4 Things the FHSAA Can Do to Improve the Florida HS Football Championships
By: Chad Wilson – Editor GridironStuds Blog
Twitter: @GridironStuds
We all know the passion that exists for football in the state of Florida. With that said, attendance to football games in the great state for football would have outsiders wondering just how much passion is there. High School football games rarely sell out in the state and our state championship games in the Orlando’s Citrus Bowl resemble the attendance at a game for an 0-13 NFL football team playing in the snow.
On my Football Friday GridironStuds Show on 12.11.15, I told my audience of the attendance to the state of Texas Class 5A division 1 football game between Allen and Pearland High School in 2013. That staggering number was 54,347 and was greater than several bowl games that year. Here are the figures from some of the other games during that championship weekend:
- Texas Class 4A Division II championship: 33,745
Texas Class 5A Division II championship: 30,285
Texas Class 3A Division II championship: 22,071
Texas Class 4A Division I championship: 20,142
Not too shabby. We all know the immense passion that exists for high school football in the state of Texas. It is perhaps the leader in the country for high school football game attendance. You can argue that it is unfair to compare any other state to Texas when it comes to attendance however, why not compare yourself to the best, especially when we are talking about Florida and we are talking about football.
On estimation, the State of Florida high school football championships draws about 4,000 per game. So the total attendance for all eight games combined on each year will be 32,000. Again, I will refer you to the single game numbers I posted for the Texas games above. Doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy inside does it?
While we may not be able to equal the fan passion for high school football in Florida that they have in Texas, there are definitely some steps the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) can take to improve the attendance to the championship games.
Here are 4 Things the FHSAA can do to improve attendance to the high school football championship games
1. Put All Eight Championship Games Into One Weekend
Currently the state of Florida divides it’s championships into two separate weekends. Class 1A-4A on one weekend then Class 5A-8A the following weekend. This makes it extremely difficult for some interested parties to attend games that may occur in separated classifications. A person or family from Miami who has a relative playing for Booker T., who is in class 4A , may also be interested in seeing Miami Central play the 6A championship game. For that person to do so they would have to drive to Orlando on one weekend watch Booker T. then drive three hours back to Miami only to rinse and repeat the following weekend. Such plans are a deterrent for sure. Instead, Florida should consider what Texas does with their championships. While Texas has 12 different division champions to crown, thus making it impossible to do it all in one weekend, they do compile 10 of those 12 championship games into one weekend starting on Thursday. In Texas, class 1A which includes two divisions is 6-man football. Classes 2A up to 6A, which is split into two divisions each, is traditional 11 on 11 football. Texas plays class 2A through 6A Championships all in one weekend.
Here’s a proposal for the state of Florida
Class 1A: Thursday 4 PM
Class 2A: Thursday 8 PM
Class 3A: Friday 12 PM
Class 4A: Friday 4 PM
Class 5A: Friday 8 PM
Class 6A: Saturday 12 PM
Class 7A: Saturday 4 PM
Class 8A: Saturday 8 PM
For those who love their jobs so much and can’t take two days off of work, the following schedule may be more appealing.
Class 1A: Friday 10 AM
Class 2A: Friday 1 PM
Class 3A: Friday 4 PM
Class 4A: Friday 8 PM
Class 5A: Saturday 10 AM
Class 6A: Saturday 1 PM
Class 7A: Saturday 4 PM
Class 8A: Saturday 8 PM
Yes, this means that the Class 1A – 4A teams would have one week off before playing their championship games because of the 16 team brackets but is that such a bad thing? At least this way there are no separate trips, hotels and weekends for the fans. This makes it much easier for them to attend games other than the ones their relatives are playing in. Surely this would increase attendance. This would also make the state championships an event as opposed to just another game. It would be more exciting to know you can go one weekend and see two, three or more games and view some of the best talent in all of the country.
2. Change the Single Game Pricing to One Day Pricing
Currently, when you attend the championships in Orlando, you pay $12 to view a game. Upon completion of that game, you must exit the stadium and if you are interested in seeing the next game that day, you must pay an additional $12 to re-enter the stadium to view it. Come on now! We are talking high school football, not the polo championships. Football is a middle to lower class sport. Asking a single individual to pay $24 bucks or a family of three to layout $96 to see two football games is not the most intelligent thing to do from a business standpoint. Without a doubt, that is a deterrent to viewing a second game. Most people will just say to heck with it, get in their car and hit the road. Now, the state is missing a chance to squeeze a hot dog, hamburger and soda out of each individual that put the Chevy on the highway. You have a better chance of getting concession funds from a patron than money for game tickets. The payment to re-enter just seems like a smack in the face. It’s not a necessity to buy that game ticket but the hamburger at halftime of the second game I stayed for is.
If the FHSAA is so concerned about a loss of revenue which I really think they should not be, raise the price from $12 to $15 and tack an extra dollar or two onto the cost to park on the stadium grounds. A consumer would be more willing to pay those dollars knowing they can view two, three or possibly four games during that day. The state of Texas does this. It costs $15 per day to enter the stadium and once you are in you can view as many games that day as you like. Heck human nature says that once you plant your butt in a seat, it’s hard to get out of it. Folks may just stay just for the heck of it. Again, you will get more concession sales when that happens too.
This type of pricing also adds to the event type feel of the state championships. I can see people saying “Are you going to Championship Weekend?” Turn the games and the weekend into an event like the SEC Championship Weekend I just attended in Atlanta. The FHSAA could also consider offering the tickets to each day of the event at a reduced price if you buy online. This guarantees you the money. A person who bought a ticket in advance is going to make sure to show up too. You can even offer pricing plans for two and three day attendance. A three day pass to Florida State Championship Weekend would be a hot commodity in years to come.
3. Get the Games Back On A Larger Network than Brighthouse Sports
I don’t know who’s cousin works for Brighthouse Network but it seems completely bush league to me for the championship games to be broadcast on a station that really only serves the Orlando area. Oh by the way, Orlando also happens to be the city where the games are played. I’m going to stop short of calling that asinine. Folks in the panhandle and South Florida who can not make it to Orlando are forced to pay $6.95 to Brighthouse so that it can be live streamed on the computers they may or may not have in their homes. Again, this is a deterrent. Someone go tell Brighthouse to go dominate the broadcasting rights to local Orlando high school tennis matches and leave the state football championships alone. Florida looks foolish to the rest of the nation under this current situation. In fact, folks who stay home get to become interested in Georgia, California and Massachusetts football because that’s what Fox is able to show the Xfinity and U-verse customers. Those customers make up a larger majority of the state. Get the championships back to Fox Sports. Not only can more people view it on television in Florida, you may get folks outside of Florida to see the great athletes playing the game in our state. By viewing it on TV, it may entice folks to attend in person in future years. Need I remind the people of the FHSAA that the NFL really took off when it’s games started getting broadcasted on television? Get us out of this Brighthouse Network nightmare ASAP!
4. Market the Championships as an Event Weekend and Lure More Casual Fans to the Games
I just recently attended the SEC Championship Weekend in Atlanta. It was more than just a game. It was an entire weekend of football that marketed the Southeastern Conference and the two schools involved. This is exactly what should be done in Florida. Plan and host events during the weekend. Invite Florida high school football legends to the city for the festivities. Find some way to honor those famous players who are are retired from the NFL or had great college football careers. Perhaps you have an award banquet that week to honor the top players in the state.. If these things happen to be too much because the games are being played all day then set up booths and pavilions outside of the stadium with interesting people and activities. Ask the network with the broadcasting rights to film these events and give them some airtime. Ask corporations to sponsor some of the events and activities. Use this weekend and the games to promote anything that the state thinks should be of interest to the citizens of Florida (i.e. education, Lotto, sports, politics, etc.). The possibilities are limitless.
We could be doing so much more but the current set up we have in Florida for our championship games is screaming for people not to attend. The young men on those football fields have worked so hard and have made far too many sacrifices to have to run out to sparse crowds littered throughout monstrous venues. Florida high school football players deserve to be cheered for just as loud as Texas and Georgia high school football players and the coaches deserve to be compensated as generously as the coaches from those states too but that’s a whole different article.



aforementioned Sands who went on to have an all star career for Kansas and once held the NCAA single game rushing record with 396 yards. Kincade has the same kind of potential that Sands had. When you watch Kincade’s film you quickly notice how he attacks the defense with no hesitation. There is little wasted motion in the back field and no excessive cuts at the second level. Kincade’s vision allows him to baffle defenders who have a bead on him and his powerful frame allows him to slip through the fingers of those who manage to get a hand on him.
By: Chad Wilson – Editor GridironStuds Blog
but our coach, the legendary George Allen, was making strides towards changing that. Our ride through the streets of the LBC (Snoop Dogg voice) took us through a big parking lot and off in the distance I saw what figured to be a high school football stadium as it only had stands on one side. I followed high school football pretty closely and was wondering which one of the teams in Long Beach played there. Senior cornerback Oliver Thompson was sitting next to me on the team bus, so I asked him, “Aye, who plays there?” pointing to the stadium in the distance. “We do,” he responded. I brushed off that answer because the guys on this team were known for playing games so much so that they had coined a phrase called “clownin”. “Dog, stop playing, who plays there?” I asked again. “I’m trying to tell you, we play in there,” he replied obviously amused by whatever look I had on my face. I took his smile while answering as another session of clownin the freshman. “Oh, alright, you feel like playing today,” I replied and left it alone. We continued our drive in the direction of the stadium and upon reaching it, came to a stop and players starting getting up. “What the $#@?” I thought still sitting in my seat waiting for the bus to continue on. “Get your rookie #@$ up,” O.T. (Oliver Thompson) said. This was our stadium? This is where we play? It was a punch in the gut. I made my way into the locker room (term used loosely) and observed only hooks on the wall for our belongings. I swallowed hard, got dressed and made my way out to the field where I was dealt the knockout blow. When I exited the tunnel to the field I observed a street like area in the distance with cars moving around. I had seen this scene before. Dammit man, I was at that school that I saw on TV two years ago and said I would never play for. I imagine this was the feeling the Kardashians had when Bruce said he was going all Caitlyn on them.
By: Chad Wilson – Editor GridironStuds Blog
By: Chad Wilson
By Chad Wilson
win streak was never and has never been done again. The on the field antics and bravado was unique. The dominance on the field was unique. The amount of NFL talent was unique and the city of Miami was unique. On my way into the University of Miami in 1992, we were called together for a team meeting by officials for the NCAA who showed a video tape of things that would no longer be allowed in college football. The video depicted 10 clips from college football and roughly 6 to 7 of those clips were of Miami Hurricanes celebrating on the field. The NCAA rules committee thought this was unacceptable. Three years later, on my way out of Miami in 1994, the NCAA had reigned down on us with sanctions and then Miami Herald reporter Dan Le Betard published an article in Sports Illustrated stating why the University of Miami should cancel their football team. LeBatard built his now successful career on that article. My point is that after a decade of dominance, people were tired of seeing Miami prosper. Miami was now under attack. It was as if someone out there studied Miami and thought, how can we stop this from happening. Step one, take away their swag so start penalizing them for their celebrations. Second, go down there and find some dirt on them. Basically, find them doing things that every other major college football program is doing and nail them for it. The deconstruction of Miami football dominance had begun.
While college football was growing at a rapid rate and college football teams were busy imitating the most dominant program in the game, Miami was trying to climb out of the NCAA sanctions hole that it was in from 1995-1998. It was as if someone had come out on the track and pulled on Miami’s shorts during a race and allowed the others in the race to catch up. With one last diabolical plan and college football still in the infancy of it’s current boom, Miami was able to break free of the shorts hold and sprint the finish line furiously. Butch Davis creatively accumulated talent while tap dancing through the loopholes in the sanctions. Inspired and angered by the NCAA slap down, talent made it’s way to Miami. What was created was the most awesome gathering of football talent in college football history that flexed it’s muscle in 2001 in a way few have ever seen. Miami had climbed the ladder to the top again but how much energy did they use to get there?