South Carolina breaks season ticket record, doubles sales in two years

From a South Carolina release:

South Carolina women’s basketball has sold more than 10,000 season tickets, the Athletics Ticket Office announced today. The program launched the “Drive for 5” in 2013-14 and, two seasons later, its fans have more than doubled that number in season-ticket sales to set a program record.

“Gamecock fans continue to amaze and inspire us,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “They already helped shape our theme of `The Show’ this season with the energy and passion they bring to Colonial Life Arena. Now, to see so much of the community commit to our team with season tickets is a tremendous boost and motivation for us to continue our hard work and to live up to the bar our fans have set.”

Staley enters her eighth season at the Gamecocks’ helm and has seen her program’s season-ticket base grow steadily over the last four seasons from 2,315 in 2012-13 to this season’s 10,308 — a 345.3 percent increase. As of this morning, the ticket office reports that 2,481 purchasers account for the 10,308 tickets issued, up from the 1,884 accounts purchasing 8,413 tickets in 2014-15.

Ranked first in the nation in average attendance last season at 12,293, South Carolina has posted the best attendance increases in the country each of the last two seasons. The program’s average attendance grew from 3,952 in 2012-13 to 6,371 in 2013-14 to 12,293 in 2014-15. A significant contributor to those increases has been the foundation of season-ticket holders who have helped the Gamecocks go 32-0 at Colonial Life Arena over the last two seasons.

After tremendous response to the availability of reserved seating last season, South Carolina expanded those offerings in 2015-16 to include 5,951 seats at two different price points. All 12 sections of reserved seating are sold out.