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Where season ticket sales stand for USC football, how they compare to other SEC teams

payton titus
·4 min read

Another season of South Carolina football is finally here. The Gamecocks kick off their 2024 campaign Saturday afternoon vs. Old Dominion at Williams-Brice Stadium.

As of late last week, USC had sold 44,262 season tickets, associate athletics director of marketing and fan experience Joe O’Clair told The State.

It’s the largest season ticket total of the Shane Beamer era and just above where the Gamecocks landed for 2023. But it still trails USC’s 2019 figure of 47,347. Season ticket sales regularly exceeded 50,000 during the Steve Spurrier era, though South Carolina hasn’t been able to crack that threshold since 2016.

LSU (71,250), Tennessee (70,500), Auburn (63,500), Texas A&M (more than 54,000), Ole Miss, Alabama, Missouri and Vanderbilt have all announced 2024 season ticket sellouts. That’s half of the SEC’s member schools.

The Vols have sold out their season ticket inventory three times in the last 10 years (2024, 2023 and 2016). Auburn has sold all its season tickets two years in a row. And LSU has eclipsed 70,000 season ticket sales six times in the last nine years.

South Carolina lists Williams-Brice Stadium’s capacity as 77,559. LSU lists Tiger Stadium’s as 102,321. LSU’s season ticket allowance (71,250) accounts for 69.6% of Tiger Stadium’s total capacity. The equivalent for USC would be about 54,008 season tickets — a number the Gamecocks haven’t reached since 2014 (54,005).

South Carolina set no maximum threshold or goal for season ticket sales, O’Clair said.

In an appeal to more casual fans, USC’s marketing team is placing greater emphasis on theme nights and the Gamecock Go Pass.

Theme nights — such as “Carolina Band Day” this Saturday spotlighting local high school bands, Family Weekend Sept. 21, “Teacher Appreciation Game” Nov. 2 and “Salute the Troops” Nov. 23 — engage specific members of the community and offer some discounted seats. The Gamecock Go Pass is a $20 monthly subscription giving fans access to “all non-conference home football games and all home games for men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball.” Fans can also reserve seats for home conference football games for an additional $15 payment. (Adding the nationally televised LSU game to the Gamecock Go Pass will start at $20.)

O’Clair described the Go Pass as for “the fan that wants to check out everything but may not have that, ‘I need a season ticket’ mindset on it. And it’s significantly discounted compared to purchasing single tickets across the board.”

Single-game ticket sales accounted for just over 27% of South Carolina football’s 2022 attendance.

Football tickets have consistently brought a lot of money into the athletic department. South Carolina averaged about $19.38 million in football ticket revenue per season from 2017-2022 (sans 2020).

USC football: Season ticket sales by year

  • 2005: 62,618

  • 2006: 61,826

  • 2007: 60,004

  • 2008: 54,347

  • 2009: 47,851

  • 2010: 45,985

  • 2011: 47,591

  • 2012: 49,195

  • 2013: 51,967

  • 2014: 54,005

  • 2015: 51,167

  • 2016: 50,395

  • 2017: 49,700

  • 2018: 47,381

  • 2019: 47,347

  • 2020: 8,475 *COVID*

  • 2021: 38,483

  • 2022: 40,050

  • 2023: 44,170

  • 2024: 44,262

USC football: Ticket sale revenue by year

Dollar amounts rounded to the nearest hundredth.

  • 2022: $19.03 million

  • 2021: $15.6 million

  • 2020: $3.85 million *COVID*

  • 2019: $22.43 million

  • 2018: $20.08 million

  • 2017: $19.76 million

  • 2016: $19.44 million

  • 2015: $16.62 million

  • 2014: $21.94 million

  • 2013: $18.43 million

  • 2012: $17.2 million

  • 2011: $16.97 million

  • 2010: $16.58 million

  • 2009: $16.11 million

South Carolina football schedule

Bolded games indicate those with start times that are set. Kickoff times for games with early, noon, night or flex designations will be determined during the season

  • Aug. 31 – vs. Old Dominion – 4:15 pm, SEC Network

  • Sept. 7 – at Kentucky – 3:30 p.m., ABC

  • Sept. 14 – vs. LSU – Noon, ABC

  • Sept. 21 – vs. Akron – Night (6 to 8 p.m., TBD)

  • Oct. 5 – vs. Ole Miss – Flex (afternoon or night kick, TBD)

  • Oct. 12 – at Alabama – Noon, ABC or ESPN

  • Oct. 19 – at Oklahoma – Early (noon to 1 p.m., TBD)

  • Nov. 2 – vs. Texas A&M – Night (6 to 8 p.m., TBD)

  • Nov. 9 – at Vanderbilt – Afternoon (3:30 to 4:30 p.m., TBD)

  • Nov. 16 – vs. Missouri – Afternoon (3:30 to 4:30 p.m., TBD)

  • Nov. 23 – vs. Wofford – 4 p.m., SEC Network Plus

  • Nov. 30 – at Clemson – TBD