Here's why Colonial Life Arena is offering free concessions at basketball games this month

For the first time, South Carolina is doing something it has never done before.

Starting on Saturday, it will be offering free concessions at Gamecock men’s and women’s basketball games. It’s a deal that will go on throughout the rest of December on select dates.

“You’re always trying to find things that keep fans to come coming back, or you want to do things to get new fans in the building. And we kind of looked at it as December is the perfect time for that,” said Joe O’Clair, assistant athletics director for marketing and fan experience.

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With Christmas approaching, it’s become a busy time of year for many people. Parents are taking off from work while their children are off from school. Many students at USC are headed home for the holidays, turning Columbia into a ghost town. So O’Clair and his team had to find a way to fill the seats at Colonial Life Arena.

“What can we do to bring attention to our basketball programs that are both off to amazing starts? What can we do to get new fans in the building?” he said. “And that kind of thought was, this is so different. It’s something at least since I’ve been here, we have never done. It’s different, it’s attractive.”

The deal will be available for five games over the next few weeks:

• Women’s Basketball vs. Presbyterian on Saturday, December 16 at 1 p.m.
• Men’s Basketball vs. Charleston Southern on Saturday, December 16 at 6 p.m.
• Men’s Basketball vs. Winthrop on Tuesday, December 19 at 7 p.m.
• Men’s Basketball vs. Elon on Friday, December 22 at 6 p.m.
• Men’s Basketball vs. Florida A&M on Saturday, December 30 at 2 p.m.

Fans that come out to any of these games can receive free concessions like hotdogs, popcorn, soda and bottled water.

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At Colonial Life Arena, there are more than just the typical food items that can be found at any venue. But O’Clair said the idea was to keep it simple to ensure the items come out quickly.

“We don’t want fans to have to wait 30 minutes to get a hotdog. We’re trying to make an experience a good one. And having to stand in line for 30 minutes waiting for a food item isn’t a good experience. They’re not going to want to come back because of that,” O’Clair said.

“We looked through everything we could on our menus and said, ‘What can someone have as a meal but still go quickly?’ Those are the easiest things on our menu to be able to scale at speed. So that way fans can get their food and go enjoy the game, and they’re not missing a good portion of the game.”

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Fans can go through the line as many times as they want to pick up concessions during the game. But it can be a challenge for the staff at the arena to ensure there’s enough supplies to last a good portion of the day.

“That is one thing we have talked a lot on,” O’Clair said. “Our goal is to make sure we don’t run out and to be over prepared, especially with a doubleheader on Saturday. We want to make sure every fan can get what they want in the building. It’s going to be an all hands on deck approach to make sure our fans have a really good time.”

As of right now, it’s unclear whether or not a deal like this will happen again in the future. O’Clair said the goal is to keep getting fans into the building by bringing forth new promotions.

“When SEC play comes back and our students back on campus, we will have different promotions catered to them that our staff are working on, just to make it more entertaining,” he said. “Yes, there’s a basketball game, but they can watch a basketball game at home. So we’re going to try different things left and right to make it a good experience, and get the students to come back and our normal fans that come back, because our teams are off to a great start.”

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Saturday will be the first time this offering takes place as both of South Carolina’s basketball teams will play that afternoon. The women will tip-off at 1 p.m. against Presbyterian, while the men will play Charleston Southern at 6 p.m.

To receive the free concessions items, fans will need to utilize the Forever Garnet App. At each game, the promotion will end at the under 12 minute timeout for men’s basketball and at the end of the third quarter for women’s basketball.

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