USC, UNC in line for hefty payouts from Belk College Kickoff

South Carolina and North Carolina have each been guaranteed a $3.2 million payout for September’s Belk College Kickoff, which is more than the school clears from an average home game, athletics director Ray Tanner said.

“That’s a great day for us,” Tanner told the school’s Board of Trustees on Friday.

Tickets for the game, which will be played Sept. 3 in Bank of America Stadium, start at $76 for the worst seats. Club seats are selling for $257.50.

“If you get asked the same thing I get asked, we did not have anything to do with the ticket prices for that game,” Tanner told the board.

He did indicate that the school will have more input into the ticket prices if it plays another game in Charlotte.

“That is an expensive ticket,” he said.

Price of Doing Business

The Gamecocks will pay Central Florida $300,000 to play in Williams-Brice Stadium on Sept. 26 and will pay The Citadel $285,000 to play on Nov. 21. South Carolina will pay $1.25 million for so-called “guarantee games” in all its sports. That number will be higher next year, Tanner said.

Doing Business, Part Two

South Carolina expects to spend $1.3 million for recruiting in all sports in the coming year, and several board members wondered aloud if that number was too low in a conference where Auburn spent $1.3 million on football recruiting alone last year.

“From my vantage points with all sports, recruiting is one of those areas we do not compromise,” Tanner said. “We give them the numbers they need. Our location is a benefit in many ways.”

Tanner then asked chief financial office Jeff Tallant to back up his beliefs.

“We give every sport just about everything they request in recruiting,” he said.

Extra Points

Tanner announced Val Littlefield as the school’s new Faculty Athletics Representative. Littlefield, an associate professor of history and the director of African American studies, replaces outgoing Zach Kelehear, an associate dean for academic affairs.

… Rosalyn Durant, the new head of the SEC Network, is a graduate of South Carolina.

… South Carolina will be featured all day on the SEC Network on July 9 as the network devotes one day for each conference school this summer.

… Gamecock athletes completed more than 9,000 combined hours of community service this year.

This story was originally published June 5, 2015 at 5:13 PM with the headline "USC, UNC in line for hefty payouts from Belk College Kickoff."