Will Ohio State follow Tennessee's lead and add player 'talent fee' to football tickets?

Someone had to be first into the pool, first to test the public reaction to raising ticket prices to help schools pay college athletes.

Ohio State could have been the one to dip its toe into those waters, but the timing wasn’t right. Season ticket renewals don’t go out until later this fall – still enough time to see how other schools handle their revenue streams. Or rivers. Whatever. It’s an ocean of money.

Often it’s best to let someone else take the lead in delicate matters like ticket price increases and stadium naming rights. That way you know whether you are more likely to sink or swim in the sea of public opinion when it’s your turn to dive in.

And OSU’s turn is coming. More on that in a moment. First, let’s talk about Tennessee, which this week became the first Power 4 school to tie ticket pricing directly to revenue sharing and NIL. The Vols didn’t just dip their toe, they made a big splash.

Tennessee fans will be charged a 10% “talent fee” on tickets next year to help pay athletes as part of the revenue-sharing plan to begin in 2025. The charge is on top of an average increase of 4.5% on all football tickets.

Vols striking while 'iron is hot'

“In this era of name, image and likeness, there has never been as close a connection between resources and competitive success,” UT athletic director Danny White said in a four-minute video to fans that went out via email Tuesday.

Noting that Tennessee had won the past three Southeastern Conference All-Sports trophies, and the football team currently is ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press poll, White said, “We want to be a leader in college sports. That means we want to be a leader in revenue sharing.”

The NCAA revenue-sharing plan, which has not been finalized – a judge continues to review the details but the basics are expected to be implemented next year – is part of a settlement between the NCAA and power conferences in the House vs. NCAA case that would allow schools to share up to $22 million of their annual revenue with athletes.

The plan means schools are looking for creative ways to increase revenue. What makes the Tennessee “talent tax” so interesting is the school chose not to spin the additional fee as anything other than a quest for athletic success. White was transparently honest.

The UT revenue strategies are “part of an extensive plan to continue our dominance in college athletics and build something like never seen before,” he said.

Count Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork among those who have never seen anything like it before, but that doesn’t mean he disapproves.

“Everybody has got their internal way of (increasing revenue),” Bjork said. “Everybody has different timing. What Tennessee is doing is creative and timely – strike while the iron is hot.”

Vols fans were not as enthused. A social media search revealed about 75% of Rocky Top Nation feel insulted by having to help pay player “salaries.”

“I am all for players getting paid, but you’re telling me that these players get free housing, free meals, free transportation and free tuition, plus the possibility of NIL and they want more from the fans?” a fan wrote on Reddit. “Tennessee athletics made more than $200 million last year, and they are now asking us to 'add gratuity for the players?' C’mon now.”

About a quarter of fans consider the 10% fee the cost of doing business.

“Tennessee is rapidly developing their facilities and we need to pump as much money into NIL as possible,” a fan wrote. “This is how the CFB world works now. Look at the other schools that are falling behind, we can’t afford to do so.”

No one should be surprised by any of this, considering an athletic department’s hunger for more revenue seldom subsides.

Ohio State is no different. Complain all you want about Bjork’s tendency to always be talking money and dreaming in dollar signs, but 24/7 revenue discussion is the new normal. If you talk it, there’s a better chance they might help build it.

Does that mean Ohio State might follow Tennessee’s lead and add a talent fee to ticket prices?

“Everything is on the table,” Bjork said. “But we have a little more time to map things out.”

Will Ohio State ticket plan copy Tennessee model?

Whatever OSU comes up with to add revenue, don’t expect it to look exactly like the UT model. Bjork will learn from Tennessee fan blowback and proceed with more caution. But he’s also not afraid to ruffle traditional feathers.

“Everything is under review right now. We have to ask every question,” he said, repeating talking points delivered dozens of times since replacing Gene Smith on July 1.

“How do you take the pieces and parts of existing spaces and monetize them in different ways, while also protecting ticket prices?” he said, citing the planned 1922 Club inside Ohio Stadium as one way to deliver income.

Bjork wanting to protect ticket pricing is a good sign for fans, but don’t get too excited. Tennessee hit its fan base over the head with a sledgehammer; OSU will find a quieter way to extract money from ticket buyers and donors.

“Ticket packages present options,” Bjork said. “Tennessee made it a requirement, but there are different ways to spin it, and we’ll put all ideas on the table,” he said. “For us, 2025 is a (ticket) reseeding year. Through the Buckeye Club all priority seating sections will be reset … which will be a big revenue point for us.”

Bjork was brought in specifically to address the new era of college sports, but he is not entirely different from Smith, who wooed donors with a smile but got into their pocketbooks with a strategic plan. Smith gave off a “pretty, pretty please” vibe when it came to fundraising, but the former IBM salesman knew how to close a deal, telling me years ago he excelled at leading a client down a path that ended in only one sensible option: purchase the product.

Bjork is less subtle but even more polished than his predecessor. He does not schmooze so much as straight-talk his way into your wallet.

For sure, he is not shy about tweaking tradition, at least when it comes to replacing archaic revenue streams. Bjork pointed out Wrigley Field, where the Buckeyes play Northwestern Nov. 16, as an example of squeezing revenue out of every nook and cranny.

“I toured (Wrigley) last year, and they took every piece of real estate inside the stadium, with the exception of the grounds crew area, and turned it into some kind of revenue generation area,” he said. “They added bunker suites. They have a 1914 Club, similar to our 1922 Club. And the clubhouses are now outside the stadium. They built a separate building and tunneled into the dugouts.”

It’s hard to picture Ohio State locating game-day locker rooms outside Ohio Stadium , but if that allows the installation of a Buckeye bistro and bar inside the Shoe? Never say never.

“Everybody in college athletics has to think the same way,” Bjork said.

Is he glad Tennessee was first to think that way?

“I guess in some ways (what the Vols did) can help us. It breaks the ice on the conversation that revenue streams are really important,” he said. “But you have to do what’s best locally, and our fans are sophisticated and want to be at the cutting edge.”

Hear that, Buckeye Nation? You are so-fist-icated. Just know that being so is going to cost you.

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Will Ohio State follow Tennessee's lead and add player 'talent fee' to football tickets?