The Thompson-Boling Arena restoration completed prior to the 2007-08 basketball season has not deterred student fans from attending games, despite the loss of nearly 3,000 upper deck seats to construction of new luxury suites.

Although the lost seats were not student section seats, many feared there would be less room for overflow once the student section filled up during games. Still, university officials said the renovations to Thompson-Boling have had no discouraging effects on the University of Tennessee student fans in the past year.

"There haven't been any negative effects on student attendance [because of the renovations] according to our data," UT Associate Athletic Director for Development Mark Ingram said.

Prior to the 2007-08 basketball season, the UT athletic department decided to update the university's basketball facilities. The $20 million renovations of the arena included new seats, a new center scoreboard and media screen, luxury suites, loge seating, and a refurbished concourse area.

A second phase of construction will soon follow the existing updates. Phase two of the Thompson-Boling renovations will include a new lighting system, new food court areas and new ticket outlets.

While the suites decreased the overall attendance of Thompson-Boling from approximately 24,000 to 21,000, the arena is still second in capacity only to Syracuse's Carrier Dome, which holds approximately 33,000 fans for basketball. With Thompson-Boling among the largest collegiate venues in the nation, Ingram said the addition of the suites is a positive one.

"[The suites] provide a different level of seating that we didn't have before," Ingram said. "We now have a level of interest for anybody."

The profit made from selling the luxury suites has helped the university pay for the overall renovations of Thompson-Boling Arena, as well as funding from donors to the Campaign for Tennessee Basketball, according to WATE.com. Based on the university's prices of the suites, they are estimated to be more profitable than the upper deck seats they replaced.

Student seating at basketball games is on a first-come-first-served basis. Admission to basketball games comes at no cost to students who present valid student IDs, despite the recent announcement by the UT Athletic Department that students will now be paying for football tickets during the 2008-09 season.

As students enter the games, their IDs are electronically scanned and counted. A representative from the UT student affairs office is present at the gates to decide when the maximum student allotment has been reached.

"To my knowledge, the maximum student allotment at the men's or women's games has only been exceeded once in the past three years," Thompson-Boling Gate Supervisor Don Akers said. "I believe it was this past season for the men's Kentucky game."

Despite not frequently surpassing the allotment for games, Akers still viewed the overall student attendance as positive.

"Student turnout has been tremendous the past few seasons," Akers said. "There's been more spirit and enthusiasm."

The student section was originally rumored to be trimmed down as a result of the renovations before last season. The athletic department and the student government association discussed several factors including estimations on average student attendance at games, and took steps to ensure an adequate number of seats for students.

"I think taking the seats out of the lower level student section and allowing room for standing has made a big impact," Akers said.

Students have been known to arrive several hours early to ensure tickets for big games and even camp out overnight. UT sophomore Drew Rutherford arrived in line for men's afternoon home games against Ohio State and Florida at 8 a.m. in the morning.

"It's pretty tough to get into the student section for big games," Rutherford said. "The new arena really seems to up the enthusiasm among students."

The student seating currently holds between 1500-3500 students. Sections 123 through 127 and part of 129 in the lower levels are designated as the student section, while sections 323 through 328 in the upper deck also seat students. The seats in section 129 are directly behind the west basket, with the UT pep band occupying the left side of the section.

As the Arena Manager of Thompson-Boling, Tim Reese witnessed the student section at games last season and was impressed with what he saw. Reese credits the renovations with helping maintain regular student attendance.

"The renovations add a plus to the atmosphere," Reese said. "Those who came to the games had a better game experience."

Reese said he thought some factors of the renovations did affect the student fan base.

"Some aspects of the student section actually were updated, such as the installation of some new seats," Reese said. "The upper deck of the student section is no longer bench seats."

When student seating is deemed full, remaining students are unable to enter the games. During the 2007-08 season in which the Tennessee men's basketball team did not lose a game at Thompson-Boling Arena, a lack of student fans was not considered an issue.

"As the winning increased, so did the student attendance," said Kevin Thompson, owner of Conner's Concepts restaurants and one of Thompson-Boling's luxury suites. "It's really awesome."

Thompson experienced several games from the arena suites last season and felt the student section was rejuvenated thanks largely to the arena renovations. He says the current conditions are great for students.

"[The renovations] have had a major impact on the student attendance," Thompson said. "It gave students something to be proud of. Years ago, with outdated facilities and a worse team, student attendance was not impressive."

With no updates in sight to directly influence the student section, Thompson sees no reason for any such changes.

"The current environment is great [for students]," Thompson said. "I don't see why they would change anything."

Thanks to the size of both Thompson-Boling and Neyland Stadium in comparison to other collegiate sports venues, Tennessee has had substantial overall attendance at sporting events. Tennessee is the only Division I school ever to rank in the top five in the nation in attendance for football, men's basketball and women's basketball in the same season, a feat the Vols accomplished for the fourth time in 2006-07.