‘Catch us if you can.’ USC women’s basketball surges past 10,000 season tickets sold
As South Carolina women’s basketball neared the 10,000 mark for 2021-22 season ticket sales in October, head coach Dawn Staley left a message for other fan bases across the country.
“Catch us if you can,” she said.
The Gamecocks surpassed the 10,000 mark for season ticket sales ahead of Wednesday’s home opener against Clemson. The school said, as of Monday, it had sold 10,157 season tickets for USC women’s basketball games at Colonial Life Arena in the 2021-22 slate.
It’s at least the third time season ticket sales have surpassed 10,000 in the Staley era.
This year’s 10,157 number is the third-highest mark since Staley took the reins of the Gamecocks’ program in 2008. South Carolina sold 11,200 season tickets for the 2015-16 season and 10,221 for 2016-17. Season ticket figures for the 2017-18 season, the year following South Carolina’s NCAA championship win in 2017, weren’t available.
South Carolina reopened Colonial Life Arena to full attendance this year after capping crowds at 3,500 amid COVID-19 pandemic restrictions for the 2020-21 season.
“I think we’ve created an atmosphere that’s second to none across the country when it comes to supporting our team,” Staley said in October. “It’s going to be great to get back in the CLA. ... It took us a real transition playing in front of 3,500 people last year, and even less on the road, so I think it’s gonna be great.”
South Carolina women’s basketball led the country in average home attendance for six consecutive seasons from 2014-15 through 2019-20. The NCAA did not calculate official attendance records for the COVID-restricted season, though USC said last year’s attendance averaged the maximum 3,500 allowed for 2020-21.
Excluding last year, Staley’s Gamecocks have drawn in an average of 8,243 fans to 191 home games since her first season in 2008-09. Attendance numbers have especially improved in recent years, with South Carolina averaging 12,460 fans at each game in the six seasons before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the six seasons before Staley came to Columbia, the Gamecocks averaged 1,990 fans per game.
Total women’s basketball attendance around the country peaked in 2019 with 11,514,322 fans attending games, according to data from the NCAA. South Carolina’s 244,196 total attendance tallied for the 2015-16 season was the best number for any women’s basketball program since the NCAA began sponsoring the sport in 1982.
This year, South Carolina hosts a number of highly touted programs. Maryland, Stanford and UConn are all scheduled to play the Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena, as well as ranked SEC rivals Kentucky and Texas A&M.
“Hopefully we can keep the schedule competitive and we give our FAMs an opportunity to see us play and measure ourselves against the best in the country,” Staley said in September.
When Staley announced South Carolina had sold 9,893 season tickets back on Oct. 27, she directed a comment to other fan bases.
“Y’all better go support,” Staley said. “I know you’re all on social media talking about your team this, your team that. Make sure you go and support your team and be in attendance. Buy season tickets, and make sure you’re not just giving us lip service over on social media.”
Comparatively, the CT Insider reported on Oct. 29 that perennial power UConn had sold nearly 5,000 season tickets for women’s basketball games in Hartford’s XL Center and over 3,900 for the Huskies’ on-campus Gampel Pavillion. This year’s number for Gampel Pavillion is the most since UConn’s 2015-16 season.
South Carolina’s 2021-22 home season begins Wednesday with a game against Clemson. The matchup tips at 7 p.m. in Colonial Life Arena and will be available for streaming via SEC Network Plus.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
