Letter from Mike Hamilton
Dear friends,
Earlier today we announced that we are partnering with the city of Knoxville to create a weekend-long celebration this Labor Day. The city's annual Boomsday extravaganza will kick the weekend off on Saturday, Sept. 4, with more than 300,000 people expected to attend. On Sunday, Sept. 5, we will host UNLV in our season opener before a national audience on ESPN2 beginning at 8 p.m. EST. We believe this is a great opportunity for both the city and the university.
A lot of thought went into this decision. In the end, we felt like this was the best decision for the city of Knoxville, our program and our fans.
In response to our fans concerns about the game time temperature at last year's season opener, we wanted a night game to ensure our fans did not have to sit out in sweltering temperatures. The only other opportunity we had for a televised game without going to pay-per-view was a mid-afternoon kickoff on Saturday.
A few months ago we announced plans for a Football Lettermen Reunion Weekend at the UNLV game. More than 300 football players are expected to attend the game. In honor of their football predecessors, our current players will don retro game jerseys from the early 1970s. With no NFL or college football games in the Sunday night time slot, this is a great way to honor the tradition of Tennessee football in the national spotlight as we pay tribute to the great players that laid the foundation for our program.
I understand that a Sunday game does have a couple of disadvantages, the first being that many of our fans have religious services on Sunday. I hope that the 8 p.m. kickoff will minimize the impact on those services. I also know that many of you have made travel plans, and I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Thank you for your continued support of Tennessee athletics.
Go Vols!
Mike Hamilton
Athletic Director
