Benedict over Williams-Brice? Why smaller venue makes more sense for SC title games
Dutch Fork is playing in its sixth-straight football state championship game. And for the second year in a row, the Silver Foxes will play for a title at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
They face Gaffney at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Class 5A finals. It’s Dutch Fork’s ninth state championship appearance, all since 2012, with seven games played at the University of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium and the most recent two at Benedict — home of the NCAA Division II Tigers.
“Gaffney is going to fill it up and the atmosphere will be just as electric,” Dutch Fork coach Tom Knotts said Tuesday after practice. “There will be enough Columbia people if our people don’t fill it up. And in a stadium that size when there is a full house, it will feel like 80,000 people. Benedict’s facility is nice and their field is definitely nice. I don’t have any problem with it.”
This year is the first time since 2011 that all of South Carolina’s football state championships will be held at one site, and they’ll take place in five time slots over Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The decision to hold the games at a smaller venue makes more financial sense for everyone involved, including the teams, S.C. High School League commissioner Jerome Singleton told The State.
“I don’t think we need as big of a venue as we did in the past. They (Benedict) are well-sized to accommodate us,” Singleton said. “Williams-Brice is a great place to play the state championships. It is such a big venue, it requires a lot more people to be able to secure it the right way. We think because we are spacing things out and everything, we feel we can accomplish that a little more economically by holding it at Benedict.”
USC and Benedict were the only two schools to place bids to host this year’s games. It costs about 25% less to hold games at Benedict instead of Williams-Brice Stadium, officials said.
In prior years, the cost of holding the state championships at Williams-Brice approached $100,000, with half of that going toward law enforcement expenses. In previous years, S.C. High School League’s agreement with Benedict, the college keeps concessions and parking revenue but does not charge the league for use of the facilities.
But this year, the SCHSL is paying a rental fee and expenses to Benedict. The college won’t be getting anything from parking or concessions.
Benedict was the better option for other reasons, Singleton said, including declining attendance at championship games.
In 2019, the last time full capacity was allowed at games, the attendance combined for the five championships was 19,761. A projection for attendance for this week’s games was not immediately available. The Dutch Fork-Gaffney game will likely be the only one that comes close to filling Benedict’s 13,000-seat capacity.
In 2010, Williams-Brice Stadium hosted all the games. In 2011, all the games were played at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium. The championships were played at both USC and Benedict from 2012 to 2019, with the Class A and 2A finals at Benedict and the bigger classifications at Williams-Brice.
South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium has a capacity of 77,559. Those who’ve played in state championship games there like the uniqueness of high school athletes being able to play in a Southeastern Conference stadium.
“It would be nice for kids to see a bigger college campus and see the stadium, the weight room and all that goes along with it,” Knotts said. “That is a part we miss with South Carolina. But I am good with Benedict.”
Last season, Benedict hosted three of the games, with the Class 2A and 3A championship at Spring Valley High School’s Harry Parone Stadium. Attendance was limited last year because of COVID. This year, there are no restrictions.
Ticket revenue from the playoffs and state championship games of all sports provide upwards of 60% to 70% of the S.C. High School League’s annual revenues, according to the most recent documents available.
When games are at USC, the competing high schools sometimes have to foot part of the bill. In most of Dutch Fork’s trips to Williams-Brice, Knotts said the school had to pay money back to the league. Last year after expenses, the schools were able to get money back and should do so this year as well.
Schools also receive $2 per ticket that people buy before the game. This year, there will be no tickets sold at the stadium on the day of the game, with all tickets either bought through the school or on gofan.co.
“Money saved is going to schools,” Singleton said.
The championships are spread out over three days instead of two, with Class 4A playing on Thursday night and then two games each on Friday and Saturday.
Friday’s doubleheader kicks off at 2 p.m. Some fans have complained because of the early start time, but most state championships in other states — including Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee — host Friday afternoon games.
In the past, Friday games were held at 5 and 8 or 8:30 p.m., but having extra time allows the stadium to be cleaned and allow fans to get out while other fans come in. Fans must have a ticket for each game.
Parking will look different this year. Fans won’t be allowed to turn into the stadium from Two Notch Road. Instead, they’ll be asked to enter via two side roads that run parallel to the property.
“We talked with grounds people, our parking group and Columbia Police Department about how we can better disperse the cars turning in and how to run smoothly,” Singleton said. “We hope the spacing between the games will help people leaving and going in. We will have one-way traffic going in and out.”
As far as future championship sites, Singleton said the league decides on a yearly basis on where to hold the games. He didn’t rule out a return to Williams-Brice Stadium and added that he wouldn’t be against locking down a contract with one specific venue. In 2019, a push was made for Clemson’s Memorial Stadium to again host championship games, but it didn’t get the backing from the schools.
“We have no long-term contract in place. Traditionally we tried to hold them in the middle part of the state in most sports,” Singleton said. “If there are better opportunities, we want to take advantage of it. We have no long-term contracts but are willing and are not opposed to enter a long-term contract if everything is right.”
SC high school football championship schedule
This week’s South Carolina High School League football state championship games continue Friday and Saturday at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium in Columbia.
- 7 pm Thursday, Class 4A: Beaufort vs. South Pointe
- 2 pm Friday, Class 3A: Camden vs. Daniel
- 7 pm Friday, Class 2A: Silver Bluff vs. Gray Collegiate
- Noon Saturday, Class A: Bamberg-Ehrhardt vs. Southside Christian
- 5 pm Saturday, Class 5A: Dutch Fork vs. Gaffney
This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
