A Lexington, Ky.-based company will pay the University of Tennessee at least $83.4 million in cash and capital investments over the next decade for most of the multimedia rights to UT's Athletics Department.

Host Communications Inc., which already does business here as The Vol Network, will hold the rights to everything from the radio broadcasts of UT football and basketball games to stadium and arena advertising, to game programs and the little pocket game schedules fans can pick up at area businesses.

UT informed Host Communications late Wednesday afternoon of its intent to award the contract to the company.

The decision ends what had been a tough competition between four sports marketing companies for the media rights to one of the most prominent college athletics programs in the country.

Steve Early, vice president and general manager of Host Communications and The Vol Network, said the company was "elated and excited" about the opportunity.

"We poured our heart and soul into it," said Early, a UT graduate.

Chris Fuller, UT's assistant athletic director for sales and marketing, said all four companies offered excellent packages and UT could have worked with any of them.

But Host, which has long ties to UT, stood out.

"We really felt like Host did a better job than anyone in the process of really responding to the things that were important to us," Fuller said, before adding, "The financial offer is important, but what's also important is the company's operational plan."

Host did not offer the largest financial package, but an 11-member UT evaluation committee that recommended Host to UT's Purchasing Department believed it offered the best package.

The other bidding companies were Action Sports Media Inc. in Alcoa, which currently has the video board rights at Neyland Stadium and Thompson-Boling Arena; CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, a subsidiary of CBS Corp.; and ISP/Learfield, a joint venture of ISP Sports in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Learfield Sports in Plano, Texas.

Host will pay UT $68 million over the 10-year life of the contract, spend $13.9 million on capital investments for upgrades like a 1,200-foot digital LED ribbon board at Neyland Stadium, and will pay UT $1.5 million in revenue from the stadium's video board.

There is also a revenue-sharing provision in Host's offer for which UT will receive 50 percent of sales above a certain level.

Fuller said that threshold would be $10.5 million at the beginning of the contract, meaning UT would get half of everything Host brings in above $10.5 million in the first year.

The Host contract will run from July 1, 2007 until June 17, 2017.

UT will have to buy out Action Sports' rights to the video boards, which UT predicts will cost several million dollars. It will come out of Host's $13.9 million for capital investments.

It will be one of the biggest college sports media rights contracts in the country. Among the others is a 10-year $80.5 million agreement between Host and the University of Kentucky and a $75 million deal between LSU and CBS Collegiate Sports Properties.

Host and the University of Texas are believed to have a comparable deal.

Currently three entities, Host Communications, Action Sports Media Inc. and the Athletics Department's sales and marketing arm, have different pieces of marketing for UT athletics.

This is the first time UT has put most of its marketing eggs in one basket.

Here's how it will work:

Host will pay UT $83 million over 10 years plus revenue sharing.

Host in turn will generate revenue, and hopefully a healthy profit, by selling advertising and sponsorships on everything from game broadcasts and coaches' shows to signs at UT's different sports venues.

The company will also publish and sell advertising in various UT athletics publications, produce DVDs and pay-per-view games and sell the advertising on UT's athletics Web site, among other things.

The contract has significant consequences for UT's Athletics Department, which made $69.2 million in revenue last year but still ended up spending $50,000 more than it took in.

"No question," Fuller said. "This gives us a chance to probably jump our annual revenues from marketing at least $2 million a year, in addition to the improvements" that UT will receive.

UT sent out a highly detailed request for proposals for the Athletics Department's "Multi-Media Rights and Corporate Sponsorship Rights" earlier this year. It also allowed the bidders a lot of flexibility in terms of how they would meet those requirements.

ISP/Learfield, for example, offered UT $65 million in cash and $16 million in video board revenue but only $2.5 million in capital investment.

Action Sports Media offered $73.4 million in cash plus $6.2 million in capital investments.

The companies made bids in May, then made presentations to UT's evaluation committee in mid-June and tweaked their offers at the end of June.

Committee members, from UT's athletic and academic sides, each ranked the bids on a 100-point scale.

Host received 1,013 total points; ISP/Learfield 989 points; Collegiate Sports Properties 980 points; and Action Sports Media 946 points.

UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton said he was happy with the bids.

"I think it makes a statement about the value of Tennessee athletics, the value of great fan support," he said, "and the kind of presence we have both regionally and nationally."

He said UT's familiarity with Host, which has an established radio network and already broadcasts UT's games and coaches' shows, was the deciding factor.

"The difference in Host is frankly we have had a 17-year relationship with them," Hamilton said. "They have a track record of producing a product that is at or ahead of the curve nationally.

"There is some confidence in that."

Randy Kenner may be reached at 865-342-6305.