‘A massive hit.’ Small crowds create issues for SC high school athletic budgets
During the past four years, the Gilbert football program has piled up wins and packed fans into the stands. The Indians won 11 games last season for the second time since 2017 and played in front of big crowds during that stretch.
This season will be a lot different because of COVID-19.
In Lexington 1, the district is allowing 1,000 fans for the bigger schools such as River Bluff, Lexington and White Knoll, while Gilbert and Pelion will be allowed a max of 800. The attendance numbers are just a starting point and could increase as the regular season goes on, according to Lexington 1 athletic director David Bennett.
But only allowing 800 at Gilbert will be a loss for the people in the community and in the school’s athletic budget. According to the 2018 census, Gilbert’s population is only 639 but the town has a passion for its high school sports and comes alive for Friday night football.
“It is going to be tough. It is what it is,” Gilbert football coach and athletic director Chad Leaphart said. “But everyone has to make accommodations for this from NFL to Clemson, South Carolina and down to high school. Hate it for folks in our community because they have been passionate in supporting us the last four years. And I hate it for the kids. They thrive off the energy. Who wouldn’t want for their kids to have a crowd?
“We are going to do the best we can with what you got.”
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster is limiting stadiums and other venues to a maximum of 250 people or 50% of the posted occupancy, whichever is less — but exceptions are made through an approval process.
The S.C. High School League plan for fan attendance was approved by the S.C. Department of Commerce and got approval for up to 12,000 fans per game, but the only time that will happen is for state championship football games. Each school or school district made the final decision on the capacity for venues for all fall sports so family groups can remain six feet apart at all times.
Leaphart said 800 tickets will be distributed with parents of football players, band members, student trainers and dance team getting first crack at them. The rest of the tickets will be sold online before the game, something that many schools across the state are doing this year.
Leaphart said average attendance at Gilbert games last season was 950 to 2,400 tickets sold, and they were able to bring in $20,000 on multiple occasions especially for bigger matchups against county foe Lexington. This season, they won’t be able to come close to that and have just three home games.
Gilbert tried to make some extra money by charging for a scrimmage last week against Dreher. Usually, Gilbert plays in the Lexington County jamboree but that was canceled in the summer because of COVID-19.
“It will be a huge hit. We were fortunate we did really well the last few years. But financially it will be a massive hit,” Leaphart said. “We just got to survive through the year financially. Hopefully things will get back to normal back to next year.”
On average, schools have five or six home games during a 10-game regular season. This year, there are only seven games on the schedule and some schools like Lexington are down to four games after having three games moved because of coronavirus.
All schools across the state will be feeling the crunch at the gate because of the smaller attendance numbers. In the Midlands, capacities will range from 400 (Midlands Sports Complex home of Gray Collegiate) to 2,900 at Camden’s Zempf Stadium in Kershaw County. At 50% capacity, Kershaw County and Lexington 2 are allowing the most fans into games this season. Other capacities in the Kershaw will be 2,500 at Lugoff-Elgin and 2,000 at North Central, which had to rebuild its stadium after the EF-2 tornado hit the school over the winter.
Capacities in Richland 1 and Richland 2 will range from 1,000 (maximum at all Richland 1 stadiums) to 1,872 at Harry Parone Stadium at Spring Valley. The 12,000-seat stadium also hosts Richland Northeast home games for one more until RNE’s on-campus stadium is finished.
District 2 Stadium, which is home to Blythewood and Ridge View (for one more year), will host 1,024 fans.
“We don’t know definitely how much but we definitely are going to take a hit and have to figure it out,” Blythewood athletic director Barry Mizzell said. “Football, you know, is where we make our money and we only got three home games.”
Mizzell said they normally average between $9,000 to $14,000 in per-game revenue and about $19,000 to $20,000 for bigger matchups. Richland 2 schools also will take a hit on concessions — the district won’t allow them to sell any food or drinks.
Mizzell said there’s hope to maybe get a little revenue back in the spring season, but it is unclear what capacity limits will be in place by then.
One thing that could help athletic departments, especially this year, is a good booster club, but even they have some struggles trying to raise funds during the pandemic.
Still, booster clubs played a big role in helping out their school’s high school sports teams, providing things such as uniforms, some money for scholarships and other perks for the athletes.
Chapin Eagle Club’s James Burns said they have done their best to help out and have been fortunate that their sponsors have remained steady during the last few months.
“They (athletic departments) have funding shortfalls and we have to step in and help out,” Burns said. “That is what we are here to do.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
