Tennessee reaches long-term deal with Knoxville-based Pilot to preserve name of Neyland Stadium

Tennessee announced on Tuesday a long-term deal with travel-center giant Pilot that will preserve the names of Neyland Stadium and Shields-Watkins Field while giving the Knoxville-based company prominent signage throughout the stadium, including on the playing surface.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but it will initially be for up to 20 years with the possibility of extensions, the school and company said.

The deal comes as schools that play big-time college sports search for new revenue streams to address rising costs, including more money than ever going directly to athletes.

Tennessee athletic director Danny White said the partnership could be described as a naming rights deal without a name change, protecting the traditional name of Tennessee's 101,915-seat stadium.

White said conversations with Pilot CEO Adam Wright and his team about a branding deal started more than a year ago, well before the NCAA tweaked its rules to allow schools to put sponsored branding on playing surfaces.

“There’s always been a rule that a stadium-naming agreement allows for corporate branding in the stadium, on the field,” White said. “And we structured this in a way where we knew from the onset that changing the name of Neyland Stadium or Shields-Watkins Field was never an option. It’s way too iconic of a building.”

Pilot and the University of Tennessee have a long history. Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, a Tennessee alum, is the former CEO of the company as well as a longtime supporter of Volunteers athletics. Haslam's father, Jim, played football at Tennessee for Gen. Robert Neyland, the coach whose name is on the stadium, and founded Pilot.

Pilot will be designated as the presenting partner of the $337 million Neyland Stadium renovation project. That includes new signage on the east side of the stadium with “Home of the Vols” along with the company's logo, and Pilot convenience shop in the concourse selling snacks and beverages.

“Simply put, even just saying (Neyland Stadium) preserved by Pilot to me is worth it,” Wright said.

For power conference schools such as Tennessee, a revenue-sharing system that could direct as much as $21 million per year to athletes could begin as soon as 2025. The plan is part of the settlement of multiple antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA and conferences and still needs approval from a judge.

Naming rights deals for stadiums and arenas figure to become popular across the country.

Just last week, Florida International announced a deal with Grammy-winning musician Pitbull that includes naming rights to the school's 20,000-seat football stadium.

For many schools, however, stadiums and arenas have names steeped in tradition and meaningful to fans. Altering them in any way to accommodate corporate sponsorship would risk backlash.

At Nebraska, for example, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln is dedicated to Nebraskans killed while serving in the military.

Cornhuskers athletic director Troy Dannen said a deal that would change the name of the stadium is not something he has even contemplated, but balancing traditions with financial needs will create tough calls for administrators throughout college sports.

“There are a lot of things that have been held sacred over time that whether you're able to hold them sacred in this new environment is an outstanding question that we're all going to have to face,” Dannen said.

Tennessee first played football at Shields-Watkins Field in 1921. It was named for William Simpson Shields, a Tennessee trustee who paid off a debt that was owed on the land and gave it back to the university, and his wife, the former Alice Watkins.

The stadium grew around the field and in 1962 it was expanded to more than 52,000 seats and dedicated to Neyland, who served two stints as Tennessee's coach for 21 years (1926-52). His teams went 173-31-12, won five Southeastern Conference championships and the 1951 national title.

“The impact he had on this program, as a coach, it's his vision. That's why the stadium’s there,” White said. “We were never going to change the name. So it was about how do we preserve the name and build a win-win partnership that allows us to reinvest in our fan experience.”

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FILE - Tennessee players run onto the field at Neyland Stadium before an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Texas A&M Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

MIAMI (AP) — People across Florida were given notice Sunday that Milton, for now just a tropical storm off the coast of Mexico, could intensify rapidly into a major hurricane before slamming midweek into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.

Tropical Storm Milton's center was about 860 miles (1,385 kilometers) west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, early Sunday, heading east at 5 mph (7 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

“Milton is moving slowly but is expected to strengthen rapidly,” the center said. “There is increasing confidence that a powerful hurricane with life-threatening hazards will be affecting portions of the Florida west coast around the middle of this week.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen just where Milton will strike, it's clear that Florida is going to be hit hard.

“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” the governor said. “Know your evacuation zone — there will be mandatory and voluntary evacuations.”

DeSantis said as many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Transportation to remove debris ahead of the next storm, and he declared a state of emergency in 35 counties. He said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruption.

“All available state assets ... are being marshaled to help remove debris,” DeSantis said. “We're going 24-7 ... it's all hands on deck."

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell defended her agency's response to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene after Republicans’ false claims, amplified by former President Donald Trump, created a frenzy of misinformation across devastated communities.

“This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people and it’s really a shame we’re putting politics ahead of helping people,” Criswell told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. It's created fear and mistrust among residents against the thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers on the ground across the southeast, she said.

Despite this, Criswell said the agency is already preparing for Milton, well before it's clear exactly where it will move across the Florida peninsula this week. “We’re working with the state there to understand what their requirements are going to be, so we can have those in place before it makes landfall,” she said.

The hurricane center said Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the northwestern Bahamas should monitor the system’s progress. Heavy rainfall was expected Sunday ahead of the storm itself, and will likely then combine with Milton's rainfall to flood waterways and streets in Florida, where forecasters said up to a foot (30 centimeters) of rain could fall in places through Wednesday night.

“There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday. Residents in these areas should ensure they have their hurricane plan in place, follow any advice given by local officials, and check back for updates to the forecast,” the center said.

The Atlantic hurricane season has become more active as rescuers in the U.S. Southeast continue to search for people unaccounted for in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which left a huge trail of death and catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalachian mountains.

Hurricane Kirk diminished to a Category 2 hurricane in the open Atlantic early, with top winds of 105 mph (165 kph), sending large swells and “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” to Bermuda and northward along the U.S. and Canadian coasts, the center said. Hurricane Leslie also was moving northwest over the open Atlantic, with top winds of 85 mph (140 kph) but posing no threats to land.

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 4:50 p.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Tropical Storm Milton, center, off the coast of Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (NOAA via AP)