In week one vs. Furman, Tennessee football will play in front of a sold-out crowd for the 28th consecutive home game. On Friday, Tennessee Athletics announced that six out of seven home games are sold out. The only one left is the Kentucky game on Nov. 7.
The Vols’ sellout streak dates back to the 2022 season, with 23 home wins in that span, according to Bill Martin, Tennessee’s senior associate athletics director of strategic communications for football. Tennessee is set to host Furman, Kennesaw State, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU in 2026.
Keep in mind, with the new Southeastern Conference schedule format, Tennessee will not see Georgia or Florida this season. It is the first season in over three decades that neither of those teams is on the Vols’ football schedule.
Pilot Fan Experience Enchancements
Also on Friday, the athletics department released details for the Pilot fan experience enhancements. The headliner is a new sound system built in consultation with Danley Sound Labs, Stellar Vision and Sound and Precision Audio. Danley has modernized the sound at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
The south videoboard speaker stacks were completely replaced, and dozens of amplifiers and more than a half-million watts of power will now blanket the stadium under the south overhang and along the north side of the east and west skyboxes. Tennessee installed 15 subwoofers, 11 full-range loudspeakers and 27 compact outdoor loudspeakers to complement the under-balcony speakers added before the 2024 season.
There were previously no subwoofers in the stadium. The system is built for clarity, not just volume. Fans from the lower bowl to the upper deck should hear PA announcements, music, the ref mic and in-game audio clearly.
Fans on the third level of the south end zone will find a wider concourse on the southeast corner next to the elevators. New concessions walk-through markets, similar to those on the north end, will be installed before the Kennesaw State game. An outdated restroom was removed in favor of 12 new fixtures, eight new water bottle filling stations were added on the third level, and more televisions will be placed throughout that level.
Outside Gate 9 on the southwest side, the new Champions Corner will anchor the plaza and honor Tennessee’s national championship head coaches year-round, including Gen. Robert Neyland, Doug Dickey and Phillip Fulmer. The Neyland statue dedicated in 2010 moved to its permanent home this summer, and statues of Dickey and Fulmer will be unveiled later this fall.
The plaza, complete with restrooms and new entry points, will continue to host Truly’s Tailgate and Volunteer Gameday, the one-hour show featuring “Voice of the Vols” Mike Keith, VFL Heath Shuler and WVLT-Knoxville’s Brittany Tarwater on the Tennessee Valley Sports Network.
By the second game of the season, a first-and-10 yellow line will appear on game action on the videoboards, giving fans a clearer picture of down and distance during drives.
