For a few hours on each of eight Saturday afternoons last fall, Neyland Stadium became Tennessee's fifth largest city.
Although below the historic norm, the average crowd last year of 99,220 for each of Tennessee's home football games still was projected to generate a record $27.7 million in ticket sales.
But even more important for the university, officials say, is the public attention and financial support such games help generate.
The University of Tennessee's athletic program projects it will generate even more money than those ticket sales from donations to the operating budget for UT's athletic program. UT expects to garner nearly $28 million in contributions this year from those willing to pay premiums for the best stadium and arena seats.
Such donations come on top of $255 million UT has raised since 2005 from major donors for athletic facilities, endowments and other capital programs.
One of those contributors, Cleveland, Tenn., businessman W. Allan Jones, insists that athletics is key to learning and helps a university build its reputation and student talent.
Mr. Jones, the founder and CEO of Check Into Cash Inc., gave a $4 million lead gift to UT in 2002 for the $24.3 million aquatics facility named in his honor. He credits athletics for his own success and that of many others.
"Sports does matter," Mr. Jones said. "It's the biggest moneymaker for schools, and as a business person I learned as much from athletics as I learned from mathematics. Athletics creates character."
Mr. Jones credits his own high school wrestling experience for "teaching me how to compete and become disciplined for success." He said his donations to the athletic program are an investment in Tennessee's future.
James Haslam Jr., founder of Pilot Oil Co. and one of the university's biggest supporters, said UT's athletic program is key to the university's overall mission.
"Great universities have great athletic programs," said Mr. Haslam, the captain of the UT football team in 1952 whose $32.5 million gift to UT was its biggest gift ever. "When you look at the top athletic programs in the country, those are also some great academic schools."
Mr. Haslam said UT's football program, with one of the largest stadiums in the country, helps bring attention and money to UT.
"When you get 100,000 people to Neyland Stadium seven or eight times a year, there is a lot of opportunity to bring prospects, donors and others to the university in a very enjoyable setting," he said.
UT is trying to wrap up its first $1 billion capital fundraising drive, and Mr. Haslam said the effort has been aided by coaches and even UT graduate and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
"Who can be better for raising money for a university than Peyton Manning?" Mr. Haslam quipped.
Even with an athletic budget topping $100 million this year for the first time, experts insist that sports programs generate more money than what they cost.
"Many of us may not like some of its expensive aspects, but the truth is that collegiate athletics pay dividends for a school far beyond its costs," said Dr. David Larimore, an education professor and former athletic director at Tennessee Tech who has studied collegiate athletic spending.
Among the $952 million raised over the past five years toward the $1 billion "Campaign for Tennessee," nearly 27 percent of the gifts pledged so far have been targeted at UT-Knoxville's athletic programs, according to UT spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter.
Many fundraisers say athletics complements, rather than competes, with money raised for university academic programs.
"If we didn't have football, we'd have to invent it," said Jerry May, vice president of development at the University of Michigan, which recently concluded a $3.2 billion capital campaign - the biggest for any public university.
"The football weekends every fall are some of our greatest fundraising times," he said.