Sports in South Carolina

Although no professional franchises are actually based in South Carolina, the state is represented by North Carolina professional teams. However, the Carolina Panthers do have training facilities in this state. The state does have numerous minor league teams. College teams represent their particular South Carolina institution. South Carolina is also a destination for golf and water sports.

S. Carolina Gamecocks football game at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia

Table

The following table shows the sports teams in South Carolina that average over 8,000 fans per game:

Team	Competition	Location	Stadium (capacity)	Attendance^[1]^[2]
South Carolina Gamecocks football	NCAA D1 - SEC	Columbia	Williams-Brice Stadium (80,250)	82,401
Clemson Tigers football	NCAA D1 - ACC	Clemson	Memorial Stadium (81,475)	82,048
The Citadel Bulldogs football	NCAA D1 - SoCon	Charleston	Johnson Hagood Stadium (21,000)	13,155
S. Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball	NCAA D1 - SEC	Columbia	Colonial Life Arena (18,000)	8,603
Furman Paladins football	NCAA D1 - SoCon	Greenville	Paladin Stadium (16,000)	8,299

Clemson Tigers football game at Memorial Stadium (Death Valley) in Clemson

College sports

College sports — particularly college football — are very big in South Carolina. The University of South Carolina's Gamecocks and Clemson University's Tigers regularly draw more than 80,000 spectators at the schools' home football games, placing them among the top twenty schools in average attendance.^[3] Clemson's Football team won the National Championship in 1981. Both South Carolina's and Clemson's baseball teams are consistently ranked. The Gamecocks won the national title in 2010 and 2011. The Southern Conference and Big South Conference each have 4 members in South Carolina.

Major league

South Carolina has no major professional franchise of the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLS, or MLB located in the state; however the NFL's Carolina Panthers (based in Charlotte, North Carolina), the NBA's Charlotte Hornets (based in Charlotte, North Carolina), and the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes (based in Raleigh, North Carolina) represent both North and South Carolina. In addition, the Panthers played their first season in Clemson, and maintain training facilities at Wofford College in Spartanburg.

Minor league

There are numerous minor league teams that are either based in the state, or play much of their schedule within its borders. The Charlotte Knights, an AAA minor league baseball team, played at a stadium in Fort Mill, South Carolina, just across the border from Charlotte until the team moved to a new ballpark in Charlotte in 2014. Currently, only Greenville, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston still boast any other level (in each case single-A) of professional baseball. Columbia, the state capitol, will field a Class A team with opening day scheduled for April 2016.

For a state where natural ice is a rarity, professional ice hockey has been popular in a number of areas of the state since the 1990s. Though 4 teams competed at one time in South Carolina, the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) currently oversees operations of only three franchises, the Columbia Inferno, the Greenville Road Warriors and the South Carolina Stingrays. The Stingrays play in the North Charleston Coliseum, located in North Charleston. According to the league, however, Myrtle Beach is slated to receive a franchise when their new arena is completed in 2008/9. In 2010 the ECHL announced that Greenville had received a new hockey franchise, the team will play in the BI-LO center.

Another minor league franchise is the USL Division 1 Soccer team, the Charleston Battery. The team plays in the soccer-specific Blackbaud Stadium, located on Daniel Island in Charleston. The American Basketball Association currently oversees operations of only three semi-pro basketball franchises, the South Carolina Warriors which are based in Myrtle Beach, the Greenville Galaxy which are based in Greenville, and the Palmetto State Rizers which are based in Columbia.

NASCAR racing

A race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington

NASCAR racing was born in the South, and South Carolina has in the past hosted some very important NASCAR races, at the Darlington Raceway. Darlington Raceway still has the one NASCAR weekend in April. The Whelen, Nationwide Cars, and Sprint Cup cars all race at Darlington.

Golf

South Carolina is a popular golf destination. With nearly one hundred golf courses, the Grand Strand region has more public golf courses per capita than any other place in the country.^[4] Some have hosted PGA and LGPA events in the past, but most have been designed for the casual golfer. Hilton Head Island & Kiawah Island have several very nice golf courses and host professional events every year. The upstate of South Carolina also has many nice golf courses, most of the nicer courses are private including the Cliff's courses and Cross Creek Plantation (the Cliff's courses host the annual BMW PRO/AM that brings many celebrities and professionals to South Carolina. Cross Creek Plantation located in Seneca, also private hosted a PGA Qualifier in the 90's). In 2007, "The Ocean Course" On Kiawah Island was ranked #1 in Golf Digest magazine's "America's 50 Toughest Golf Courses"^[5] and #38 on their "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses".^[6]

Water sports

Water sports are also an extremely popular activity in South Carolina. With a long coast line, South Carolina has many different beach activities such as surfing, boogie boarding, deep sea fishing, and shrimping. The Pee Dee region of the state offers exceptional fishing. Some of the largest catfish ever caught were caught in the Santee Lakes. The Upstate of South Carolina also offers outstanding water activities, especially in Lakes Hartwell, Jocassee, and Keowee. The Midlands region also offers water-based recreation revolving around Lakes Marion and Murray and such rivers as the Congaree, Saluda, Broad, and Edisto.

Roller Sports

Following the rebirth of roller derby in the early 2000s and the release of the movie Whip It, South Carolina has seen the rise over several roller derby leagues. As of 2014 there are four leagues sanctioned under WFTDA^[7] each of which are located in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville.

Misc. Sports

While there are no race tracks with betting in South Carolina, there is significant horse training activity, particularly in Aiken and Camden, which hold steeplechase races.

Professional bass fishing tournaments are also found in South Carolina. Lake Hartwell, Lake Wylie, and Lake Murray both host Bassmaster Classic tournaments.

Spartanburg, South Carolina, is also the home of the national evangelical sports program Upward Sports.

References

Sports in the United States

By state/territory	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington state Washington, D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands

Major sports	Athletics American football Baseball Basketball Boxing Golf Horse racing (Thoroughbred, Harness, and Steeplechase) Ice hockey Lacrosse Motorsport Rugby union Soccer Surfing Swimming Tennis Winter sports (skeleton, skiing) Women's sports

Minor sports	Australian rules football Badminton Bodybuilding Cricket Cycling Fishing Futsal Field hockey Gaelic football in the United States Netball Polo Roller derby Rowing Rugby league Softball Volleyball Wrestling (Professional)

International sporting competitions	Baseball World Cup Cricket World Cup FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA World Cup Maccabiah Olympics (Summer, Winter) Pan American Games Paralympics Rugby World Cup Universiade