UT-Chattanooga will continue to have events at Finley Stadium until at least July 31, 2024 after the university and Finley executed their agreement. UTC's Jay Blackman said UTC has two more additional one-year options after 2024. That was just one bit of news to come out of the Tuesday Finley Stadium board meeting on Tuesday morning.
Finley Stadium is also getting ready to host the TSSAA football state championships, which are played Dec. 2-4. A representative for Chattanooga Sports said radio spots and TV advertisements will begin to go out, and that Chattanooga Sports is going to “tipoff a huge 30-day push” to make people aware of the event.
He said presumed presence of local powerhouse schools like McCallie or Bradley Central would drive up ticket sales. He said the tickets will be only digital, and that a ticket will be good for the entire day rather than one game. Each day will have three games.
Attendees will be able to leave and re-enter the stadium whenever they want, and there will be banding. He said “We’re going for over 1,500 per game” but said that some teams have a chance to draw far more than that. The representative said volunteers are needed and welcome.
“It’ll be a better experience than Cookeville, I’ll tell you that,” one board member said.
Finley Stadium is going through their yearly audit and there was nothing out of the ordinary reported at the meeting. The board said the stadium is operating at near-max capacity, but that retaining employees and hiring new ones is difficult. The supply chain and getting food and other supplies to the stadium for events was described as “brutal.”
Lastly, the Finley Stadium Board discussed the possibility of installing Tesla supercharger stations near the stadium, and that negotiations are currently occurring. One of the board members said this investment could be over $1 million.
The next board meeting will be on Feb. 15.