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Vanderbilt game was the lowest attendance since 1993

GregoryHouse said:
Do people know what they are missing out on by not attending the games? Real question. 

i was thinking about this this morning. Would it be worth the athletics department time and moment to create some thirty second to a minute and a half commercials or social media videos that have Gamecocks fans, players, and coaches talk about some of the greatest moments they have had attending games? You can overlay their testimonials and interviews with clips from the games and events they are talking about at the time. Raise the fear of missing out for the people on the fence.
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Should we highlight pissing in a trough, rubbing up against sweaty drunks, the seats that are made for Japanese midgets, the high cost of concessions, the high cost of tickets and parking, or the incredible amount of time that it takes to go to a game?  I'm being facetious, of course, but all of these factors come into play.  I have had some wonderful times at WB, and a lot of fun, but it comes at a price.  I had season tickets for years, but it was so costly, that I preferred to buy tickets for a couple of games a year.  I got spoiled once by getting to watch a game in the President's Club, and that really ruined it for me.  After that, sitting in tight seating, as people cross in front of you and step on your toes, just won't work anymore.  I understand it's a money making operation, but the annoyance and inconvenience of it, just got to the point where it wasn't worth it for me anymore. I like to be able to sit comfortably with snacks in my fridge, a clean bathroom steps away, and the ability to pause the action when I want. Sitting at home does not compare to an electric Williams-Brice, when things are good, but I'm too old, crotchety, and set in my ways to spend that much time and money on being disappointed.  

 
gamecock88 said:
To a point yes - but it has to do with excitement around the program and the opponent.  There's very little right now and we were playing Vandy.  We supposedly have the most loyal fans in the country according to some but the last few seasons have tested that.  We used to but I'm not sure we do anymore.  Probably a lot of that due to tasting some success finally with Spurrier here then the quick drop off back to mediocrity.  Some stadiums have been packed during this pandemic due to their teams being competitive and far more meaningful games.  Gonna be a while before we have those again.
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It's a lot of factors combined. But the result is less fans in the stands. 

On the field performance, cost of tickets & parking, TV availability, covid - I am sure there are more. 

 
Spur's Addiction said:
On the field performance, cost of tickets & parking, TV availability, covid - I am sure there are more. 
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Obviously and we’re on the same page. 
 

On the field performance, opponent  and apathy for a mediocre program is it to me.  All those direct things affect everyone’s attendance (covid, parking, tickets and other costs)but some still manage to fill their stadiums.  If we have a legit shot at winning, looking prepared and well coached doing it, people will show regardless of the ticket price and if it’s on tv.  If we struggle with the basics and are relative cellar dwellers  people will spend money and time on other things.  Look at UT for example.   They were bad last year and lost a ton of players, not much expected from them.  New staff and scheme and they look fairly sharp.   Attendance goes up and they pack the house vs a good opponent.  We have the staff but basically the same product on the field.  Fans need something to be optimistic about and they’ll show again.    

 
Cockyandproud said:
Should we highlight pissing in a trough, rubbing up against sweaty drunks, the seats that are made for Japanese midgets, the high cost of concessions, the high cost of tickets and parking, or the incredible amount of time that it takes to go to a game?  I'm being facetious, of course, but all of these factors come into play.  I have had some wonderful times at WB, and a lot of fun, but it comes at a price.  I had season tickets for years, but it was so costly, that I preferred to buy tickets for a couple of games a year.  I got spoiled once by getting to watch a game in the President's Club, and that really ruined it for me.  After that, sitting in tight seating, as people cross in front of you and step on your toes, just won't work anymore.  I understand it's a money making operation, but the annoyance and inconvenience of it, just got to the point where it wasn't worth it for me anymore. I like to be able to sit comfortably with snacks in my fridge, a clean bathroom steps away, and the ability to pause the action when I want. Sitting at home does not compare to an electric Williams-Brice, when things are good, but I'm too old, crotchety, and set in my ways to spend that much time and money on being disappointed.  
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That sounds like me, I was a donor for almost 20 years, most of that I was a full scholarship donor buying 8 season tickets.  I attended every game and was famous in the family/friends circle for not leaving a game early despite the weather conditions or the score.   If you rode to the game with us you knew you were there for the duration.

During my Army years I was away a lot but attended every game I could.  I was good at working the system and got myself stationed to Ft Jackson several times.  One season my unit went to the Netherlands for a REFORGER training exercise and I missed a home game and 2 away games.  We got back to Ft Jackson late on a Friday night, got our equipment turned in and was finally dismissed about 2 a.m. IIRC.   We had a home game that day with a 1 o'clock kick off,  Mrs B asked me if I was going to try and go to the game and I said of course.  Wake me up at 9.  I went to the game and was pretty much a zombie but that is an example of how "fanatic" I was.

I stopped my giving and buying season tickets in 2007 when the GC club sent me a letter with my renewal stating that I would need to pay an additional $225 for Fair Grounds parking, prior to that Fair Grounds parking (1 space) was included with my Full Scholarship Donor package.  That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  I've attended maybe 5 games total since then.

 
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I live in Colorado, so obviously I watch on TV, but I have not traveled back to a game for years.  For my wife and I to go to a game with some of my college buddies is about $2000 weekend (sometimes less).  Airfare, hotel, food, game cost, car rental and some other minor expenses add up.  While we love to see my buddies from college and their spouses, that's a lot money for 1 weekend.  Until I see a team playing way better, I am not investing that type of money to fly to Columbia from Colorado. 

I would think that all the local people feel the same based on the posts above.  Time, money and hassle all come into play. 

 
Cockyandproud said:
Should we highlight pissing in a trough, rubbing up against sweaty drunks, the seats that are made for Japanese midgets, the high cost of concessions, the high cost of tickets and parking, or the incredible amount of time that it takes to go to a game?  I'm being facetious, of course, but all of these factors come into play.  I have had some wonderful times at WB, and a lot of fun, but it comes at a price.  I had season tickets for years, but it was so costly, that I preferred to buy tickets for a couple of games a year.  I got spoiled once by getting to watch a game in the President's Club, and that really ruined it for me.  After that, sitting in tight seating, as people cross in front of you and step on your toes, just won't work anymore.  I understand it's a money making operation, but the annoyance and inconvenience of it, just got to the point where it wasn't worth it for me anymore. I like to be able to sit comfortably with snacks in my fridge, a clean bathroom steps away, and the ability to pause the action when I want. Sitting at home does not compare to an electric Williams-Brice, when things are good, but I'm too old, crotchety, and set in my ways to spend that much time and money on being disappointed.  
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I understand your complaints and that you have experienced Williams-Brice during the best and worst of times. It sounds like you have those experiences and are grateful that you have those memories but that you are satisfied with the convenience of watching from home or a bar now? Am I correct in my comprehension of what you wrote?

 
Blitzkrieg said:
That sounds like me, I was a donor for almost 20 years, most of that I was a full scholarship donor buying 8 season tickets.  I attended every game and was famous in the family/friends circle for not leaving a game early despite the weather conditions or the score.   If you rode to the game with us you knew you were there for the duration.

During my Army years I was away a lot but attended every game I could.  I was good at working the system and got myself stationed to Ft Jackson several times.  One season my unit went to the Netherlands for a REFORGER training exercise and I missed a home game and 2 away games.  We got back to Ft Jackson late on a Friday night, got our equipment turned in and was finally dismissed about 2 a.m. IIRC.   We had a home game that day with a 1 o'clock kick off,  Mrs B asked me if I was going to try and go to the game and I said of course.  Wake me up at 9.  I went to the game and was pretty much a zombie but that is an example of how "fanatic" I was.

I stopped my giving and buying season tickets in 2007 when the GC club sent me a letter with my renewal stating that I would need to pay an additional $225 for Fair Grounds parking, prior to that Fair Grounds parking (1 space) was included with my Full Scholarship Donor package.  That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  I've attended maybe 5 games total since then.
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You are probably like a lot of us who are still members of the gamecocks club and still give to the program but are waiting for a better field product to make buying season tickets worth it for us again.  Has the university gotten too greedy for what the program has given the fans? Did you buy tickets to games when the Gamecocks were ranked?

 
I caught a rerun of the Bizarro Seinfeld episode last night.

We have become the Bizarro Cocks since 2014.


Me so happy, me want to cry.

 
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GregoryHouse said:
You are probably like a lot of us who are still members of the gamecocks club and still give to the program but are waiting for a better field product to make buying season tickets worth it for us again.  Has the university gotten too greedy for what the program has given the fans? Did you buy tickets to games when the Gamecocks were ranked?
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For 20+ years I bought 8 season tickets (started off with 4, eventually worked up to 8) regardless of what our record was the previous year or what our prospects were for the upcoming year.  There were times when I couldn't go because of military obligations and there were a couple of times I actually used leave time (vacation days) to make sure I could go.  We (Mrs B and I) always made sure that if we couldn't go we gave our tickets to someone who would go.

As I stated earlier I was notorious for refusing to leave games early.  I remember Michigan coming down here and beating us 55 - 3 (IIRC) and me, Mrs B, my brother and his wife were literally probably the only people left in our section as we waited until the last bitter second before leaving.

Telling me I had to pony up another $225 for parking to my full scholarship donation really hacked me off.  When you broke it down I would have been paying $37.50 a game just to park ( 6 home games, parking not covered during Fair week) in the Fairgrounds which had previously been included as part of my "full scholarship donor package."

I love USC and have been a fan since 1966 and will die a USC fan.  We had a lot of great family/friends time tailgating over the years and seen plenty of exciting games and wins as well as more than our fair share of terrible games and gut wrenching losses.  It just got to the point that it was no longer worth the money and time to attend games.

Now in all fairness getting older has a lot to do with it as well.  I've found as I (we) get older we had less patience to put up with the crowds, long lines, and pretty much killing the entire day going to a football game. 

 
I was also buying 2 season tickets to men's basketball as well as attending select women's basketball and soccer games, men's soccer games and baseball games.  At one time we were spending around 5-6 thousand dollars a year on USC donations and tickets.

 
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Blitzkrieg said:
I was also buying 2 season tickets to men's basketball as well as attending select women's basketball and soccer games, men's soccer games and baseball games.  At one time we were spending around 5-6 thousand dollars a year on USC donations and tickets.
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Is that all?? And you call yourself a fan???? lol

 
I'm still a half scholly donor, but here's why I stopped buying season tickets or attending games (did for a lot of seasons, including the Brad Scott era):

  • Facilities fit for a chicken processing plant 
  • Concessions that cost more than a nice dinner out (if you can wait long enough to get them)
  • Cramped bleacher seats installed and numbered when the average fan was 50-75lbs smaller
  • Extensive stadium improvements but for only the club donors with more of the same planned for 2022
  • A team that's at least half a decade away from the possibility of being decent again
  • Interesting games, including ours, televised all day long
  • Ath dept exploited and took advantage of our reputation as "most loyal fans" with excessive price increases for tix and parking
  • Ath dept hasn't shown any kind of commitment to being good at football since Holtz and Spurrier

As a fan, I've been asked to spend way too much of my money to accept the level of amenities I was being provided. I keep an eye out for improvement plans and none of them have included making the experience better for the general population of low level donors.

 
gAmkok said:
I'm still a half scholly donor, but here's why I stopped buying season tickets or attending games (did for a lot of seasons, including the Brad Scott era):

  • Facilities fit for a chicken processing plant 
  • Concessions that cost more than a nice dinner out (if you can wait long enough to get them)
  • Cramped bleacher seats installed and numbered when the average fan was 50-75lbs smaller
  • Extensive stadium improvements but for only the club donors with more of the same planned for 2022
  • A team that's at least half a decade away from the possibility of being decent again
  • Interesting games, including ours, televised all day long
  • Ath dept exploited and took advantage of our reputation as "most loyal fans" with excessive price increases for tix and parking
  • Ath dept hasn't shown any kind of commitment to being good at football since Holtz and Spurrier

As a fan, I've been asked to spend way too much of my money to accept the level of amenities I was being provided. I keep an eye out for improvement plans and none of them have included making the experience better for the general population of low level donors.
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Sadly true Miss. St 38 Vanderbilt 6 getting beat bad in there own back yard and add Miss. St is also in the bottom part of SEC Vanderbilt then South Carolina and Miss. St. Carolina had to pull out a win at the end to beat Vanderbilt. Brutal truth hurts and stings.  Loyal Gamecock fans deserve better and want better. Only happiness is watching Clemson lose on Saturdays. 

 
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