Tennessee Volunteers fans planning to attend sporting events in the future can expect to pay more for tickets as the school looks to pay players.

Danny White, athletic director at Tennessee, told Andy Staples of On3.com the school is going to implement a "10 percent surcharge" to all season and single-game ticket sales with the additional cost said to add roughly $22 million per year in revenue sharing that will go to athletes.

"It's a talent fee, and it's going directly to the talent," White said. "It's going to our student athletes as part of this new world order in college sports. So I know our fans will embrace it."

This comes as the NCAA awaits word about a potential settlement in the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit that is currently on hold.

Settlement documents were filed in the Northern District Court of California on July 26 involving three different lawsuits that would have required the NCAA and the Power Five conferences to pay a total of $2.78 billion over 10 years in payment of damages related to NIL, academic-related awards and other benefits.

However, The Athletic's Justin Williams noted on Sept. 5 that Judge Claudia Wilken declined to rule on the preliminary approval due in part to the settlement's proposed restrictions on third-party payments, "particularly from booster-led NIL collectives, and the justifications for those restrictions."

Williams noted that Wilken did express optimism a deal could be reached, but the process will "likely" stretch into next year before a final approval process can be formalized.

Staples noted if the settlement gets approved, schools would have approximately $22 million through revenue sharing available to pay to players starting with the 2025-26 academic year.

As NIL rules have opened up opportunities for athletes to earn compensation for their play at a school, teams have been trying to find ways to get money from fans to fund their collective.

Oklahoma State's attempt to put QR codes on football helmets for fans to directly send money to the program's general NIL fund was blocked by the NCAA on the ground that it constituted "advertising and/or commercial marks" that aren't permitted by NCAA bylaws.

White attempted to justify the surcharge to Staples by calling it another opportunity to help the athletic program remain competitive in the same way that fans do when they purchase memorabilia.

"They do a phenomenal job of filling our venues, buying hats and T-shirts and in all the different ways that they invest in our program," he said. "This is another way that they can help us be more competitive."

In an October 2023 story, Tommy Deas of the Tuscaloosa News noted the total cost for four tickets to Tennessee's home opener last year against South Carolina was $1,188.73. The average cost of a single ticket across all 14 SEC schools was around $141.

Per Adam Sparks of the Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee's athletic department generated its "highest operating revenue in history" with more than $200 million in 2023.