Tennessee already has announced neutral-site football games on its 2015 and '16 schedules, but the school could be poised to add more as it seeks to enhance its recruiting footprint and to find relief from a local tax that UT officials believe is keeping much-needed funds from its coffers.
Tennessee pays an "Amusement Tax" (67-6-212 in state code) on all of its ticket sales for home football, men's basketball and women's basketball of 5 percent. Of that figure, 4.5 percent is allocated to the City of Knoxville while Knox County receives .5. That tax on its own has resulted in more than $3 million total in revenue dispensed to the two government entities in the past two years; the figure was $1.55 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year and climbed to $1.6 million in fiscal year '12-13, per UT.
However, concerts, lectures and other events hosted on UT's campus at Thompson-Boling Arena and other locations are not charged the entertainment tax. Tennessee has paid the "Amusement Tax" since the early 1990s on ticket sales related to hosting its football, men's and women's basketball games.
