
Clemson outlook: Spring games, surplus sales and alcohol sales |
The warmer weather brings thoughts of spring and sales. Surplus and alcohol.
Football spring practice is scheduled to start on Friday, February 28th, and the spring game is April 5th. Back by popular demand is the surplus sale, which will begin at 8 am and last until kickoff in the Burton Gallery in Littlejohn Coliseum. The surplus sale is always a hit with fans who want to wear what the players and coaches wear, and there will be good deals for those who arrive early. Speaking of the spring game, Nebraska likely won’t hold one in the future after head coach Matt Rhule expressed concerns that it exposes his players to other programs. “The word ‘tampering’ doesn’t exist anymore,” Rhule said last week. “It’s just an absolute free open common market. I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world and have people watch our guys and say, ‘He looks like a pretty good player. Let’s go get him.’” The spring game is a big deal at Nebraska. Last year, the event drew 60,452 to its Memorial Stadium, the fourth-highest in the nation behind spring games at Ohio State, Alabama, and Penn State. The Cornhuskers’ game also was televised on the Big Ten Network. “I dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities after that,” Rhule said. “To go out and bring in a bunch of new players and showcase them for all the other schools to watch doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.” When he was asked if there would be a spring game with a scrimmage format to wrap up spring practice, Rhule said, “I don’t know that yet, but I’ll be honest with you, I highly doubt it.” Other schools are likely to go the same route, and a few people have asked me if Clemson would consider doing the same thing. In short, no. Head coach Dabo Swinney loves the spectacle of the spring game, and he loves showing off Clemson to a television audience. It’s a recruiting tool, to be sure, but he also likes to get his freshmen out on the field in Death Valley in front of fans. That experience is invaluable in his eyes and I don’t see any worries there. One thing that does need to happen is that Fan Day should return to Clemson. As the landscape and NIL become clearer, when the dust settles and schools enter into contracts with student-athletes, a stipulation could be that those athletes appear at functions like Fan Day. Nothing is imminent at Clemson—it will be over the summer before things begin to take shape nationally—but it would be fun to have that day back for the fans. And now, regarding alcohol sales, I’ve had a few people reach out to ask if alcohol sales are on the agenda for the Board of Trustees meeting this week. The short answer is no; that is not an action item. However, I do believe Athletic Director Graham Neff will address the BOT, and that topic will almost certainly be addressed. Clemson baseball coach Erik Bakich told the media recently that beer sales were coming to Doug Kingsmore Stadium, and the administration responded that nothing is official. It’s worth noting that the BOT doesn’t have to approve alcohol sales and the university already has a license. Therefore, I wouldn’t expect anything newsworthy to happen on that front this week. The BOT Compensation Committee is also scheduled to meet, and once again, I don’t expect any major news from athletics on that front. A year added here and there and modest raises are the name of the game this time around.

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