Football ticketing, gameday guidelines for Gamecocks come into focus for 2020
Gamedays in Columbia are going to look different, that’s for sure.
The University of South Carolina on Thursday released its guidelines for fans attending games at Williams-Brice Stadium during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The changes include discouraging tailgating through a ban on tents and asking fans not to bring grills or coolers in university parking lots; contact-less payment for concessions; and requiring face coverings while entering, exiting and moving about the stadium.
There will also be no Gamecock Walk in 2020, the pregame tradition where USC’s football team walks through a lined crowd of fans in Gamecock Park.
A total of 15,000 season ticket holders will be allowed into each home game as part of a crowd limit of about 20,000 that also includes “a limited number of students, visiting team families, and Gamecock band members.” The school said the season tickets will be divided into a pair of “mini-plans.” Details of seat selection and pricing will be finalized next week and emailed to season ticket holders.
In athletic department-controlled lots — which include Gamecock Park and most of the state fairgrounds — there will be no paid gameday parking, and those lots will only be available to people with tickets for that specific game.
South Carolina has five home games in this coronavirus-shortened season. The 2020 opener is Sept. 26 against Tennessee at Williams-Brice Stadium. The school said it will not handle ticket requests for road games.
A few other highlights from the school’s announcement:
▪ Face coverings (over the nose and mouth) will be required while entering, moving around or leaving the stadium. Coverings will be “strongly encouraged while fans are in their seats.”
▪ Face shields alone are not considered acceptable coverings for entry to athletics venues.
▪ Available seating pods will be properly socially distanced according to CDC guidelines, and available seats will either be designated by a chairback or marked with an “available seat” sticker.
▪ Staff will clean and disinfect stadium areas throughout the entirety of the game.
▪ Hand sanitizing stations will be readily available.
▪ Social distancing markers will be placed around the stadium in areas where lines may form such as restrooms, concessions and merchandise locations.
▪ While cheerleaders, Carolina Girls and mascots will be in attendance and visible in some capacity, they will not be allowed on the sidelines during the game and their direct interactions with fans will be eliminated, due to social distancing precautions.
▪ The marching band will only play from their seats and will not hold any pre-game or halftime performances on the field.
▪ Gates will open two hours prior to the game. All gates and entry and exit points will including physical distancing between guests.
▪ Suite and club hopping will be prohibited, and suite contact tracing will be implemented.
▪ Soft seating and low-top table seating in premium areas will be removed to increase available space for social distancing. Socially distanced high-top tables will be the only remaining furniture inside premium spaces.
▪ All event and support staff will be required to wear personal protective equipment.
Gamecocks’ 2020 football schedule
Sept. 26: home vs. Tennessee
Oct. 3: at Florida
Oct. 10: at Vanderbilt
Oct. 17: home vs. Auburn
Oct. 24: at LSU
Oct. 31: OPEN
Nov. 7: home vs. Texas A&M
Nov. 14: at Ole Miss
Nov. 21: home vs. Missouri
Nov. 28: home vs. Georgia
Dec. 5: at Kentucky
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 3:20 PM.
