The UT Athletic Association was formed in 1884 to oversee the growing sports program of the institution. The Athletic Association was incorporated in 1907, and then reorganized, with Dr. Charles Wait serving as chairman of the Athletic Council. A board of directors of the Athletic Association was formed in 1937–38. It took the place of … Continued

In 1896 UT fielded a baseball team in intercollegiate competition that had members whose eligibility was questionable. Five players were not regular students. Two of the five had paid matriculation fees but somehow managed to visit UT only for baseball games. Another player, Sammy Strang (Samuel Strang Nicklin), had played on noncollegiate teams and as … Continued

UT is a member of the Southeastern Conference (1932), which it helped organize. UT has been a member of an athletics conference since 1896, when it joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association one year after its establishment by Dr. William Dudley of Vanderbilt. The significant achievement of the SIAA was wresting control of college athletics … Continued

The UT Athletic Association became a full-fledged university department in 1951, following approval of the board of trustees. An Athletics Board replaced the Athletic Council of the former Athletic Association. The Athletic Association had operated essentially as a department of UT since its 1936 reorganization, but there was a need to clarify the relationship of … Continued

In response to pressure from the Commission for Blacks to have the Athletics Department follow the same procedures and steps in hiring as the remainder of the campus, Dr. Andy Kozar, UT system affirmative action officer and executive assistant to the president, announced in fall 1979 that the Athletics Department would no longer fall under … Continued

Chancellor Jimmy Cheek announced in July 2009 that as a result of the SEC’s new $2.25 billion television contract with ESPN, the UT Athletics Department would receive an additional $15 million over the next 15 years and would allocate $1 million of its increased revenues annually to support academics. Cheek announced that UT would distribute … Continued

In 1921 the decision was made that gave the Athletics Department the right to sell refreshments at Shields-Watkins field (Neyland Stadium) and to keep the profits.

Private fundraising for men’s athletics was consolidated into the overall university fundraising structure in 1986. While the program was begun as a separate corporation, it became a regular entity in the 1960s but continued to raise private funds separately from other UT efforts. The principal factors in the decision to consolidate the two programs were … Continued

Host Communications, headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, was chosen in 1991 to partner with UT in radio and television broadcasts and other marketing. In 2006 an expanded and consolidated contract was instituted providing Host Communications with the multimedia rights for all sports—women and men’s. The 10-year contract (2007–17) provided that UT would receive revenue and capital … Continued

In 2004 the Athletics Department began developing criteria through which numbers would be retired. The policy issued in 2005 listed the requirements as including, but not being limited to: being recognized as good citizens and having a minimum of five years between the candidate’s UT football career and consideration of this honor. achievement of three … Continued