South Carolina trying to reverse season ticket sales trend. Beamer energy is helping
Shane Beamer has heard often from Gamecock faithful that the energy around a South Carolina football season has never been so high. New season ticket sales back that up.
South Carolina’s athletics department last week reported a record for new season ticket sales. Fans purchased 8,370 new season tickets for 2021 through Aug. 17, eclipsing the previous high of 8,323 sold in 2019. The goal is 9,004 new season tickets to be sold before the Gamecocks kick off on Sept. 4 against Eastern Illinois.
Beamer’s persistent positivity and the jolt of energy that has provided couldn’t have come at a better time. South Carolina’s overall football season ticket sales — a figure that combines new and returning season ticketholders — have been on a steady decline since a modern high of 54,005 sold in 2014. That dropped to 51,167 for the 2015 season and then to 47,347 in 2019. They were trending toward the 40,000 mark as of last week, USC said.
When the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic dropped Williams-Brice Stadium’s 77,559 capacity to around 20,000 a year ago, South Carolina allocated 15,000 seats for season ticket holders to each game.
“(The 15,000 cap) was potential relationships lost right there across the board,” USC director of ticket operations Lance Grantham told The State. “That hurt, but there was no choice.”
USC sold 8,475 season tickets in 2020.
“There’s several people that we lost due to attrition,” said Eric Nichols, director for marketing and branding for the athletic department. “Either they weren’t happy with the product on the field, or COVID, or any number of things, but they’re coming back. I think that’s what’s encouraging.”
USC’s 2021 season ticket sales are not back to the pre-pandemic level, but there are challenges to navigate in getting fans back to this year’s full capacity Williams-Brice Stadium.
COVID-19 concerns remain, as some fans could stay away from large crowds with worries about the spread of the virus. Then there’s always the comfort aspect. Fans have the option to just watch a game on TV in their own homes.
“Let’s be honest, having your restrooms right beside you in an air-conditioned area on your couch, it can be appealing. But what you can’t do is, you can’t affect the game from home,” Nichols said. “When you’re in Williams-Brice Stadium, you can get loud on defense and provide some positive energy for the rest of the team. That’s what we need to win football games.”
The promotions department thought through the obstacles, and they landed on the “Welcome Home” ticket pricing campaign. The deal lowered season ticket prices to the level they were in 2010 — Beamer’s last year as an assistant on Steve Spurrier’s staff — bringing the base price to $320 per seat, a $95 difference. The campaign runs through Sept. 3.
USC also ran a back-to-school “flash sale,” in Nichols’ terms, selling tickets to the first home game and the Oct. 16 homecoming game against Vanderbilt for $18.01. The sale started Thursday and ended Sunday, but Nichols said tickets sold “at a high clip” in its first 24 hours.
“Leveraging the first day of classes, the general buzz around campus, around the community, people are in football mode,” Nichols said. “The timing works really well.”
While the promotions department lured people back in, Grantham’s job as a ticketing manager is easier with a full-stadium plan, he said. His time was consumed in 2020 mapping out four- and five-seat pods for 20,000 people to sit within distancing protocols.
“Quite frankly, it’s frustrating for the fans and for us to be like that, but that’s what the rules and laws required,” Grantham said. “And we did it, but I’d rather not do it again.”
Nichols said USC hasn’t studied the specifics of who has bought season tickets and fueled the new high. Whether it’s recent alumni or just a brand-new market, the department is optimistic about the direction sales are moving. He gave a lot of the credit for this season’s sales to the first-year head coach’s own excitement about the future.
The Gamecocks are coming off a 2-8 season of SEC competition that included the late-season firing of Will Muschamp. Beamer has breathed new life into the fan base.
“He’s providing hope,” Nichols said. “I think people are seeing what he’s trying to build. Not sure how long it’ll take, but I think he’s making a real connection, and that’s translating into ticket sales.”
It’s likely that Beamer and the Gamecocks are just as hopeful as anyone that South Carolina will be able to fill the stands in Williams-Brice this year. Senior edge rusher Kingsley “JJ” Enagbare is looking forward to the return of a roaring crowd larger than what last year allowed.
“When we make a defensive stop, hearing the fans go off, it just motivates us to go harder,” Enagbare said. “We don’t like to disappoint them. Just having them there, supporting us and at full-go, I feel like it would make a big difference.”
South Carolina football season tickets sold
Year: Total
- 2012: 49,195
- 2013: 51,967
- 2014: 54,005
- 2015: 51,167
- 2016: 50,395
- 2017: 49,700
- 2018: 47,381
- 2019: 47,347
- 2020: 8,475
- 2021: nearing 40,000, USC says
USC Gamecocks 2021 football schedule
Home games in bold
- Sept. 4 vs. Eastern Illinois, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus and SEC Network Plus)
- Sept. 11 at East Carolina, noon (ESPN2)
- Sept. 18 at Georgia, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
- Sept. 25 vs. Kentucky
- Oct. 2 vs. Troy
- Oct. 9 at Tennessee
- Oct. 16 vs. Vanderbilt
- Oct. 23 at Texas A&M
- Nov. 6 vs. Florida
- Nov. 13 at Missouri
- Nov. 20 vs. Auburn
- Nov. 27 vs Clemson
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
