Gamecocks’ home football attendance down in 2015

Football attendance at seven SEC schools, including South Carolina, was down in 2015, according a report by CBS Sports.

Five SEC programs saw an increase. Kentucky, which had a $120 million stadium renovation, led the way with a 6 percent increase to 61,295 fans. LSU saw an 8 percent drop to an average of 93,441 fans, and the dip was largely because of the game vs. USC that was moved to Baton Rouge and drew 42,058.

South Carolina averaged 78,822 fans at six home games, a 3 percent drop from 2014. Four of the six games at Williams-Brice Stadium were noon kickoffs. Only one, vs. Kentucky, was a night game.

The Gamecocks had two games above 80,000: Sept. 12 vs. Kentucky (82,178) and Nov. 28 vs. Clemson (81,409).

The SEC as a whole led the country in attendance, according to the report, averaging 78,720 fans per game.

Nationally, home attendance at major college football games was down for a fifth straight year. The average Football Bowl Subdivision attendance for a home game was 43,288, a 1 percent drop from 43,483 in 2014.

USC over the last five season averaged 80,347 fans per home game.