re: South Carolina has the BEST fans!

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I agree, I've been to a game there when we beat them. They have great fans. I was surprised to see so many upper deck seats empty. Does anyone know why? Did it being Thursday night make a difference?

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Two reasons for empty seats. One was it being Thursday night. Some people just cannot travel during the middle of the week. With the game ending around 11:30 p.m., people in the corners of the state don't get him until 3:00 in the morning or so.

The other reason is a combination of the economy and changes to season tickets. The University instituted seat licenses this year. Under the old plan, you could not be moved from your seat so long as you paid Gamecock Club dues. Lots of people had 40 yard line lower level seats, yet only contributed $100 a year. Because they could not be moved, there was no incentive for them to up their contributions. The seat licenses added about $600 per seat for really good seats; about $150 for crappy seats. Bottom line is, for the first time in a decade, we did not sell out.

Those blocks of empty seats in the upper deck were unsold. Those seats will be full for most SEC home games, especially UGA, UF, UTe and UK, but Ole Miss coming a long way on a Thursday did not bring a full contingent.