UT athletics budget joins $100M club

Tennessee's athletic department has joined the exclusive $100,000 million club.

The 2009-10 operating budget announced at the fall meeting of the Athletics Board is $100,850,000, up about 15 percent from the previous year.

"I knew at some point we were going to hit that mark,'' men's athletic director Mike Hamilton said Saturday morning. "We're not the first athletic department to go over that mark.''

Ohio State and Texas are among the schools that had already hit the $100 million plateau.

The increase from $86,659,125 in 2008-09 is a good-news proposition, reflecting three enhanced sources of revenue.

The Vols hosted an eighth home football game in 2009. The new Tennessee Terrace area at Neyland Stadium has generated increased donations.

But the biggest windfall has been the new SEC television contract.

"We're in a good league,'' Hamilton said. "That's what it boils down to.''

Expenditures paid for by the new revenue include an increased donation from the athletic department to the university, debt retirement and a projected expense for football postseason (bowl trip) and coaches' bonuses.

The board was pleased to report a cash surplus of $2.687 million for 2008-09, even after paying $5.9 million to compensate the former football coaching staff of Phillip Fulmer.

"We were hoping to break even and we have a $2.7 million surplus,'' said Terry Neal, chairman of the Fiscal Integrity/Long-Range Planning Committee.

UT will have to pay 2008 offensive coordinator Dave Clawson for another year-and-a-half, Hamilton said, because his salary as head coach at Bowling Green is not as much as he made at Tennessee.

In facility news, the most pressing need is an indoor track/volleyball facility. A feasibility study has recommended a site on Leinart Lane near the Regal Soccer Stadium.

In other news:

n The Goodfriend Tennis Center is expanding from four indoor courts to six.

n Work on the next phase of Neyland Stadium renovation will begin in two weeks.

n Dr. Dan Murphy replaces Dr. Todd Diacon as the faculty athletic representative. Murphy will represent UT to the SEC and NCAA for a four-year term.

"We are very excited to have someone with Dr. Murphy's background and experience serving us in this increasingly important role," Hamilton said.

n Former UT quarterback Heath Shuler is a new alumni member of the board. He was unable to attend Saturday due to his duties as a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina.