COLUMBIA, S.C. — With the SEC likely to play football in 2020, South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner and his staff will be submitting their plan to the state Department of Commerce for approval to allow fans in the stands at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Tanner appeared on 107.5 The Game Tuesday and talked about the number which he has mentioned previously.
“We’re around 20,000 (fans) or so,” Tanner said.
“If you counted all the bodies, it would be 24.6 percent (capacity) with not many paying customers. You’d have the full band; our band would be part of that number as well as our student athletes’ parents and guests. It would be easy to pivot and go back to no fans. Our fans want to come. I’ve heard from a lot of them they would enter at their own risk, but we don’t want them to have risk.”
Governor Henry McMaster recently announced he would allow larger venues to start having large gatherings again to up to 50 percent capacity. The Darlington Raceway will have fans at the upcoming Southern 500. Of course, all of this is contingent on the pandemic not trending in the wrong direction. While there is momentum building for college football to be played , it is far from a lock that the September 26 season opener will take place. As of now, the SEC is moving in that direction. Preseason camp is set for August 17.
