University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium
Where: 1235 Phillip Fulmer Way
What: University of Tennessee Volunteers' football stadium, which seats more than 100,000
Pronunciation: Nee-land
Neyland Stadium
1600 Phillip Fulmer Way
Knoxville, TN
Phone: 865-974-2491
It’s hard to believe it, but there was a time when what is now Neyland Stadium was just a teensy dirt football field with a single set of concrete stands. It took 50,000 yards of fill dirt, and 2,000 University ...
More about Neyland Stadium »Opened in 1921 as Shields-Watkins Stadium after Col. W.S. Shields and his wife Alice Watkins who provided the funds to build the field, the stadium contained 3,200 seats in 17 rows. Over 88 years, the football stadium has undergone 17 expansions, said Tiffany Carpenter, director of public relations for UT athletics. The stadium's name was changed in 1962 in honor of Gen. Robert R. Neyland, UT's winningest coach. The field is still called Shields-Watkins Field.
The stadium boasts 122 skyboxes, each seating up to 16. One may be acquired through a donation of $40,000 per season and includes two parking passes, pregame and halftime meals and snacks, she said.
For donors who give an initial $50,000 plus an additional $4,000 annually, there is the East Club, a 422-seat private venue that includes the same perks as the skyboxes, said Carpenter.
According to Carpenter, in 1938, 128 dorm rooms for male athletes were added on the east side of the stadium. In the 1960s, the rooms were converted into offices and classrooms. According to Jay Mayfield, UT media relations coordinator, after bodies have finished their stay at UT's "Body Farm," the bones are stored in the anthropology department offices at the stadium. "We have had folks inquire about donating their body to the Forensic Anthropology Center specifically because their remains can be housed in Neyland Stadium," said Mayfield.
The stadium is the fourth largest in the NCAA Division I behind Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State, said Bud Ford, associate athletic director of UT athletics.
On knoxnews.com: Watch video of Merrie Long exploring UT's Neyland Stadium.
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Comments » 13
ThaiVolFan writes:
I have to say there are a lot of people with special memories in that stadium and I am one....but don't know about having my bones laid to rest there?? At any rate Neyland holds a very special place in my heart. Looking for better memories to be added than those as of late. I can smell the popcorn, hear the announcements and see that beautiful checkerboard now....the seasons almost here!!
ThaiVolFan writes:
Oh yeah, be sure and take the "Knowsy Knoxville" tour. It's a good look at the stadium from a vantage point that most of us will never see...
bugman (Inactive) writes:
HOW DUMB!!!! 40,000 for 8 home games if you're lucky and all you get is parking pass and some crappy food I could make at my home for probally 15 bucks. I dont care if you're a billionare that's just stupid!!
jsteph10 writes:
About the skybox for 40K. Does that include the tickets, or are they purchased separately in addition the 40K donation?
jsteph10 writes:
When I was in school about 10 years ago, we would sneak into the stadium after long nights on the strip through gate 4 (I think). This was before the laser beam security was installed on the field.
We always had a football with us and had more touchdown catches in one night than the Vols would have in a season.
bugman (Inactive) writes:
pics or it didnt happen
JtDL writes:
I sneaked in several times, and I graduated in 2006. The gate facing the biology center had about 18 inches of opening when pulled as far as the chain would allow.
Having your bones stored at Neyland would be weird - I'd rather be cremated and have the ashes sprinkled in the Swamp with a curse.
jsteph10 writes:
So cynical. Have some pics and a bunch of video. How would you like to view them?
kini13#233353 writes:
The video is beautiful. The whole facility is "classy" as it should be since it IS Tennessee! This year is going to be difficult - I lost my husband in February. We had been season ticket holders for 40 years. Needless to say, I will be pulling for the Big Orange!
Mrs. "Nick" Harrison
bugman (Inactive) writes:
i find it hard to believe. youtube perhaps?
coachgarvol#443548 writes:
they (visitors) say that the visiting locker room is a junk hole. i dont know as i have never been in there. we need to at make it to be proud for visitors to say that was a nice locker room when they leave (hopefully with an L),
come on now...
johnlg00#206211 writes:
It is an age-old part of gamesmanship to have the visitors dress in some dank dungeon. The Boston Celtics, at least in the old Garden, used to have the heat turned up really high before games in the visitors' locker room and only cold water, or no water at all, in the showers afterward. It had only naked light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, and rusty nails to hang clothes on.
I agree with you that visitors should be treated well--but not TOO well!--except during the game. I would be interested to know what the visitors' locker room looks like and how it compares to others around the conference.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
My guess is that the food is pretty good. In any case, people who have that kind of money to spend on football games just don't look at it the same way the rest of us do. I'd say lots of them make deals there, or at least solidify relationships, that make them enough money to pay for a year's worth of such costs every Saturday!
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