are very small. You can’t get anymore people through it then what you are because the size of it is so small. Gate 10 is there so if you are on the second level still use gate 10, that’s the easiest way to get there. If you are on the south end lower level and I would even say on on the east side, it’s easy to come in gate 9 and get there. Again, you have a concourse three times wider than it was before.” 

When fans arrive on campus on Saturday there will be a different vehicle traffic pattern as well. Anyone parking in the G-10 parking garage must enter and exit off of Neyland Drive and anyone parking in lot 9 across from the west side of the stadium much enter that lot on it’s north end coming off of Cumberland Ave. At 5:30am on gameday both Phillip Fulmer Way and Peyton Manning Pass will be closed to vehicle traffic. The road closure is for safety reasons and because of the closure Tennessee is moving their metal detectors further away from the gates to try and help with admission into the stadium.

“Our campus partner for security reasons asked us to close Phillip Fulmer which we completely support and understand the need to do that,” Longworth said. “The further the metal detectors are away from the ticket scanners it creates a greater ease of entry. The Super Bowl and the biggest events in the country they are doing this and they have been for years. This is not a brand new concept where we said let’s try this at Tennessee. We have studied the biggest and best sporting events in the world and we are trying to meet our fans there and give them the same experience they would have at those events.” 

Kickoff for Saturday is set for 3:30pm.