Jeremiah Donati hopes to turn short-term challenge into long-term win with Williams-Brice upgrades

New South Carolina athletics director Jeremiah Donati is hoping to turn a perceived negative into a future positive.

As has now been well-documented, Williams-Brice Stadium has just 18 all-important revenue-generating premium suites, something that becomes increasingly important as the revenue-sharing era quickly approaches.

Now just four weeks onto the job, Donati had the Gamecocks home field on his mind Tuesday during an in-studio appearance at 107.5 The Game with Jay Philips and Elijah Campbell.

“One of the things that is currently top of my mind is,” Donati said. “There’s a lot of money literally and figuratively locked up inside Williams-Brice Stadium.”

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Last October, South Carolina revealed the early stages of its plan to modernize Willy B when it received approval to hire an architecture to design Phase 1 of what it hopes will be wholesale enhancements to the stadium.

The upgrades initially appear to prioritize improvements to the West Grandstand.

A project description provided to the media in October says that South Carolina hopes to add 30 traditional suites and six larger Founders Suites to the 100 and 200 levels on the West side, likely replacing the 18 suites currently in that area of the stadium. It would also add elevators and supporting space.

“I mean, it’s no secret, I think we have 18 suites, it’s the last in the conference. I think Arkansas, for example, has 184. We have the fewest premium seat offerings. So why is that important? Well, that’s a lot of revenue that could be used to reinvest in the department.”

While the renderings and specifics released so far were the result of a feasibility study focused on the West stands, approval of Phase 1 will allow architects, engineers, and contractors to take the planning further and look at major changes to the East side and potentially minor upgrades to the North stands.

University architect Derek S. Gruner said at the time they hoped to take a holistic approach that would not only focus on the immediate upgrades but would allow them to use the schematics designed for other areas of the stadium during Phase 1 to seamlessly move into Phase 2 at a later date.

Improvements will also be studied for the main level concourse and the ground level concourse that could include a Bunker Club, new restrooms, and new concessions on that side of the stadium. Significant potential changes are also being considered for other areas of the stadium, improving the game day experience for all fans.

That would potentially raise the overall number of suites in the stadium to 36 with hopes of eventually getting the number to 83. The median among SEC football stadiums is 90.

“Right now we’re without that and so what’s the challenge for us in the short term is, candidly, huge upside.” Donati said. “Because we’re the only school – maybe you could tell me this, Jay, you could look up the Power 4 schools in your computer there – I don’t know how many schools really have the opportunity to build what we could potentially build. So that’s a really big opportunity for us. Obviously nothing has been approved yet and we’ve had some great conversations internally and even with the Board.”

The need to upgrade the 90-year-old structure is two-fold. Of course, South Carolina wants to continue to improve the fan experience.

But finances are top of mind for athletic directors across the country as funding revenue sharing for student-athletes will soon become a reality, though the details of exactly what that will look like are yet to be approved.

The realities of college football’s new landscape were perhaps put into perspective when Ohio State’s athletic department reported an operating deficit of almost $38 million during the most recent fiscal year, according to several reports.

“I’m very optimistic that we will have a plan to do this and I think taking more of a holistic look at the stadium, not just one side and even beyond,” Donati continued. “I think that’s really critical to our future success. Operationalizing the House case settlement and really understanding the opportunities at Williams-Brice Stadium and fundraising component, I think are absolutely critical to our success.”

In theory, the Gamecocks will look to make meaningful upgrades to the stadium that can in time not only pay for themselves but also generate income. With the capacity for new premium seating already maxed out at many other facilities, Donati hopes and believes there’s untapped potential for the Gamecocks to benefit from — a negative becoming a positive.

“You think about it, the more money you can raise for a stadium project like this, the less debt you have to take out, less institutional burden,” Donati added. “So, going back to your point, the more effective we are in fundraising, the better it is for our future.”

Construction work on Phase 1 is slated to begin at the conclusion of the 2025 football season and will be completed before the start of the 2027 football season.

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