Trey Wallace
Videos by OutKick
Knoxville — After the 2021 season concluded for Tennessee football, the university started working on renovating the famed Neyland Stadium. Two days after Tennessee defeated Vanderbilt, construction crews were already inside the stadium, setting up for a job expected to finish by September, ahead of Tennessee’s season opener against Ball State.
The renovations include an all-new lower west sideline section featuring chair-back seats and a field-level club area that will include restrooms, new food stations and a bar. The sections of the stadium where these new seats will be located have already been taken out, with the construction crew working with cranes and bulldozers.
Another area that is getting a fresh look is the north-end upper deck. Tennessee decided to build a standing-room-only deck that features a patio-like atmosphere, where folks can stand and watch the game along the outside railing. This will also feature a bar area and food spots for fans to enjoy and look out over the field from above.
In the north end zone, Tennessee is also installing a brand new sideboard, which will hang over the new party deck that is being built.
The new upgrades are part of construction plans that have been a long time coming, ever since the school announced renovation plans years ago.
The school has announced other renovations for the stadium, but phase one is currently underway.
Neyland Stadium will have a fresh look once the 2022 season arrives.
A trend across College FB as on-site attendance is diminishing in favor of “my large flat-screen with all the comforts of home”. Interest / Enthusiasm for CFB is very very high … but being enjoyed in a different way.
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When large flat-screes went under $1,000 and pretty much every Power5 game can be streamed … the choice of “on-site versus at-home” became a real decision. Personally, I haven’t attended a game on-site in 5 years despite easy access to comps and three Power5 stadiums within 25 miles.
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Programs that were SRO for decades now must make their facilities “more customer friendly” with seatbacks, upgraded restrooms / concessions etc etc.
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Used to get 107,000 in there, now chopping it down for the fat cats. RIP, soul of college football. All hail mighty dollar.
John, in addition to my overall synopsis of CFB attendance issues above … isn’t UTenn also suffering from a decade plus of being a trainwreck also-ran program? …Thank You Lane and Dereck!