New stadium emerges as probable host site for 2023 SC football state championships
The South Carolina High School League’s football championship games appear to be switching locations for the 2023 season.
In an email sent this month by S.C. High School League commissioner Jerome Singleton to the state’s athletic directors and superintendents, the league listed “tentative” plans for moving the championship games to South Carolina State’s Oliver Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg.
The SCHSL is just waiting for a signed contract from SC State, which is a formality at this point. The games will be held Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
S.C. State hosted the Class A championships from 2006-09 when the state’s smallest classification had two divisions.
At April’s SCHSL executive committee meeting, Singleton said the University of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium and S.C. State both showed interest in wanting to host this fall’s state football championships.
“Cost is the biggest factor,” Singleton said of USC’s willingness to host. “They are seeing if they can cut the costs. Then that becomes an option. I will know this within a couple of weeks.”
The State reached out Tuesday to Singleton to seek new comments about the league’s plan to play the games at S.C. State.
All five S.C. High School League football championships were played at Benedict College in 2021 and 2022, and were spread out over three days.
In 2020, games were held at Spring Valley High School and Benedict College with limited fan capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From 2012-19, the championships were played at two sites, both Williams-Brice Stadium and Benedict. Before 2012, Williams-Brice was the host site for all the games.
Moving to Oliver Dawson Stadium gives the championships a bigger venue than Benedict. According to S.C. State’s website, the stadium’s capacity is 22,000, compared with Benedict’s 13,000 seats.
Basketball changes
Football won’t be the only state championships switching locations for this season.
In April, the SCHSL executive committee voted 11-2 in favor of hosting the semifinals (Upper State and Lower State) and state basketball championships at a single location. The email from Singleton indicated that those games are tentatively set for the Florence Center and it was made official in July.
The games will be held Feb. 23-March 2.
“We are excited to have the Upper State Finals, Lower State Finals, and State Finals at a centralized location,” Singleton. said in a release. “Having the games at one location will not only provide a different experience for the teams involved but will give the fans a chance to attend several games during the course of the seven days.”
The previous two years, the Upper State championships were held at Bob Jones University in Greenville, the Lower State championships at Florence Center and the state championships at USC Aiken (3,500-4,100 capacity).
Florence Center’s capacity is 7,686 for basketball.
“They have put together a great offer,” Singleton said of Florence Center in April. “I don’t know if we have a place more centrally located that we can have the size it has. We need somewhere between six and eight thousand (seats).”
This story was originally published June 27, 2023 at 4:55 PM.
