Money for Tennessee Vols football and baseball stadiums is flowing like the beer and whiskey at a Big Orange tailgate party.
In the last decade alone, the Tennessee’s State Building Commission approved $500 million worth of improvement projects for University of Tennessee athletics facilities, mainly Neyland and Lindsey Nelson stadiums at the Knoxville campus, roughly 30% of $1.6 billion spent there overall, state records show.
When No. 1-ranked Tennessee baseball advanced to the championship of the College World Series after wrapping up the Knoxville Super Regional, it opened the way for completion of a $96 million job at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols won their first game in Omaha, Nebraska, with a thriller over Florida State before thumping North Carolina and Florida State again to advance to the finals against Texas A&M.
The university also is wrapping up work in 2026 on a $337 million improvements project at Neyland Stadium, designed to improve the game-day experience for 102,000 fans at seven home football games each year.
(READ MORE: More taxpayer money benefits pro sports owners amid ‘stadium construction wave’)