The University of South Carolina could make more upgrades to Williams-Brice Stadium, with improvements covering aspects of the fan experience.
Williams-Brice Stadium has a long history–it first opened for football in 1934–and has been renovated numerous times by USC. Before the 2015 season, the university completed a project that added several new amenities, including a new plaza and an expanded team store.
USC officials have confirmed that there is interest in making more changes to Williams-Brice Stadium. According to athletic director Ray Tanner, the facility still has room for improvement, particularly when it comes to premium seating. By completing a project such as this, USC would join a major trend among college football stadium renovations by overhauling premium areas.
Tanner said in a recent radio interview that USC is looking into the possibility of overhauling some seating sections on the stadium’s east side. These comments were made during Wednesday’s 107.5 The Game’s Halftime Show, and have been relayed by The Big Spur:
“One of the things about Williams-Brice, and I think it’s a tremendous football stadium, is there is not enough premium seating. The demand certainly outweighs what we have. I think we have 18 or so suites on the west site. We have club areas and The Zone [on the south side]. We don’t have any on the east side. There is an opportunity possibly that we can do that. One of our studies came back that engineers told us we can do suites and clubs in the middle area [of the east side] without compromising the lower or upper deck.
It’s certainly a massive project, but not to the point that you have to re-do the upper and lower deck. The opportunity is going to be vested as we move forward. I think probably within the next few months we’ll have a little more information if we are going to move forward on that. That’s a possibility.”
In addition discussions on Williams-Brice Stadium, Tanner confirmed that USC is working on other football-related projects, including plans for a new football operations building.
Image courtesy South Carolina Gamecocks.