A variety of sports are popular in the US state ofSouth Carolina.

College football is generally regarded as the most popular sport.^[1]Memorial Stadium andWilliams–Brice Stadium are two of the 55 largest stadiums in the world.Clemson University and theUniversity of South Carolina are both ranked in the top 27 colleges in the country in athletic revenue.^[2]Their rivalry is considered one of the best in college sports,^[3][4][5][6] and their annual football game (the Palmetto Bowl) is considered the most important sporting event in the state.^[7]

There are no major league professional franchises based in South Carolina. However, the state does have numerous minor league and lower-division (soccer) teams. Additionally, theCarolina Panthers andCharlotte FC, two major league professional teams based inCharlotte near the South Carolina border, have shown an interest in representing both of theCarolinas.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Myrtle Beach is the self-proclaimed "Golf Capital of the World", with around ninety courses.^[12] TheGrand Strand andHilton Head areas are both ranked in the top four locations in the country in golf courses per capita.^[13] The state is also a prime destination forwater sports. A government survey from 2000 found that South Carolina had the seventh mostsurfers of any state in the nation.^[14]

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

College sports — particularly college football — are very big in South Carolina. TheUniversity of South Carolina'sGamecocks andClemson University'sTigers regularly draw more than 77,000 spectators at the schools' home football games, placing them among the top fifteen schools in average attendance.^[18][19] Their rivalry is called theBattle of the Palmetto State. Clemson's football team won the national championship in 1981, 2016 and 2018. Both South Carolina's and Clemson's baseball teams are consistently ranked, with the Gamecocks winning the national title in 2010 and 2011. The South Carolinamen's andwomen's basketball teams both made the Final Four of their respective tournaments in 2017, with thewomen winning the national title. South Carolina's women's basketball team also won national titles in 2022 and 2024.

Clemson and South Carolina are the two most prominent of the state's 11NCAA Division I members. They are the only two schools that are members of the so-calledPower Five conferences, the most prominent leagues in the top level of Americancollege football, theFootball Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

The Tigers additionally have anice hockey team that competes at club level in the South Division of the Atlantic Coastal Conference.

Clemson is a charter member of theAtlantic Coast Conference, and South Carolina is in theSoutheastern Conference. TheCoastal CarolinaChanticleers are the state's newest FBS program, having completed a transition from theFootball Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2018. Coastal, whosebaseball team won theCollege World Series in2016, joined theSun Belt Conference for non-football sports the day after it won the CWS, joined Sun Belt football in 2017, and became full FBS members in 2018. Six other schools that play Division I football are full members of FCS conferences.The CitadelBulldogs,FurmanPaladins, andWoffordTerriers are all in theSouthern Conference; theCharleston SouthernBuccaneers are members of theBig South Conference; and theSouth Carolina State Bulldogs compete in theMid-Eastern Athletic Conference. ThePresbyterianBlue Hose played their final season of Big South football in 2019; they remain Big South members in non-football sports, but the football team played the 2020 season as anFCS independent before joining the single-sportPioneer Football League in 2021. Finally, three schools are full members of Division I conferences but do not sponsor football. TheCharlestonCougars compete in theColonial Athletic Association, and theUSC UpstateSpartans andWinthropEagles compete in the Big South.

South Carolina has no major professional franchise of theNFL,NHL,NBA,MLS, orMLB located in the state; however the NFL'sCarolina Panthers (based inCharlotte, North Carolina),^[8][9] the NBA'sCharlotte Hornets (based inCharlotte, North Carolina),^{[citation needed]} the NHL'sCarolina Hurricanes (based inRaleigh, North Carolina),^{[citation needed]} and MLS'Charlotte FC (based inCharlotte, North Carolina)^[20] are considered to represent both North and South Carolina. In addition, the Panthers playedtheir first season inClemson, and maintain training facilities atWofford College inSpartanburg.

The highest level of professional sports played by a team from South Carolina is theCharleston Battery, who play in theUSL Championship, the second division of theU.S. Soccer pyramid.

There are numerousminor league teams that are either based in the state, or play much of their schedule within its borders. TheCharlotte Knights, aClass 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 anew ballpark inUptown Charlotte in 2014. Currently, six teams play in the state, all at the Class A level. TheGreenville Drive andHub City Spartanburgers play in theHigh-ASouth Atlantic League, and theAugusta GreenJackets (inNorth Augusta),Charleston RiverDogs,Columbia Fireflies, andMyrtle Beach Pelicans play in theLow-ACarolina League.

For a state where natural ice is a rarity, professionalice hockey has been popular in a number of areas of the state since the 1990s. Though four teams competed at one time in South Carolina, theECHL (formerly called the East Coast Hockey League) currently oversees operations of only two franchises, theGreenville Swamp Rabbits and theSouth Carolina Stingrays. The Stingrays play in theNorth Charleston Coliseum, located inNorth Charleston.

TheCharleston Battery play professional soccer in theUSL Championship, the second division of theU.S. Soccer pyramid, which is technically not a minor league as the concept doesn't apply to the soccer tier system.^[21] The team plays in the soccer-specificPatriots Point Soccer Complex, located in Mount Pleasant. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating soccer club in the United States.Greenville Triumph SC are members ofUSL League One, a step below the Championship in the third division, and played their inaugural season in 2019. The Triumph play their home matches atPaladin Stadium.

TheAmerican Basketball Association currently oversees operations of only three semi-pro basketball franchises, theSouth Carolina Warriors which are based inMyrtle Beach, the Greenville Galaxy which are based inGreenville, and the Palmetto State Rizers which are based inColumbia.

NASCAR racing was born inthe South, and South Carolina has in the past hosted some very important NASCAR races, at theDarlington Raceway. Darlington Raceway plays host to NASCAR's Labor Day weekend classic, the Southern 500. The Truck, Xfinity Series, andCup Series cars all race at Darlington.

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.^[22] Some have hosted PGA and LGPA events in the past, but most have been designed for the casual golfer.

Hilton Head Island and Kiawah Island have several golf courses and host professional events each year. The RBC Heritage, previously known as the Heritage Classic or simply the Heritage, is a PGA Tour event held at Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. First played in 1969, it is currently held in mid-April, the week after the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

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, the signature course of theKiawah Island Golf Resort, was ranked #1 inGolf Digest magazine's "America's 50 Toughest Golf Courses"^[23] and #38 on their "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses".^[24]

Water sports are also an extremely popular activity in South Carolina. With a long coast line, South Carolina has many different beach activities such assurfing,boogie boarding,deep sea fishing, andshrimping. 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 LakesHartwell,Jocassee, andKeowee. The Midlands region also offers water-based recreation revolving around LakesMarion andMurray and such rivers as theCongaree,Saluda,Broad, andEdisto, including water skiing and swimming.

Following the rebirth ofroller derby in the early 2000s and the release of the movieWhip It, South Carolina has seen the rise of several roller derby leagues. As of 2014, there were four leagues sanctioned underWFTDA,^[25] each of which were located in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville.

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

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

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

• Sports in Columbia, South Carolina
• Sports in Sumter, South Carolina
• South Carolina Gamecocks
• Clemson Tigers

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