The USC Trojans have canceled their traditional spring game this year, a USC Athletics staff member with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Annenberg Media.
USC is the third team in the Big Ten to cancel its spring game. ESPN reported that Texas and Nebraska also canceled their spring games.
The staff member said the purpose spring games used to serve will no longer exist as the game was only continued due to tradition. They said USC Athletics would instead invest that time and money back into the program in a more beneficial way.
While the spring game was in essence a more highly anticipated practice for the players, the event served as an opportunity for fan, family and alumni engagement. To replace the spring game’s festivities, USC Athletics said it would focus on alternative strategies for engagement, such as intimate practices with former players and a new event in the fall semester called “Salute to Troy.”
For the USC Athletics staff, there also was not enough of an upside to the spring game, which did not bring in revenue, and took significant time and planning to put on.
The spring game can sometimes hold more risk than reward, with a potential for athletes to get injured during a crucial time of the off-season. The cancellation is a trend that may become more common, with USC potentially being a part of a domino effect in college football taking place across the country, the staff member said.
This does not mean the team is not working to build the hype this spring, with practices slated to be more in the style of an NFL OTA (Organized Team Activity) — creating a pathway for increased social media content.
The Trojans will have 15 early admits taking part in the spring practice, including two five-star recruits out of the 2025 class, quarterback Husan Longstreet and defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart.
The Trojans will also have 12 players from the transfer portal and one junior college transfer, running back Waymond Jordan.
Lincoln Riley is entering his fourth season as USC’s head coach despite having an unexpectedly rough past two seasons. Spring practice is slated to begin in March, though an official schedule has yet to be released.
This is a developing story.