What a night! Last Friday I attended a high school game at Sun Life Stadium, formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium. While this stadium hosted FHSAA State Championship games a few years ago, I had never attended a regular season high school game at this venue. How exciting! The same place that has hosted multiple Super Bowls and BCS Title Games among other things. When I arrived at the stadium, I expected the experience to be quite similar to the several high school games I attended at the no longer existing Orange Bowl Stadium. I was wrong.
At the Orange Bowl, fans sat in the lower bowl and only had the benefit of watching a game with better acoustics and seeing a better-groomed field compared with other high school stadiums. Sun Life Stadium, on the other hand, pulled out all of the bells and whistles. All players ran through the Miami Dolphins inflatable tunnel, starting offensive and defensive players were announced individually like an NFL team, and that was just the beginning. The jumbotron showed the entire game live and provided instant replay.
While the event was wonderful for all participants that spoke with me, the question may become feasibility. Only 5,189 attended the game which included people in the general admission and suites. General Admission costs $15 and sitting in a suite costs $25 for this game and that did not include the parking fee. Saturday, September 8, Sun Life Stadium will host two other high school teams. This time Booker T. Washington and Miami Central will take the field. According to the press release I received, General Admission will cost only $12 and parking will be free. I hope this event is the beginning of a long-term arrangement with this first-class facility.
You can follow Adam Kosnitzky on twitter at @akosnitzky
