Tennessee Vols should embrace allowing players to market off name
A new decision by the NCAA to allow players to market off their name should excite Tennessee Vols fans. The Volunteers’ revenue proves that.
After years of debate, there is news that the NCAA may finally consider allowing athletes to profit off their name. It’s not the equivalent of paying players, but it’s a huge start, and the need for change here is much more obvious. Also, this is something that would dramatically help the Tennessee Vols.
Jeremy Pruitt is doing a good job rebuilding Tennessee football by any reasonable standard, but one of the quicker ways the program could shoot to the top is by allowing athletes to get paid. In fact, this would benefit Rocky Top more than most schools.
If players could begin to market off of their name, the Tennessee Vols could significantly sell that potential to recruits. There’s no way this program would ever again fail to have a top 15 class in football, and that may even be the case in basketball.
Just look at the data. UT is a top 15 revenue generating school on a yearly basis, and they are also bringing in a profit usually despite all the buyouts that count against their expenses. It’s clear the Tennessee Vols have a presence.
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Then there’s the specific issue of merchandise sales. The most thorough analysis of that was done back in 2013 ahead of the college football season. At that time, Tennessee football was coming off three straight losing seasons, two missed bowl games, and entering the year with a new head coach.
In basketball, the Vols had missed out on two straight NCAA Tournaments. And in women’s basketball, they were entering their second year without Pat Summitt at the helm as head coach. Simply put, it was a very down time for the program.
However, a press release from licensing.org noted that the Tennessee Vols still were ranked in the top 15 in merchandise sales. That is indicative of how much of a fan base they have that can help streamline revenue to the program.
Four years later, this time in October, the Tennessee Vols ranked No. 3 in terms of merchandise sales at Walmart, according to AL.com. They were only behind the Alabama Crimson Tide and Ohio State Buckeyes. However, let’s remember that the football team at the time was in the midst of collapse en route to its worst season ever under Butch Jones. They still sold.
Simply put, the Tennessee Vols sell. And as a result, they have a major selling point to recruits. Prospects, especially in football, could step on campus and not only play in front of SEC crowds every week. If they were good enough, they could sell tons of merchandise and profit off of their name.
Next. Projecting Vol football's 2-deep depth chart. dark
Imagine if the EA Sports NCAA Football game came back. Numerous UT fans were among those who bought that game. There’s just no way other schools could get around this. Coaches in Knoxville would have one of the best selling points out there. Add that to what they already do in recruiting, and it would be a huge deal.