By Jimmy Hyams
Tennessee’s allotment for the Belk College Kickoff exceeds 16,000.
It will be interesting to see if Vol fans snatch up those tickets before the Sept. 1 matchup against top 25 West Virginia in Charlotte.
Cole Cubelic of the SEC Network has picked the Mountaineers to win the Big 12.
The range of ticket prices varies greatly: $199 for club seats, $123 for sideline seats, $99 for end zone seats, and $65, $70 and $75 for upper deck seats.
UT’s allotment was 12,500 and UT requested almost 4,000 more for the lower level, based on previous purchases for neutral-site games by Tennessee fans. That brings the ticket total to 16,381.
Tickets to the Belk College Kickoff are on sale to members of the Tennessee Fund and season ticket holders until May 30. They will go on sale to the general public the first week of June.
Ticket requests have not been strong from Tennessee so far, but that could change, given UT’s history for recent games at neutral sites.
In 2012, UT sold more than 25,000 tickets to see the Vols play North Carolina State in the Georgia Dome.
Last year, Tennessee sold about 30,000 for the Georgia Tech game in the new Mercedes Benz Stadium.
UT did negotiate student discount tickets, getting 1,100 for current students at $45 each and another 400 for incoming students. All those seats are in the upper deck.
Tennessee bought about 450 tickets for band members at $53 per ticket.
Meanwhile, Tennessee has sold about 61,000 season tickets with the deadline for renewal having already passed. Those season ticket holders will have a chance to upgrade or downgrade their tickets until May 30. Shortly thereafter, season tickets will go on sale to the general public.
UT hopes to sell about 65,000 season tickets.
Two years ago, when many favored the Vols to win the East Division, UT sold about 73,000 season tickets.
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