Tennessee Football Credentialing Policy

Working press credentials for Tennessee home football games must be requested online through Sports Systems (www.sportssystems.com/clients/seccredentials). Credential requests must be submitted by the outlet manager/editor/director from an official outlet email address.

Credentialing priority for all sports is given to professional media outlets that cover University of Tennessee Athletics on an active, consistent and comprehensive basis. Authorized outlets are established, active, legitimate journalistic endeavors with a proven history of comprehensive coverage and original content—not aggregated. Strong consideration is also given to established national and regional print and electronic media outlets.

APPROVAL GUIDELINES

Only full-time employees intending to provide actual event coverage may receive a credential.
A requesting media agency must represent a collective, organizational editorial voice, not simply the offerings of a single individual.
Membership in a writer's association does not automatically qualify an individual or outlet for credentials.
Affiliation with a national sports media outlet does not automatically qualify an individual or outlet for credentials.
Credentials may not be granted to "freelance" or "fan-based" entities that are not affiliated with a legitimate, proven news-gathering organization.
Field photographer/camera operator credentials will only be given to individuals associated with a legitimate wire service or accompanied by an approved writer from the same media outlet.
No one under 18 years of age will be issued a media credential.
Individuals credentialed with outlets must have a strong, proven journalistic history of providing coverage.
Individuals who have a previous history of violating credential policies and access area points will not be credentialed.

NEWSPAPERS
Preference will be given to those news outlets that cover all Tennessee football practices and games (home and away). Newspapers which cover all home events receive the next priority. Non-daily newspapers will be approved on a game-by-game basis if space permits.

WEBSITES

Credentials will be granted to the official website of each participating institution, the Southeastern Conference and contractual rights-fee paying media and/or the official online service of the national network televising the game. Also receiving consideration will be websites that are part of a national network and those that are affiliated with a national media entity of another form and/or those organizations whose primary purpose is gathering news and disseminating it and for which other commercial activities are ancillary (e.g. ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, SI.com, Yahoo, On3.com, etc.).

Due to the multitude and wide-ranging requests from outlets that fall under this category, all requests are subject to review by the Tennessee Athletics Strategic Communications staff with emphasis on the following areas.

Must show intent to be viable news organization, not fan-centric site
Overwhelming majority of content must be original-news stories, not satirical/fan-related posts or re-posts of non-original news from other media outlets
Cannot be inflammatory toward others schools, media outlets
Must have established record of meeting the above criteria, either by individual or organization

Websites that are an extension of a non-digital local media outlet (newspaper, radio, television) will not be issued credentials independent of their originating organization.

TELEVISION
Knoxville's three national network affiliate television stations will be issued a maximum of one (1) season approved press box credential and a maximum of two (2) field passes. All other television stations may receive one (1) approved press box credential and a maximum of one (1) field pass. All stations must produce regular nightly sports segments with a full-time sports director/talent.

RADIO
Radio stations may be granted no more than one (1) season approved press box credential per station. Field passes and photography credentials will not be issued to radio stations. Non-daily local radio sports shows and out-of-market radio stations that have a daily sports show may be granted a maximum of one (1) credential on a game-by-game, space-available basis. Radio stations without original sports programming will not be granted credentials.

MAGAZINES
National circulation magazines will be given first preference. Other magazines will be evaluated on a space-available basis.

PHOTO WIRE SERVICES
Photo wire services that distribute nationally and retain all rights for sale and usage of any image taken at the event will be issued one (1) season field pass with an option for a second on a game-by-game, space-available basis.

STUDENT MEDIA OUTLETS
Home football credentials for UT students will only be granted to UT’s official student newspaper (The Daily Beacon), television station (TVC; no press box seat), radio station (WUTK; no field passes) and journalism school website (TNJN.com). All requests from those outlets must be submitted by a faculty advisor, and the number of credentials issued to each outlet may vary from game to game based on available space. Credentialing decisions on student outlets from opposing schools will be made in consultation with that school’s communications staff.

NFL SCOUTS AND TEAM REPRESENTATIONS
One credential per NFL team will be approved per event. Additional credentials may be approved, space permitting. One parking pass per team, if available, may be issued to an NFL scout or team representative. NFL scout seats are located in the press box.

BOWL SCOUTS
A maximum of two credentials and one parking pass per bowl may be approved per event in accordance with SEC policy.

NIL PARTNERSHIP CONSIDERATION
For any media outlets or podcasts that have NIL partnerships with active student-athletes, such partnerships do not - on their own - qualify an outlet for credential approval. Further, such partnerships do not grant an outlet access to any special accommodations in Tennessee Athletics facilities (e.g. no field or locker room access for postgame interviews).

MISCELLANEOUS
Non-affiliated bloggers, podcasters and freelance photographers will not be credentialed.

All other credential requests, including weekly newspapers, magazines, specialty publications, etc. will be considered on a game-by-game and case-by-case basis.

Credentialing decisions for media outlets that cover the visiting school will be made following consultation with that school’s athletics communications department.

All credential policies are subject to change, and final approval of all credentials is at the discretion of Associate Athletics Director of Strategic Communications Bill Martin.

University of Tennessee | Official Athletics Site