USA Today: Tennessee athletics finished 18th in total revenue in 2022
Tennessee athletics finished 18th in total revenue in 2022 according to numbers compiled by USA Today. The Vols finished the year with $154,556,935 million, just under $100 million behind Ohio State, the top school on the list and one of five athletic departments to clear over $200 million.
The Buckeyes in 2022 had $251,615,345 in total revenue, ahead of Texas ($239,290,648) and Alabama ($214,365,357). Others in the top ten were Michigan ($210,652,287), Georgia ($203,048,566), LSU ($199,309,382), Texas A&M ($193,139,619), Florida ($190,417,139), Penn State ($181,227,448) and Oklahoma ($177,320,217).
Also ahead of Tennessee was Auburn ($174,568,442), Michigan State ($172,799,513), Indiana ($166,761,471), Virginia ($161,916,231), Florida State ($161,141,884), Kentucky ($159,079,024) and Clemson ($158,283,618).
Total revenue up more than $20 million from 2021
Total revenue for the Vols was up over $20 million from 2021, when Tennessee came away with $132,920,757. The more than $154 million was the most for Tennessee in the history of the USA Today database, which dates back to 2005.
According to USA Today’s numbers, Tennessee made $35,110,289 million in ticket sales and had $35,483,274 in contributions. There was another $78,312,542 in rights and licensing, $4,455,981 in the “other” category, $1,000,000 in student fees and $204,849 in school funds.
USA Today’s head coach salary database, updated in October 2022, had Josh Heupel as the 29th highest paid head coach in college football, $5 million per year. Heupel received a raise in January, after leading Tennessee to its first 11-win season since 2001, taking him to $9 million annually.
According to the 2022 numbers, it would make him tied with Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher as the sixth-highest-paid head coach.
The USA Today head coach salary for men’s basketball, updated in March, has Rick Barnes as the fourth-highest-paid head coach in the country, making $5.45 million annually. Only Kentucky’s John Calipari ($8.5 million), Kansas’ Bill Self ($5.9 million) and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo ($5.7 million) make more.
Vols sold-out season tickets (70,500) at Neyland Stadium this season
Tennessee during the 2022-23 academic year became the first school since 1998 to win a BCS or New Year’s Six bowl game, advance to the Sweet Sixteen in both men’s and women’s basketball and advance to both the men’s and women’s College World Series.
The Vols announced last month that they have sold out the allotment of 70,500 season tickets for Neyland Stadium this season, on the heels of Heupel leading Tennessee to 11 wins last season, including the 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl in Miami in December.
The men’s and women’s basketball programs also finished first in combined home attendance, drawing 451,142 fans for the Vols and Lady Vols at Thopmson-Boling Arena.
The men’s basketball program finished fifth nationally in average attendance, at 18,781, and fourth nationally in total attendance, at 300,496. The Vols have finished in the top five in attendance for five straight seasons.
