In March 2008 Interim Chancellor Jan Simek informed the vice chancellor for student affairs and SGA officers that the Athletics Department would be charging students for tickets effective in fall 2008. The charges had been approved by Chancellor Simek as part of an overall plan to avoid a shortfall in the Athletics Department’s budget. The Athletics Department set the charges at $15 for a single ticket and $90 for a season ticket. The Athletics Department announced in April that student tickets not purchased for home games would be sold to the general public at the full individual game price charged to nonstudents.
At the time UT, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina were the only three SEC universities that did not charge students for football tickets.
The faculty ticket discount, which had been 50 percent, was also reduced. Faculty and staff were required to pay 80 percent of the face ticket price, and the cost of season tickets sold to the public was increased $19.