Major changes are coming for USC’s Williams-Brice Stadium. Here’s what to expect
July 19, 2023The buzz around Williams-Brice Stadium on a football game day is palpable. It’s busy, noisy and awash in foot traffic.
A summer night, however, is quite different.
On this Friday night in late June, Key Road is mostly quiet. The activity along George Rogers Boulevard is limited to a few families taking their dogs on evening walks. Meanwhile, Bluff Road offers its familiar symphony of vehicles buzzing up and down the four-lane street.
But if university leaders’ vision comes to fruition, the streets and property near USC’s football stadium will be Columbia’s newest hub for retail and entertainment that stands to pump millions of dollars into what USC says will be a “major modernization” of Williams-Brice Stadium.
The reasons why South Carolina would turn to outside developers and their private funding to improve Williams-Brice Stadium make sense when you consider trends in fan interests and venue renovations, and the pros and cons of how such projects are typically financed.
For the fans in the stands as soon as a few years from now, the look, feel and experience won’t be the same. Exactly what changes are coming to South Carolina’s almost 90-year-old stadium — and how soon — remain to be seen, but national trends offer hints as to what could come to the home of the Gamecocks. (READ FULL STORY)