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.

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• Lawmakers: FHSAA needs change
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