What The College Football Experience Will Look Like For Gamecock Fans In 2020
Thursday evening the SEC announced that the conference was moving to a 10-game, conference-only schedule for the 2020 football season.
The University of South Carolina then sent out a statement on what season will look like for fans as the country continues to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
"A social distancing plan must be in place for Williams-Brice Stadium to have a capacity of more than 250 people for home football games, based on an executive order from the South Carolina Governor's Office," the statements reads. "School officials are developing a plan to account for social distancing at home football games, which will significantly impact the number of fans that can attend these events. We will communicate these plans once they are finalized and approved by the proper authorities."
Within that same statement, season ticket sales were also discussed. It was noted that the process for issuing season tickets will not be the same as it has in year's past and when the social distancing plan becomes finalized, school officials will decide how the process will look.
Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellinger said the in-game entertainment may be different as the ACC announced there will be no marching band performances this year.
Safety has been the primary concern as the SEC officials continue to make monitor trends of cases in states within the conference.
"After careful consideration of the public health indicators in our region and following advice of our medical advisors, we have determined that this is the best course of action to prepare for a safe and healthy return to competition for SEC student-athletes, coaches and others associated with our sports programs," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. "The decision to limit competition to Conference-only opponents and rescheduling the SEC Championship Game is based on the need for maximum flexibility in making any necessary scheduling adjustments while reacting to developments around the pandemic and continued advice from medical professionals."
He added that the decisions will help ensure there is no stoppage during the year and fans get a full campaign.
"We believe these schedule adjustments offer the best opportunity to complete a full season by giving us the ability to adapt to the fluid nature of the virus and the flexibility to adjust schedules as necessary if disruptions occur," Sankey said. "It is regrettable that some of our traditional non-conference rivalries cannot take place in 2020 under this plan, but these are unique, and hopefully temporary, circumstances that call for unconventional measures."