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http://www.thetennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll...394/1002/SPORTS
KNOXVILLE The University of Tennessee athletics department has been peppered with complaints and questions from fans in recent days concerning UT's release of its season-ticket mailing list to a magazine subscription company.
Tennessee Athletics Director Mike Hamilton said UT's intentions were good, but he conceded that the promotion was poorly executed and poorly communicated.
"I still think it was a good thought to do something for our fans," Hamilton said. "In retrospect, it didn't turn out the way we had hoped.
"We've learned our lesson and are obviously out of the magazine business."
Hamilton said he had received assurances that the season-ticket mailing list had been suppressed and would not be passed on to other companies.
According to Hamilton, UT entered into an arrangement with Magazines.com, based in Franklin, whereby Vols season-ticket holders would receive complimentary subscriptions to the Sporting News and TV Guide for a year.
Hamilton said there was no added cost to UT or to the 23,000 season-ticket holders who control the approximate 76,000 season tickets inside Neyland Stadium.
The tradeoff was that Magazines.com would be able to show an increased circulation, while also hoping that a portion of the Vols' season-ticket base would like the magazines enough to re-subscribe the following year.
But when fans started getting ambiguously worded postcards from Magazine.com earlier this month, the reaction wasn't what UT officials or Magazines.com expected. UT responded with two mailings to season-ticket holders, attempting to explain what had happened, but the many fans remained confused or angry.
Johnnie Crutcher, a pharmacist in Lebanon and season-ticket holder for more than 30 years, said Hamilton should be fired if he signed off on such a deal.
"It's about right and wrong, and you don't give people's addresses out to some magazine company," Crutcher said. "I don't want somebody coming into my house uninvited when I'm not there, and that's what they've done.
"If Mike Hamilton authorized this, he should be publicly terminated."
Hamilton said he understands the concerns of some fans and stresses that nothing underhanded was going on.
"I agreed to the deal on the front end," Hamilton said. "I'm a big boy and can take the bullets, but we were truly trying to do something nice for our fans."