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Located on the south side of Columbia, South Carolina, Williams Brice Stadium has
all the look and feel of an NFL stadium – large, fortress like, large banks of lighting
trellised high above the upper deck. And - unlike most big time college stadiums, this
venue is not nestled among ivy covered college buildings, nor is the campus
interspersed amidst a trendy urban downtown setting. Rather, Williams Brice Stadium
sits adjoining an expansive industrial, warehouse and light manufacturing district, for
the most part. The South Carolina fairgrounds are also nearby.
Sounds kind of yucky, eh?!
Hardly! The neighborhood around this stadium offers a unique setting of the college
venues we’ve visited thus far, and the game day experience fully takes advantage of
what the adjoining area has to offer to make a day here extraordinary.
Some facts on the stadium – like many of its peer venues, the stadium opened in
1934 as a 30,000 seat venue and underwent numerous expansions and renovations
over the decades to bring it to its current capacity of 80,250. The west side of the
stadium is the most modern, with its suite level and club seating, modern pressbox
facilities and wide concourses. The community has responded well to filling those
seats, snapping up over 62,000 season tickets and sellouts are the norm.
Back to the neighborhood – many of the warehouses and businesses on adjoining
streets make full use of their facilities, hosting tailgates and parties on their loading
docks. Across the street from the stadium is a massive farmers market, rows of
canopied stands where produce and nursery items are bought and sold, and
tailgaters pull in among the vendors’ stalls to set up their parties. Amidst all this, new
residential development is taking root, with a couple midrise condos recently opened
and another old loading dock building undergoing loft conversion.
Then there are the Cockabooses. Located on the south side of the stadium, a string of
old railroad cars are parked in a row and have been renovated and upgraded as
tailgate suites complete with upper deck viewing areas. The Cockabooses now
command prices well over $200K, and are only used on gamedays. We also stumbled
across a “luxury tailgate” lot, basically a gated parking lot, where for $21,500 and up,
you can purchase your own parking space for exclusive tailgate use. And yes, you can
finance your purchase with a 15 year mortgage. This is all out of control!
One thing lacking are bars, bistros, places to catch a beer or a bite, but the tailgate
scene more than makes up for it. People here come early and stay late and party it up
with the best of them.
The game intro is something not to be missed. After doing their pre game routine, the
school band lines up near the entrance tunnel, jumping up and down and whipping
the crowd into a frenzy. The team races onto the field to the melody of Strauss’ Also
Sprach Zarathustra (2001: A Space Odyssey theme). It is one of those goose bump
moments in college football.
We add one more thing here, something we don’t normally give much credence to.
South Carolina girls are beautiful! The girls here don’t wear grungy A&F or Old Navy
clothing, but dress for football games in elegant sundresses or sleek back party
dresses. Sort of like the old southern belles. We were told this is an SEC thing, not
just unique to South Carolina, but guys… trust us when we tell you that you won’t be
disappointed in the quality of the girls here!
Quick game report… On this night, the Gamecocks gave nationally ranked Auburn a
run for their money but fell just short, losing 24-17 as a furious final drive ended with a
fourth down incompletion in the end zone. Another interesting stat – the South Carolina
offense never touched the ball in the third quarter. Auburn took the kickoff on a long
drive for a field goal, then executed a successful onside kick, and proceeded on yet
another long march to eat up the clock. Amazing!
all the look and feel of an NFL stadium – large, fortress like, large banks of lighting
trellised high above the upper deck. And - unlike most big time college stadiums, this
venue is not nestled among ivy covered college buildings, nor is the campus
interspersed amidst a trendy urban downtown setting. Rather, Williams Brice Stadium
sits adjoining an expansive industrial, warehouse and light manufacturing district, for
the most part. The South Carolina fairgrounds are also nearby.
Sounds kind of yucky, eh?!
Hardly! The neighborhood around this stadium offers a unique setting of the college
venues we’ve visited thus far, and the game day experience fully takes advantage of
what the adjoining area has to offer to make a day here extraordinary.
Some facts on the stadium – like many of its peer venues, the stadium opened in
1934 as a 30,000 seat venue and underwent numerous expansions and renovations
over the decades to bring it to its current capacity of 80,250. The west side of the
stadium is the most modern, with its suite level and club seating, modern pressbox
facilities and wide concourses. The community has responded well to filling those
seats, snapping up over 62,000 season tickets and sellouts are the norm.
Back to the neighborhood – many of the warehouses and businesses on adjoining
streets make full use of their facilities, hosting tailgates and parties on their loading
docks. Across the street from the stadium is a massive farmers market, rows of
canopied stands where produce and nursery items are bought and sold, and
tailgaters pull in among the vendors’ stalls to set up their parties. Amidst all this, new
residential development is taking root, with a couple midrise condos recently opened
and another old loading dock building undergoing loft conversion.
Then there are the Cockabooses. Located on the south side of the stadium, a string of
old railroad cars are parked in a row and have been renovated and upgraded as
tailgate suites complete with upper deck viewing areas. The Cockabooses now
command prices well over $200K, and are only used on gamedays. We also stumbled
across a “luxury tailgate” lot, basically a gated parking lot, where for $21,500 and up,
you can purchase your own parking space for exclusive tailgate use. And yes, you can
finance your purchase with a 15 year mortgage. This is all out of control!
One thing lacking are bars, bistros, places to catch a beer or a bite, but the tailgate
scene more than makes up for it. People here come early and stay late and party it up
with the best of them.
The game intro is something not to be missed. After doing their pre game routine, the
school band lines up near the entrance tunnel, jumping up and down and whipping
the crowd into a frenzy. The team races onto the field to the melody of Strauss’ Also
Sprach Zarathustra (2001: A Space Odyssey theme). It is one of those goose bump
moments in college football.
We add one more thing here, something we don’t normally give much credence to.
South Carolina girls are beautiful! The girls here don’t wear grungy A&F or Old Navy
clothing, but dress for football games in elegant sundresses or sleek back party
dresses. Sort of like the old southern belles. We were told this is an SEC thing, not
just unique to South Carolina, but guys… trust us when we tell you that you won’t be
disappointed in the quality of the girls here!
Quick game report… On this night, the Gamecocks gave nationally ranked Auburn a
run for their money but fell just short, losing 24-17 as a furious final drive ended with a
fourth down incompletion in the end zone. Another interesting stat – the South Carolina
offense never touched the ball in the third quarter. Auburn took the kickoff on a long
drive for a field goal, then executed a successful onside kick, and proceeded on yet
another long march to eat up the clock. Amazing!
WILLIAMS
BRICE
STADIUM
Columbia,
South
Carolina
USRT VISIT:
September
28, 2006
Auburn
Tigers
at
South
Carolina
Gamecocks
BRICE
STADIUM
Columbia,
South
Carolina
USRT VISIT:
September
28, 2006
Auburn
Tigers
at
South
Carolina
Gamecocks
| Columbia, South Carolina |
Williams Brice Stadium