Lindsey Nelson Stadium Expansion Opens Door For Stadium Name Change

Tennessee Baseball
Tennessee Baseball Lindsey Nelson Stadium and starting pitcher Chase Dollander. Photo by Ric Butler/Rocky Top Insider.

Tennessee baseball announced its finalized plans for the Lindsey Nelson Stadium renovation and expansion project Friday afternoon.

The Board of Trustees approved an addition $39 million for the project Friday making the multi-phase plan a $95.8 million venture.

Tennessee is funding the project in a number of ways, estimating nearly $10 million from donor gifts, nearly $60 million for priority seats donations, just over $10 million from the “My All Campaign” and nearly $4 million from ticket sales.

$7.99 million of the projected revenue is for naming rights to the stadium. That doesn’t mean Lindsey Nelson Stadium will definitively change its name for a near $8 million donation but it does open the door for a name change.

More From RTI: See Renderings Of New Lindsey Nelson Stadium

Tennessee’s baseball stadium has been named after UT alum and legendary broadcaster Lindsey Nelson since its opening in 1993. Lindsey founded the “Vol Network” and went on to have a legendary broadcasting career which included announcing college football, basketball, NBA, NFL and MLB games.

Lindsey is a member of the New York Mets, National Sportswriters and Sportscaster and Pro Football Hall of Fames.

The renovations coming to Lindsey Nelson Stadium include a facelift to the front entrance, new press box and premium seating as well as additional seats down both the left field and right field line.

Lindsey Nelson Stadium’s expansion will add over 3,000 seats making the Vol baseball stadium’s capacity 7,600 instead of the current 3,400.

Tennessee baseball is in the midst of its best three-year stretch in program history.

Tony Vitello revived a dead SEC program when he took the Tennessee job in 2018. The Vols hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament or posted a winning record in SEC play in 12 years or won an SEC Tournament game in 10 years.

In Vitello’s six year (five season) tenure, Tennessee is 87-63 in SEC play with a regular season and tournament title, four NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the College World Series.

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