Experience as a Tennessee Shareholder Society Members: Fell Short of Our Expectations

#1
GBO22

GBO22

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#1
Hello fellow Volunteer fans,
After a few years as a UT Athletic donor and discussions with UT Athletic staff, I wanted to share our experiences as a member of the Shareholder Society. We joined the Shareholder Society in 2021 after experiencing challenges securing baseball tickets within the existing Lindsey Nelson Stadium (LNS). The benefits of the Shareholder Society, particularly access to unique player and coach engagements and a path to acquiring season tickets, were a big part of our decision. I'm sharing our story in the hope that it will encourage the UT Athletics Department to improve transparency and make the experience more rewarding for all donors, both current and future.

The Promise of Shareholder Benefits​

We were particularly excited about two key benefits:
  • Access to unique player/coach events, like attending team practices.
  • The ability to accelerate our donor ranking to improve access to season tickets.
When we joined, we were under the impression that our commitment would put us on a clear path to secure baseball season tickets as LNS stadium capacity increased. The process, as it was described to us, seemed straightforward: non-ticket holders would be placed on a waiting list, and tickets would be distributed based on donor rank.

The Lack of Transparency in Ticket Distribution​

My understanding of the ticket distribution process was completely upended recently. Before the start of the 2025 baseball season, I emailed the season ticket coordinator to check on my status. I was informed I was around #380 on the waitlist with a donor rank of around 2,500. This was promising considering the stadium growth. However, further conversations revealed a different process. It turns out that tickets are not simply allocated based on the waitlist. Instead, the top 500 donors are contacted first and offered the chance to increase their ticket allocations, even if they hadn't previously requested more seats.

This discovery was incredibly disappointing and made me feel misled by the athletic staff. The current system of allocating more and more tickets to the top echelon of donors means that it was generally pointless to join Shareholders Society and donating $25,000 in UT Athletics. I pressed the Athletic Department to make the process more transparent on the front end to allow Volunteer fans to make donations based on the fact new stadium capacity isn't translating into those on the waitlist securing access to new seats.
My chief argument was the current ticket distribution model allows top tier donors to accumulate 10-20 seats per donor and pass seats off to business associates or extended family. I offered you are going to alienate a lot of $25-50K donors such as myself that will end up never donating again. This didn't seem to alarm the UT Athletic staff.

In July, I requested a meeting with the leadership team of the Shareholder Society to address my concerns. During the call, it was shared that it would take a donation around $500K to ensure I or anyone else secured baseball tickets for the upcoming season. I was informed no change to allowing top donors access to more and more tickets as the stadium capacity increases as planned.

My wife and I remain avid fans of the respective sport programs but offer our experience as a warning before anyone commits donations with the expectations it translates into season tickets. Even as a Tennessee Letterman it impacts my desire to give back to UT at this point forward. At least to the Athletic program- a number of other giving opportunities exist at Tennessee that are righteous from our perspective.

Also happy to answer questions if any Vol fans are considering joining the Shareholder Society and some of the benefits we enjoyed from the program. Charlie @ rcharlesepperson@gmail.com
 
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#3
#3
I hear ya GBO22 !!! I have had MVP seats since they built the place. Last year we paid approx. $5500 for 4 seats. The renewal, which we did pay for the '26 season, was $13,000 !!! And guess what? No free food in the MVP room next year !!! You want to talk about "tone deaf!" I went ahead and sent the money in last month, but it had note attached to it. Basically saying you have a few months to fix the incredible oversight/misinformed/piss poor decision- making of eliminating the food! If you don't fix this for next season, I'm out. I'm an ex-player, financially well off, but enough is enough.

I can sit home and watch on the TV for free. All it takes is for one bad season to show up, and it will, albeit probably not anytime soon, and that Wait-List will shrink mightily.

Our Company (Family business) still has the football tickets, but they are for clients. I have not been to a football game in 8 years. I think we are getting close in college sports to the limit of what people will pay, regardless of financial status, to go see a damn game.

Just my two cents......but it looks like '26 will be my last at Tennessee Baseball. Sad.
 
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#4
#4
GBO22 said:
Hello fellow Volunteer fans,
After a few years as a UT Athletic donor and discussions with UT Athletic staff, I wanted to share our experiences as a member of the Shareholder Society. We joined the Shareholder Society in 2021 after experiencing challenges securing baseball tickets within the existing Lindsey Nelson Stadium (LNS). The benefits of the Shareholder Society, particularly access to unique player and coach engagements and a path to acquiring season tickets, were a big part of our decision. I'm sharing our story in the hope that it will encourage the UT Athletics Department to improve transparency and make the experience more rewarding for all donors, both current and future.

The Promise of Shareholder Benefits​

We were particularly excited about two key benefits:
  • Access to unique player/coach events, like attending team practices.
  • The ability to accelerate our donor ranking to improve access to season tickets.
When we joined, we were under the impression that our commitment would put us on a clear path to secure baseball season tickets as LNS stadium capacity increased. The process, as it was described to us, seemed straightforward: non-ticket holders would be placed on a waiting list, and tickets would be distributed based on donor rank.

The Lack of Transparency in Ticket Distribution​

My understanding of the ticket distribution process was completely upended recently. Before the start of the 2025 baseball season, I emailed the season ticket coordinator to check on my status. I was informed I was around #380 on the waitlist with a donor rank of around 2,500. This was promising considering the stadium growth. However, further conversations revealed a different process. It turns out that tickets are not simply allocated based on the waitlist. Instead, the top 500 donors are contacted first and offered the chance to increase their ticket allocations, even if they hadn't previously requested more seats.

This discovery was incredibly disappointing and made me feel misled by the athletic staff. The current system of allocating more and more tickets to the top echelon of donors means that it was generally pointless to join Shareholders Society and donating $25,000 in UT Athletics. I pressed the Athletic Department to make the process more transparent on the front end to allow Volunteer fans to make donations based on the fact new stadium capacity isn't translating into those on the waitlist securing access to new seats.
My chief argument was the current ticket distribution model allows top tier donors to accumulate 10-20 seats per donor and pass seats off to business associates or extended family. I offered you are going to alienate a lot of $25-50K donors such as myself that will end up never donating again. This didn't seem to alarm the UT Athletic staff.

In July, I requested a meeting with the leadership team of the Shareholder Society to address my concerns. During the call, it was shared that it would take a donation around $500K to ensure I or anyone else secured baseball tickets for the upcoming season. I was informed no change to allowing top donors access to more and more tickets as the stadium capacity increases as planned.

My wife and I remain avid fans of the respective sport programs but offer our experience as a warning before anyone commits donations with the expectations it translates into season tickets. Even as a Tennessee Letterman it impacts my desire to give back to UT at this point forward. At least to the Athletic program- a number of other giving opportunities exist at Tennessee that are righteous from our perspective.

Also happy to answer questions if any Vol fans are considering joining the Shareholder Society and some of the benefits we enjoyed from the program. Charlie @ rcharlesepperson@gmail.com
Click to expand...
Does the shareholder society offer an ROI?
 
#7
#7
Here I am wondering how people can give out $25k for an opportunity at tickets. Not judging you at all. Just crazy that this is what the world of college sports has come to. I’m almost 30 years old and I’ve never been to a UT football game. Dad and I would like to go with my kids to a big game before he passes on but I’m not sure it’s even feasible at this point.
 
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#8
#8
25vol said:
Here I am wondering how people can give out $25k for an opportunity at tickets. Not judging you at all. Just crazy that this is what the world of college sports has come to. I’m almost 30 years old and I’ve never been to a UT football game. Dad and I would like to go with my kids to a big game before he passes on but I’m not sure it’s even feasible at this point.
Click to expand...
People shell out $20,000 for a first class airplane seat for their infant kids. I've seen it dozens of times on my airplane. There's lots of money out there
 
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#9
#9
SpaceCoastVol said:
People shell out $20,000 for a first class airplane seat for their infant kids. I've seen it dozens of times on my airplane. There's lots of money out there
Click to expand...

No doubt. I think it’s ludicrous is all. Guess people like who you’re talking about are referred to as “whales”. They keep places in business while the cheapskates like me fly economy even though I can afford not to. To each their own.
 
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#10
#10
25vol said:
Here I am wondering how people can give out $25k for an opportunity at tickets. Not judging you at all. Just crazy that this is what the world of college sports has come to. I’m almost 30 years old and I’ve never been to a UT football game. Dad and I would like to go with my kids to a big game before he passes on but I’m not sure it’s even feasible at this point.
Click to expand...
I mean it’s not that much money to go to one big game imo. Take your dad and enjoy a big one; the memory will be worth more than the money if football is something you’re both passionate about.

As far as the thread, yeah it seems like the better the times the more focused the AD gets on just the money.
 
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#12
#12
I've wondered how tickets are so hard to come by (speaking of baseball in this instance), yet there are so many empty seats behind home plate. What you enlightened us with goes a long way toward explaining that.

I don't know if there was ever a time that UT actually considered the common fan, but it is certainly becoming more transparent that it does not. Heck, a $25k donation is far more than what would be considered a common fan, and they essentially snubbed their nose at you.
 
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#13
#13
Our situation and decision to donate was primarily based on not having kids to put thru college and having ran Track and XC at Tennessee.

A few months ago a former teammate called me and said hey I’m getting a sales pitch from the Athletic Dept on the Shareholder Society but no assurance on tickets. His son is now at Tennessee and both fans of baseball. Super successful and can donate a good deal more than us but also a businessman. He eventually declined to join the Shareholders and buys individual tickets like a good majority of us. Either the distribution system is fixed soon or we’ll have a very rich and small fan base in the new Lindsey Nelson stadium.
 
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#14
#14
GBO22 said:
Our situation and decision to donate was primarily based on not having kids to put thru college and having ran Track and XC at Tennessee.

A few months ago a former teammate called me and said hey I’m getting a sales pitch from the Athletic Dept on the Shareholder Society but no assurance on tickets. His son is now at Tennessee and both fans of baseball. Super successful and can donate a good deal more than us but also a businessman. He eventually declined to join the Shareholders and buys individual tickets like a good majority of us. Either the distribution system is fixed soon or we’ll have a very rich and small fan base in the new Lindsey Nelson stadium.
Click to expand...
Thank you for posting that you ran track and XC for UT (this explains how you are a letterman). What years did you participate?
 
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#17
#17
GBO22 said:
Our situation and decision to donate was primarily based on not having kids to put thru college and having ran Track and XC at Tennessee.

A few months ago a former teammate called me and said hey I’m getting a sales pitch from the Athletic Dept on the Shareholder Society but no assurance on tickets. His son is now at Tennessee and both fans of baseball. Super successful and can donate a good deal more than us but also a businessman. He eventually declined to join the Shareholders and buys individual tickets like a good majority of us. Either the distribution system is fixed soon or we’ll have a very rich and small fan base in the new Lindsey Nelson stadium.
Click to expand...
If I were a betting man (who am I kidding, I am), it won't be.
 
#18
#18
25vol said:
Here I am wondering how people can give out $25k for an opportunity at tickets. Not judging you at all. Just crazy that this is what the world of college sports has come to. I’m almost 30 years old and I’ve never been to a UT football game. Dad and I would like to go with my kids to a big game before he passes on but I’m not sure it’s even feasible at this point.
Click to expand...
I could win $10 million tomorrow and wouldn’t spend that on any event. I grew up, not poor, but money was always tight. My parents grew up in the Depression and I think the “watch every penny” has stayed with me to this day. I still consider $1,000 a considerable amount of money. My Mom told me dinner for four people during the 30’s was one can of beans. No one complained because families near them didn’t even have that much for dinner.—If someone has made their money legally, they certainly have the right to do what they want with it.
 
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#19
#19
HeavenUniversity said:
I could win $10 million tomorrow and wouldn’t spend that on any event. I grew up, not poor, but money was always tight. My parents grew up in the Depression and I think the “watch every penny” has stayed with me to this day. I still consider $1,000 a considerable amount of money. My Mom told me dinner for four people during the 30’s was one can of beans. No one complained because families near them didn’t even have that much for dinner.—If someone has made their money legally, they certainly have the right to do what they want with it.
Click to expand...
If you have 5 sticks banked, it's not an issue. There are exponentially more people with 5M in the bank than there were 40 years ago. That added with people who are making high 6 figures, low 7 figures in income every year now.

Actually, you at least would consider forking that over if you did suddenly have a 10m windfall. You may not do it, but you would consider it. Human nature. If you set your financial organization up properly with 10M, you could use that purchase as an advantage
 
#20
#20
DaddyChad said:
I mean it’s not that much money to go to one big game imo. Take your dad and enjoy a big one; the memory will be worth more than the money if football is something you’re both passionate about.

As far as the thread, yeah it seems like the better the times the more focused the AD gets on just the money.
Click to expand...
Yah, I get it. I’ll probably end up doing it for a game this year since his health issues are getting worse. Just not sure which one yet.
 
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#22
#22
25vol said:
Yah, I get it. I’ll probably end up doing it for a game this year since his health issues are getting worse. Just not sure which one yet.
Click to expand...
It “might” be easier for yall to go to a smaller game. There’s just usually less BS to deal with. When I started taking my kids usually we went to the smaller games at first bc it just kind of eased them in.

Whatever you decide I’m sure it will be a great experience. Best of luck.
 
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#23
#23
DaddyChad said:
I mean it’s not that much money to go to one big game imo. Take your dad and enjoy a big one; the memory will be worth more than the money if football is something you’re both passionate about.

As far as the thread, yeah it seems like the better the times the more focused the AD gets on just the money.
Click to expand...
It’s a lot of money compared to what it used to cost. It’s also a lot of money compared to what it costs even at much better programs. White has gouged fans since he got here because he has had the good fortune to be able to bend a fanbase starved for wins over a barrel when we started winning a little bit. Yet the amenities and gameday experience within his control but outside the lines of play have largely suffered despite the increased revenue
 
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#24
#24
25vol said:
Here I am wondering how people can give out $25k for an opportunity at tickets. Not judging you at all. Just crazy that this is what the world of college sports has come to. I’m almost 30 years old and I’ve never been to a UT football game. Dad and I would like to go with my kids to a big game before he passes on but I’m not sure it’s even feasible at this point.
Click to expand...
1754701886393.gif
 
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#25
#25
DaddyChad said:
It “might” be easier for yall to go to a smaller game. There’s just usually less BS to deal with. When I started taking my kids usually we went to the smaller games at first bc it just kind of eased them in.

Whatever you decide I’m sure it will be a great experience. Best of luck.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. I'm mostly worried about my Dad's health in the heat. He's got heart issues so any games in the heat are out of the question for him. I thought about the Vandy game since it will be a low pressure game and not so hot.
 
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