What We Learned – Week 1

Come on in!

Last Thursday’s football game against Georgia Tech was unique for Clemson Football. Not only was it the first Thursday game in Memorial Stadium since 2013 (and only the 5th ever), but it was also the introduction of widespread safety procedures. Nearly 80,000 fans filled Memorial Stadium to view the 2019 season opener, and created an unbelievable atmosphere to witness the Tigers’ 52-14 win. 

This year, fans have been encouraged to arrive to games earlier, and this attention to detail made a dramatic difference in stadium entry. 

• Fans arrived to the game on average 45.6 minutes before kickoff, which was 14.7 minutes earlier than the average for last season (30.9 minutes). 
• The peak scan time, which is the time of the greatest volume of fans entering, was three minutes earlier as well, moving from an average of 27 minutes before kickoff last season to 30 minutes prior on Thursday. 
• The average and peak times for last season are almost identical, indicating that the majority of fans typically arrived at about the same times. On Thursday, however, the average time was 18.56 minutes earlier than the peak time, indicating that fans entered over a greater and more spread out period of time as compared to last season, decreasing delays. At peak, around 1,200 people enter the stadium per minute.
• 95.71% of fans arrived before kickoff. Last season, the average was 91.91% of fans arriving before kickoff.
• From 30 minutes before kickoff to 2 hours after kickoff, there were fewer fans entering the stadium for the game as opposed to last season’s averages. This is due to more fans having already arrived and entered the stadium, filling seats earlier and curbing traffic at the gates.

Look at the Data:

(click or tap to expand)

We hear you!

Each week, we ask for things that our fans see in and around the stadium to try and improve each week, as well as things that went well. Here were a few of the most common bits of information we received after the GT game:

• New Screening Procedures go into effect
  • Several people wrote in about their experiences with the new screening process. Clemson intends to improve each week in this area as the new policies take hold, but we were encouraged by the first week of implementation. We’re consistently evaluating to try to keep wait times down and our fans secure. The positive experience is due in large part to our fans listening at the gates and arriving early to spread the arrival flow.
• Difficulty hearing the referee audio
  • We are evaluating the issues that many people mentioned in not being able to hear the official when making announcements. We are working on a solution and hope to have this resolved for the Texas A&M game. 
• There’s Nothing Like Death Valley at Night
  • Thursday night in the Valley was a great experience, especially with the ACCN launch, College GameDay and a conference matchup. From the flyover to new signage to the Meeting at the Paw, there’s nothing quite like Memorial Stadium at night. 
• Exiting Lots 10 and 12
  • We are aware of the traffic flow issues at these lots and are actively seeking solutions, as these lots present a logistical challenge. Presently, traffic flow dictates one exit out of each. We are working with highway patrol and other sources to try to make an exit as expedient as possible. 

As always, we appreciate our fans visiting Clemson for the game, and are working diligently to present the best game experience each week. If you have further feedback about your gameday experience, let us know at fanfeedback@clemson.edu.