A Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship and Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth are not the only “pots o’ gold” South Carolina State hopes to find at the end of this season.

With two more games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams, the SCSU Athletics Department could see as much as $607,500 in its coffers. More important for school officials is the increased visibility obtained from facing larger schools.

“We’re starting to get calls to play them,” said Brantley Evans, Senior Associate Director of Athletics. “I think it helps in recruiting because of the type of athletes that the coaches are able to go after and use these games as selling points. So it helps in those two areas, as well as financially.”

SCSU will receive $250,000 to face Central Florida in Orlando on Aug. 30. As stipulated by the contract (obtained by The T&D through a Freedom of Information Act request) with Clemson University athletics director Terry Don Phillips on Dec. 17, 2007, SCSU will receive a guaranteed fee of $235,000 for the Sept. 20 game at Death Valley.

In addition, SCSU can earn an additional $122,500 should its sell its full allotment of 3,500 tickets at $35 each. Clemson will also provide 300 complimentary tickets and 75 sideline passes.

SCSU was paid $220,000 to open its Centennial Season last year at Air Force Academy. Of the amount, between $60-80,000 was used to cover travel expenses. For its first game against the University of South Carolina, SCSU was paid $230,000 and sold 2,600 tickets whose sales were held in consignment.

The two schools are scheduled to meet again in 2011, at which point SCSU will receive $250,000.

There are also three more potentially lucrative games on the 2008 schedule. The Bulldogs will renew their long-standing in-state rivalry with Benedict College on Sept. 6 at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. The last time SCSU and Benedict College faced each other in Orangeburg, the contest drew a stadium-record 24,577 fans.

A week later, SCSU returns to Charleston to face Bethune-Cookman in the Lowcountry Classic. The three contests the Bulldogs have played there since 2004 have averaged about 12,000 fans in attendance.

Add a revenge game against Norfolk State for Homecoming on Oct. 11 and school officials have plenty of reason to hope for a financial windfall this year. Eventually, the school wants to reinvest the extra revenue toward improving athletic facilities, according to Evans.

“It goes a long way, especially for a school our size,” he said. “Hopefully, we can continue to get these games annually.”

Other future guaranteed games for SCSU are Georgia Tech in Atlanta during the 2010 season and Clemson again in 2016. Another way SCSU hopes to raise funds for the athletics department is by redoubling its efforts toward increasing its season ticket sales. After selling a disappointing 2,585 season tickets last year, SCSU has set a goal of reaching 5,000 for its Garnet and Blue packages.

The Garnet package covers the four home games (Benedict College, Norfolk State, Hampton and Howard) and the Lowcountry Classic and costs $125. The Blue package also includes season tickets for men’s basketball for a total of $180.

“We’re going to have to get out and beat the bushes,” SCSU Athletics Director Charlene Johnson said. “Pretty soon, we’ll be putting on a phone-a-thon through our Board of Visitors and groups here on campus. We’re going to reach out through the phone, through mailings, through in-person, buddy person, whatever we can do to impress upon the importance of buying season tickets. Not only from a financial standpoint, but having a great support fanbase for these young men who are playing football and the other sports.”

A ticket application is available by visiting the SCSU sports website at www.scsusports.com or by calling (803) 536-8579. T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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