Will it matter if Williams-Brice’s capacity drops? What the ticket data tells us
As South Carolina gets closer to renovations on Williams-Brice Stadium, there is fear from some fans that when construction begins, it will be at the detriment of the average Gamecock supporter.
In November, just two days before its home finale against Wofford, South Carolina football posted on social media touting the fact it had sold out all seven games in the season.
A comment on X from @BrewsLeroyBoy said: “Please don’t take away our seats. We’re using them. All of them. Every single game.”
In remodeling its 91-year-old stadium, South Carolina’s top priority is adding premium suites. Williams-Brice’s 18 suites are the fewest of any SEC stadium and among the fewest in all of FBS — a concerning statistic considering the amount of money that suites bring in, coupled with their high demand at USC.
Of course, adding suites will take up space. And when South Carolina is done with construction at least a few years from now, it’s a near guarantee that overall stadium capacity — currently 77,559 — will decrease.
Renovations are expected to begin after the 2025 football season, with as much work as possible being done before the 2026 season kicks off.
“We would not go under 70 (thousand seats),” former athletic director Ray Tanner said in October. “Probably low 70s when it’s all said and done — if we do the whole thing.”
Since then, new athletic director Jeremiah Donati has curbed his predecessor’s comments, saying on his podcast: “I think there’s a way to do this with minimal loss of seats. We’re also looking at a couple different options. I know it’s really important to our fans that we don’t lose capacity — and it is to me as well.”
But would it really be that big of a deal if Williams-Brice Stadium lost capacity? In short: not really.
The State reviewed ticketing and attendance data from the 2024 football season, obtained through a public records request, which shows that South Carolina reported a sellout crowd for all seven home games. Yet, the amount of people who actually scanned tickets into the game averaged just under 66,000.
And that’s actually a pretty impressive number. Since 2019, seven of USC’s top-15 scan counts were recorded during the 2024 season.
“It’s the highest percent scan of tickets issued we’ve had in a very long time — we’re talking about the Spurrier heyday,” said Lance Grantham, USC’s senior AD for ticketing and parking. “(There were) a couple games where the day before the game, I had like a dozen tickets (left).”
An announced sellout total includes total paid tickets, any tickets that were given away, students and the band, and stadium workers.
South Carolina’s 65,798 in average scans jumped 13% from the 2023 season, when the Gamecocks scanned 58,194 tickets per game.
A few factors might be behind that, including the weather (USC played a rainy game vs. Vanderbilt in 2023); the opponents (the 2024 slate included ranked four ranked foes); and, likely most important, the fact that the Gamecocks were winning, finishing with nine regular-season wins for the first time in over a decade.
Yet, the point remains: If South Carolina lost a few thousand seats post-renovation, it’s unlikely the average fan would even notice. In no game last year did the Gamecocks sell 60,000 tickets. And though Grantham said an average of 88% of the tickets sold (not including comped or student tickets) were ultimately scanned, USC could sell up to about 63,000 tickets.
When you consider that USC sold less than 45,000 season tickets last season, there are still plenty of single-game tickets to go around. Of course, fewer seats means less supply. So could single-game tickets on the secondary market rise in the event of a marquee matchup at Williams-Brice? Probably.
The argument of lowering the capacity is not as simple as those numbers. In losing seats, South Carolina is not able to just pick and choose which ones to eliminate. Williams-Brice probably has too much upper-level seating, Grantham noted, but adding suites would not eliminate the last few rows of the upper deck.
Instead, renovations would likely take out the top rows of the lower bowl and perhaps the first few rows of the upper deck — leading to some season-ticket holders being relocated. That certainly will have an impact on fans. The actual number of seats, though, isn’t as significant — especially when you consider what could be gained.
“Making it the best product possible, instead of aluminum chair backs in some areas,” Grantham said. “Improvements and modernization are what we need more than anything else.”
Top 15 scan counts since 2019
1 - 11/25/2023 vs. Clemson // 70,459
2 - 11/2/2024 vs. Texas A&M // 69,609
3 - 9/14/2019 vs. Alabama // 69,527
4 - 11/16/2024 vs. Missouri // 68,957
5 - 10/5/2024 vs. Ole Miss // 68,781
6 - 11/27/2021 vs. Clemson // 68,506
7 - 9/14/2024 vs. LSU // 68,125
8 - 9/23/2023 vs. Mississippi State // 66,111
9 - 11/30/2019 vs. Clemson // 65,574
10 - 10/14/2023 vs. Florida // 65,410
11 - 9/28/2019 vs. Kentucky // 64,245
12 - 11/18/2023 vs. Kentucky // 64,245
13 -9/21/2024 vs. Akron // 63,138
14 - 8/31/2024 vs. Old Dominion // 61,398
15 - 11/23/2024 vs. Wofford // 60,581
2024 football season attendance, tickets
| 2024 opponent | Announced attendance | Total tickets scanned | Total paid tickets | Comp tickets | Total students/band | Workers |
| Old Dominion | 78,496 | 61,398 | 53,431 | 5,614 | 17,131 | 2,320 |
| LSU | 79,531 | 68,125 | 57,665 | 4,099 | 15,447 | 2,320 |
| Akron | 78,704 | 63,138 | 58,100 | 4,439 | 13,845 | 2,320 |
| Ole Miss | 79,837 | 68,781 | 58,800 | 4,039 | 14,227 | 2,771 |
| Texas A&M | 80,298 | 69,609 | 59,841 | 3,812 | 14,075 | 2,570 |
| Missouri | 79,361 | 68,957 | 59,620 | 3,844 | 13,552 | 2,345 |
| Wofford | 79,078 | 60,581 | 57,853 | 8,792 | 9,988 | 2,445 |
| Average | 79,329 | 65,798 | 57,901 | 4,948 | 14,038 | 2,442 |
| Total | 555,305 | 460,589 | 405,310 | 34,639 | 98,265 | 17,091 |
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
