No camp season means a financial hit for some Gamecocks. Roughly how it breaks down

South Carolina’s indoor football facility should be full of people this time of year.

High school players, coaches, Gamecocks staffers and families are usually scattered across the fields by the hundreds, running drills, getting measured, maybe learning a little something from the USC staff — and maybe, just maybe, catching the eye of a would-be future coach. The same would be true at the basketball practice facility or Founders Park.

But the coronavirus pandemic wiped out camp season. In addition to the lost chances for athletes, parents saved a good bit of money, which meant school employees not receiving the same cash intake it expected. It’s not the school that actually loses the revenue, though; it’s the companies — such as Will Muschamp Camps & Clinics Inc. or Frank Martin Enterprises LLC — that missed out.

A breakdown provided by the university via an open records request by The State shed some light on how much money the camps made last year.

According to South Carolina senior associate athletics director for administration Chris Rogers, the coach’s companies have to submit payroll information to make sure everything is in order. (Current players are among those who work the camps.) They also submit how many campers are there each day, with each costing the camp company a dollar a day in facility use fees — multiply the cost to attend by number of attendees to get a ballpark figure for overall revenue.

All told, the 12 sports camps run by Gamecocks coaches created at least $892,892.38 in revenue in 2019.

Women’s basketball had 830 campers, with a ballpark of $125,264 in revenue. Two other sports topped the six-figure mark in football ($103,764) and baseball ($101,462). Women’s soccer initially pulled in more than $100,000 in revenue, but also paid out almost $14,000 in refunds.

The school also brought in $15,973 via the facility fees.

The finer points of how the payroll is divided up remains opaque. A flat number is given at the end, though it should account for paying student-athletes, coaches, staffers and potentially even individuals who are working the camp but not employed by the university.

“There are some coaches that run their camps and the coaches don’t take any income,” Rogers explained. “It’s all going to the people that work at the camp.

“There’s other coaches that run the camp, and they take ‘X’ percentage and then they pay the rest to everybody else who’s working the camp.”

In some situations, the camps supplement the incomes of more lightly paid assistants, most notably the volunteer assistant baseball coaches.

In terms of the difference between projected income (cost multiplied by campers) and payroll plus facility cost, baseball led the way with $89,278 across 10 camps ranging from one to five days. Swimming was at $84,484, with five camps of three or four days; and women’s soccer came in at $73,146 before its refunds ($59,226 after).

All told, it’s not the biggest worry for athletic departments, as the threat of losing money and cutting jobs or salaries remain pressing. But for some coaches, that’s real money, and for some players it’s a little extra pocket change.

And taken all together, across 12 sports and thousands of campers, it adds up to a lot.

Financial outlines of 2019 camp seasons

This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 6:12 AM with the headline "No camp season means a financial hit for some Gamecocks. Roughly how it breaks down."

Ben Breiner

The State

Covers the South Carolina Gamecocks, primarily football, with a little basketball, baseball or whatever else comes up. Joined The State in 2015. Previously worked at Muncie Star Press and Greenwood Index-Journal. Picked up feature writing honors from the APSE, SCPA and IAPME at various points. A 2010 University of Wisconsin graduate. Support my work with a digital subscription