Tennessee Vols athletic department operated at $10.8M surplus for 2016-17 fiscal year

Tennessee operated at a $10.8 million surplus during the 2016-17 fiscal year that ended June 30, according to UT’s annual revenue and expense report submitted to the NCAA and obtained via an open-records request.

More: Tennessee’s annual revenue and expense report prepared for the NCAA for 2016-17

Tennessee allocated $5 million of the $10.8 million surplus to the funding plan for the Neyland Stadium renovation project, athletic department spokesman Tom Satkowiak wrote in an email to USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. The remaining $5.8 million was used to fund ongoing facilities projects, such as the Haslam Field expansion, new stadium scoreboards for soccer, baseball and softball and exterior painting for Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee’s football program was responsible for $100.9 million in revenue compared to $51.3 million in expenses, meaning it operated at a $49.6 million surplus. The football program brought in $30.6 million via ticket sales. The Vols’ average attendance for seven home games in 2016 was 100,968. UT’s football program also received $28.8 million in contributions.

The Vols’ eight-figure operating surplus came after they reported a surplus of $12.4 million in the previous fiscal year.

Outside of ticket sales and contributions, the biggest chunk of revenue came from media rights, which supplied the athletic department $32.1 million in revenue for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

More: Neyland Stadium set for $340M in renovations starting in summer 2018

Salaries, benefits and bonuses for coaches, administrators and support staff accounted for $43.9 million in expenses.

Overall, the department had $145.7 million in revenue and $134.9 in expenses.

By the numbers

Here are some key figures from Tennessee's revenue and expense report submitted to the NCAA for the 2016-17 fiscal year. Figures for the athletic department are listed first, with the football program's portion of the figure listed in parentheses.

Revenue

Ticket sales: $36.8M ($30.6M)

Contributions: $33.5M ($28.8M)

Media rights: $32.1M ($14.5M)

Royalties, licensing, advertisement and sponsorships: $14.9M ($11.2M)

Expenses

Support staff/administrative compensation, benefits and bonuses: $23.1M ($3M)

Coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses: $20.8M ($10M)

Athletic facilities debt service, leases and rental fee: $19.9M ($15.9M)

Athletic student aid: $14M ($4.4M)