Lindsey Nelson Stadium – Syndication Server

Construction update for Lindsey Nelson Stadium

Tennessee announces offseason construction update for Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Lindsey Nelson Stadium is undergoing construction again this offseason.

Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello provided an update on construction.

“Our staff and I appreciate Vol nation for all the support we’ve received, specifically from our fans who have created one of the best home-field advantages in college baseball,” Vitello said. “The ongoing updates to Lindsey Nelson Stadium will only enhance the incredible environment established on Rocky Top for our passionate supporters who deserve a first-class facility that stands among the best in the country. While we all wish these updates could be completed by the start of next season, we understand the in-depth process required to complete a project of this magnitude and the challenges that come with it.”

PHOTOS: Tony Vitello through the years

UT press release on additional construction at Lindsey Nelson Stadium:

We are dedicated to transparency and want to keep you updated on the significant renovations taking place at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Despite facing unexpected challenges, we are making steady progress and are unwavering in our goal to elevate the fan experience.

Construction is well underway, and while we’ve faced some unexpected challenges, we remain dedicated to enhancing the fan experience.

“We are enthusiastic about offering a world-class experience for the best fans in the country once the renovations at Lindsey Nelson Stadium are complete,” stated Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White. “We deeply appreciate our fans’ patience and understanding as we navigate through the construction process.”

Despite these hurdles, we are excited and pleased to share what project components will be ready for the 2025 season:

NEW: 4 seat tabletop units (4Topps) along the right field line
NEW: Additional chairback seats under a new mezzanine level
NEW: Permanent net system
NEW: Left field bar on main concourse (behind the current 4Topps section)
NEW: Right field student section
NEW: 1st Baseline restrooms and concessions
Renovated restrooms on main concourse behind home plate
Enhanced seating behind home plate (brand new cushioned MVP style seats; these seats will increase in price with access to the MVP room and those amenities in 2026)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What construction challenges have occurred?

The project team encountered several issues and unforeseen conditions associated with stadium site work and the relocation of surrounding utilities. The project requires a series of significant and complicated utility relocations, which often necessitate additional processes, including local utility review and approval. The relocation of utilities must be completed prior to completing several other aspects and milestones of the project, such as the placement of foundations and erection of steel for the new third-level club and suites.

Will Pat Head Summitt Street remain closed?

During the 2025 season, Pat Head Summitt Street will remain closed to vehicular traffic. The general contractor will use most of the street as “lay down space” for the continued construction along the stadium’s east side. The street will have a pedestrian pathway connecting foot traffic from the home plate area to Todd Helton Drive.

Will the main entry gate behind home plate be operational?

Fans will notice construction continuing around the main entry gate of Lindsey Nelson Stadium during the 2025 season. As progress develops on the spaces that will be new in 2026, construction updates will continue to be made throughout the 2025 season.

What construction will be complete for the 2026 season?
NEW: Home plate entrance and plaza area
NEW: Third level suites and club space
NEW: Sound system
NEW: Kitchen
NEW: Team merchandise shop and ticket office
NEW: Player entry corridor
NEW: 3rd Baseline restrooms and concessions
Fully completed mezzanine level
Renovated concessions on main concourse behind home plate
MVP room expansion
Multiple elevators
Permanent LED lighting

Danny White. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Renovations, player development enhancements approved for Lindsey Nelson Stadium

Renovations and player development enhancements approved for Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Renovations and player development enhancements were approved for Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday.

University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved a renovation budget with work commencing in August.

UT press release:

Following overwhelmingly positive feedback on initial concept renderings released last summer, Tennessee Athletics is poised to move forward on a transformational renovation project at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees on Friday approved the renovation budget and work will commence this August.

Concurrent with the renovation planning, a series of stadium improvements were completed prior to the 2023 season to upgrade the student-athlete experience with an upgraded locker room and weight room along with a third level of porches for fans in the outfield.
Through a multi-year construction process, Lindsey Nelson Stadium will transform into one of the premier college baseball venues in the country with world-class player development areas, multiple new gates, increased seating capacity to approximately 7,600 fans, wider concourses, more concession stands and restrooms and new luxurious premium-seating offerings.

“The interest and excitement surrounding our plans for the new-look Lindsey Nelson Stadium have been overwhelming,” Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White said. “After seeking additional input from Vol Nation through our fan surveys, it was apparent that we needed to think even bigger. But one thing we’ve been strategic about throughout this process is ensuring that the final product provides our team with the most unique and tangible homefield advantage in college baseball. Our fans and students always make their presence felt—and we want to maximize their impact on winning ballgames.”

The project’s guiding principle is to craft a first-class ballpark experience featuring innovative design solutions that inspire both fans and players to experience Tennessee baseball gamedays in new and exciting ways while simultaneously boosting the program’s ability to attract and retain elite student-athletes driven to succeed on and off the diamond.

“Since arriving in Knoxville, our staff, in combination with the university’s support, have earmarked player development as priority number one,” Vols head coach and two-time National Coach of the Year Tony Vitello said. “With these proposed renovations, our player development areas will go from some of the best in the country to a truly elite status. And this is only a portion of the extensive work that ultimately will result in a facility worthy of its fan base.

“The players we have been blessed to coach here have created a significant need for increased capacity. To date, our fans have been arguably the rowdiest in the country. Now, similar to our football and basketball facilities, we will have seating capacity that is more appropriate to house not just passion of our fans but the quantity, as well.”

Based on both fan feedback and construction market conditions, the project scope and budget has increased since last summer’s initial proposal. Multiple scope elements will ultimately assist in funding portions of the project’s growth.

Projected seating capacity has grown to over 6,100 permanent seats with the ability to provide standing room access for an additional 1,600 spectators. In addition to expanding traditional seating areas, a primary focus is to provide a diversity of seating products including new premium-seating options including an expanded MVP Room, a club level that seats close to 800 spectators, and multiple tiers of four-seat tabletop seating (4topps) overlooking third base.

Plans also call for expanded concourse space and an increase in concessions locations and restrooms to accommodate the additional foot traffic. The project will also provide upgrades to back of house and media areas.

The addition of an on-site kitchen also delivers the ability to significantly enhance concessions quality and variety for guests—venue-wide—throughout the season.

Finally, two entry gates—including one specifically for student use—will be added to facilitate both the expanded long-term capacity as well as fan ingress and egress during the project’s phased construction.

The project budget totals $95.8 million.

Since being named head coach of Tennessee’s baseball program, Vitello has led the Big Orange back to national prominence and has helped establish the Volunteers as an SEC and national power, leading the program to four NCAA Regionals (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), three consecutive NCAA Super Regionals (2021, 2022, 2023) and the program’s sixth Men’s College World Series appearance (2023). It marked the second time in the last three seasons that Vitello has led the Vols to Omaha.

Tennessee baseball fans that are interested in supporting the stadium project and/or contributing to the program’s baseball excellence fund can visit the Tennessee Fund website or call (865) 974-1218 for information

2022 Tennessee baseball: Vols’ attendance tracker at Lindsey Nelson Stadium

2022 Tennessee baseball: Vols’ attendance tracker at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for all home games

The 2022 baseball season is Tony Vitello’s fifth campaign as the Vols’ head coach.

Tennessee’s record during Tony Vitello’s tenure as head coach

2018: 29-27 (12-18 SEC)
2019: 40-21 (14-16 SEC) *NCAA Regional
2020: 15-2 (0-0 SEC)
2021: 50-18 (20-10 SEC) *College World Series

PHOTOS: Tony Vitello through the years

The 2022 season started Feb. 18 against Georgia Southern at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols’ final regular season home game is slated for May 17 against Belmont.

Below is an attendance tracker of Tennessee home games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium throughout the 2022 campaign.

Rival SEC baseball atmospheres prove Auburn is lagging far behind

While other SEC baseball stadiums have become atmospheres you have to witness, Auburn’s Plainsman Park remains as dull as ever.

If you’ve been watching the NCAA Baseball Tournament during the past week, you’ve noticed quite amazing atmospheres from Starkville to Fayetteville and many other places in the SEC.

It made me jealous. Not because these SEC teams were winning, in fact the complete opposite. I’m rooting for them. Yet what made me jealous was the fact that these baseball stadiums — Dudy Noble, Baum-Walker, Lindsey Nelson — are much better than Auburn has ever had and, possibly, ever imagined of having.

Let that sink in.

The scenes have been phenomenal. The crowd? Noisy as possible. Heck, Mississippi State set a Super Regional record with 14,385 fans on Saturday.

And what do we have at Auburn? It’s rarely filled to the 4,096 capacity that Plainsman Park holds. We have the three or four guys in that one section along the third-base line that continue yelling things that are as funny as the latest Adam Sandler movie. Oh, and that parking deck. Yes, we have the parking deck full of people drinking but too far away — and disinterested in the game — to make any impact on the home-field advantage.

Heck, we don’t even have outfield seating. I’ve seen some people on Twitter mention putting seats on top of the left-field wall and, yes, that would be a great start but when you see 4,000 people (again, more than we average at a game) in the outfield at an Ole Miss game throwing beer in the air after a home run, the Plainsman Park atmosphere looks like a Jefferson-Pilot noon game at Vanderbilt.

It’s not like the Tigers haven’t won. Taking this year out of the equation, the Butch Thompson era has brought back some glory to the program with a trip to the Super Regionals in 2018 and to Omaha for the College World Series in 2019.

We’ve seen the Auburn fan base turn Jane B. Moore Field into a true home-field advantage. Auburn Arena has become one of the most intimidating environments in college basketball.

So what is lacking for Auburn baseball? Why have SEC stadiums at Ole Miss, Mississippi State and elsewhere become so much wild while Plainsman Park resembles a 9 a.m. World History lecture in Haley Center?

I don’t have all the answers but I can suggest some.

Build a section beyond the right-field wall that allows students to bring coolers with their beverages of choice where they can also see the game. It worked to a degree with K Corner but … well … students tend to be more rowdy than alumni in their 50’s.

Make the game more of an experience than it is right now. Besides baseball, what is the really attraction of going to Plainsman Park right now? It’s not for a great atmosphere that you witness across the street at Jordan-Hare Stadium or Auburn Arena.

Of course, this might also just come down to fan indifference. Are Auburn fans truly bought into baseball? Do they even care if the Tigers succeed or not? It’s been some time since the program put out a successful winner consistently but the same can be true for many other sports that are better supported on campus.

Granted, it is hard to compare a regular season series to a Super Regional but, when it comes to attendance, the stadiums are full to almost full in other places where the Tigers are lucky to play in front of 2,000.

Yes, watching the NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals have made me extremely jealous of the environments that other SEC teams enjoy and use to their advantage. There’s no reason Auburn can’t make Plainsman Park an atmosphere to fear.

Information on beer sales, upgrades to Lindsey Nelson Stadium

2020 Tennessee baseball.

KNOXVILLE — The 2020 NCAA baseball season opens Friday and the University of Tennessee baseball team is coming off a breakout 2019 campaign that saw it win 40 games and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.

New to Lindsey Nelson Stadium in 2020 is beer sales. Below is a UT press release with information on beer sales and upgrades to Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

UT press release:

Beer sales at Lindsey Nelson Stadium highlight several fan experience enhancements in place for the 2020 Tennessee baseball season.

The Volunteers open the season with a three-game home series against Western Illinois this weekend. Tickets remain available at AllVols.com, and game times are set for 4:30 p.m. ET Friday, 2 p.m. ET Saturday and noon ET on Sunday.

Earlier this academic year, Tennessee thoughtfully implemented beer sales at home football, soccer, volleyball and basketball events with positive results.

In keeping with established protocol at other UTAD venues, sales procedures will remain consistent at baseball games:

A maximum of two alcoholic beverages may be purchased per transaction, and fans are asked to be patient while waiting in line.
Per Southeastern Conference policy, each alcoholic beverage must be poured into a clear cup upon purchase.
Alcohol will not be allowed to leave the stadium. Personnel at the gates will ensure that all cups containing alcohol are poured out and empty as patrons exit the venue.
Regardless of age, everyone will be required to produce a valid photo ID each time alcohol is purchased. Accepted IDs include valid driver’s licenses (cannot be paper), military ID cards, passports, and government-issued photo ID cards.
Individuals consuming alcohol must be able to produce a valid photo ID at all times.
Individuals will be ejected from the venue and are subject to prosecution if they pass off alcohol to a minor, attempt to use a fake ID, or are intoxicated.

Beer sales will conclude each game at the middle of the seventh inning.

Points of sale for beer at Lindsey Nelson Stadium are located along the first-base line on the plaza, as well as in the members-only MVP Room premium area.

The MVP Room received a facelift in the offseason and now also features new countertops, graphics and televisions.

In an effort to keep fans safe from foul balls this season, the stadium’s safety netting now extends farther down the first- and third-base lines.

Fans visiting Lindsey Nelson Stadium for SEC series this season will notice new and improved food options offered by food trucks located along the third-base line. Additional beer options also will be available in that area during league games.

Groups interested in hosting gatherings in the outfield porch or third-base line patio areas now have the option of adding heaters to their reservation for games in February and March.

Fans interested in enjoying a Tennessee baseball game from a porch or patio are encouraged to inquire early at AllVols.com, as those spaces are already sold out for several games.