Williams-Brice Stadium
| "The Cock Pit" "Billy Brice" "Willy B" |
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1998 photo
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| Former names | Columbia Municipal Stadium (1934–1940) Carolina Stadium (1941–1972) |
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| Location | 1174 George Rogers Boulevard Columbia, SC 29201 |
| Coordinates | 33°58′23″N 81°1′9″W / 33.97306°N 81.01917°WCoordinates: 33°58′23″N 81°1′9″W / 33.97306°N 81.01917°W |
| Owner | University of South Carolina |
| Operator | University of South Carolina |
| Capacity | 17,600 (1934-1948) 34,000 (1949-1956) 42,517 (1957-1959) 43,099 (1960-1962) 43,232 (1963-1965) 42,238 (1966-1970) 56,140 (1971) 53,865 (1972-1973) 54,564 (1974-1981) 72,400 (1982-1995) 80,250 (1996-present) |
| Record attendance | 85,199 (October 6, 2012 vs University of Georgia) |
| Surface | Grass (1934–1969, 1984-Present) AstroTurf (1970–1983) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | May 14, 1934 |
| Opened | October 6, 1934 |
| Renovated | 1996 |
| Expanded | 1949, 1957, 1972, 1982, 1997 |
| Construction cost | $113,086 ($2.02 million in 2017 dollars) $30 million (renovations) |
| Architect | Robert L. Sumwalt JHS Architecture (renovations) |
| Tenants | |
| South Carolina Gamecocks (NCAA) (1934–present) | |
Williams-Brice Stadium is the home football stadium for the South Carolina Gamecocks, the college football team representing the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. It is currently the 20th largest college football stadium in the NCAA and is located on the corner of George Rogers Boulevard and Bluff Road adjacent to the South Carolina State Fairgrounds.
Carolina football teams consistently attract standing-room-only crowds to Williams-Brice Stadium. The atmosphere on game days has been voted "the best" by SECsports.com (See 9/15/05 and 9/17/07 at [1].) In addition to serving as the home of the Gamecocks, the stadium has been the site of many concerts, state high school football championships, and various other events. It hosted the annual Palmetto Capital City Classic between Benedict College and Johnson C. Smith University until the last game in 2005.
The stadium is sometimes called "The Cock Pit" by Gamecock fans and local media, and the name has been commonly used by these groups since at least the early 1970s when the university held a fund-raising campaign to raise money for an AstroTurf playing surface, called "Carpet the Cockpit".
The stadium was originally built in 1934 with help of federal Works Progress Administration funds as Columbia Municipal Stadium. It originally seated 17,600 people in what roughly corresponds to the lower level of the current facility's east and west grandstand seats. In 1941, the stadium was deeded to USC and renamed Carolina Stadium.
One end of the stadium was filled in during the 1940s, turning it into a horseshoe. Capacity was almost doubled, to 34,000. More than a decade later, the other end was filled in, turning the stadium into a bowl. Capacity increased to 43,000.
The stadium's first major renovation began in 1970, when the grass surface was replaced with AstroTurf. From 1971 to 1972, the west grandstand was completely rebuilt, with the addition of an upper deck. Capacity increased to 54,000. The renovation was funded by the estate of Martha Williams and Howard Brice, who left some of their estate to USC for stadium renovation and expansion. Her late husband, Thomas H. Brice, played football for the Gamecocks from 1922 to 1924. In their honor, the expanded stadium was officially renamed Williams-Brice Stadium on September 8, 1972 by a bequeath from their nephews Tom and Phil Edwards.
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