Tennessee’s years-long facelift of Neyland Stadium continues as the 2023 season approaches.
A Jumbotron as well as premium chair back seating in the lower west stands was among the additions a year ago.
A lower field-level club under the west stands was recently completed and will officially open in time for the Vols’ home opener against Austin Peay on Sept. 9.
The media we given an exclusive tour of the area as well as look at the south stadium concourse which is currently under construction on Wednesday.
Here are some notes and observations on the projects.
WIFI
- Stadium-wide WiFi will be available starting this season, though we were told there would be “some growing pains” in the Austin Peay game.
- There is currently 111 miles of cable inside the stadium and they plan go up to as much 150 miles.
- 33 miles of of fiber.
- We were able to connect to the RockyTop Wifi and it worked smoothly throughout the tour, though that might change when there are 102,000-plus fans around but again, they said they hope to have it working better as the season progresses.
LOWER LEVEL WEST CLUB
- The club area is 13,000 square feet.
- We were told that Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was one of the inspirations for its design but that they are not aware of a 100-plus year old venue like Neyland Stadium having a field level club like this.
- There are three bars with one on each of the club and another in the center.
- Three bars located inside with one on each end and one in the center.
- 63 TVs
- Premium food options will be available through Airmark, who UT has a vending contract with.
- We were able to sample some of the food. Ryan and I both tried the turkey panini which was cooked by chefs on site. It was delicious.
- There are built in restrooms.
- Personal opinion, this is an incredibly nice upgrade. Comfortable, air conditioned with a lot of space and great views of the field, directly behind the home sideline.
SOUTH STADIUM CONCOURSE
- We were not allowed to video record here because it’s an active construction site but they are making progress.
- We started the tour on the west concourse, which is about 33-feet wide before it narrowed to 12-feet in the south. We were told this area was built in the 1960s and hasn’t seen many upgrades since.
- The plan is to widen that area and add concessions and restrooms.
- The south facade of the stadium will extend out further to the steel beams just in front of the G10 parking garage with the new concession stands backed up to the exterior.
- Tennessee wants to keep the view of the Tennessee River there intact so fans can get a view of the river and the field on either side.
- The project is slated to be “fully operational” by the 2025 season.