Neyland Stadium was one of the venues for the 1984 twelve-city Victory Tour concert by Michael Jackson and his brothers. The shows were August 10, 11, and 12, with 60,000 tickets available for each. Charles Sullivan’s Stadium Management Corporation was the national promoter for the tour, and Sullivan was familiar with Neyland Stadium as owner of the New England Patriots, which had played exhibition games in the stadium in 1982 and 1983.
State Representative Ted Ray Miller, president of Big Sports Inc.; S. H. “Bo” Roberts, president of Events International, former UT vice president, and former president of the Knoxville International Energy Exposition; and Knoxville businessman Al Davis constituted the group that negotiated to bring the tour to Knoxville. National promoters had hoped to gain relief from at least 5 percent of the 17 percent combined local and state amusement tax, under a provision that exempted “theaters wherein are performed the performing arts,” but the Knox County law director issued a legal opinion, and the national promoters did not officially ask to have the tax rescinded; Neyland remained a stadium for the event, and the tax was paid.
The contract signed by UT on July 27 guaranteed UT $35,000 for each of the shows. On July 27, at three Millers Department Stores and at the Civic Coliseum, 120,000 tickets went on sale. The contract required that two or three sheets of three-quarter-inch plywood and a nonflammable nylon sheet cover the field, on which a 700,000-pound, five-story stage was erected. Tickets were $29.50. UT controlled parking and concessions, while the Jackson promoters controlled souvenirs. About 350 students were employed as “T-shirt Security” and parking attendants. On August 7, Roberts announced that the shows would be postponed, following threats on the Jacksons’ lives. The national promoters decided on August 9 to hold the shows as scheduled.