THE WEEKLY KICKOFF: Your weekly update on the happenings at FloridaHSFootball.com – Feb. 16, 2025

Hello fellow FloridaHSFootball.com loyal followers!

First, welcome to the first of a new series that keeps FloridaHSFootball.com community of followers updated on what is going on and what we are doing called The Weekly Kickoff.

I know it is has been a long while since I have wrote an article about the comings and goings happening here at FloridaHSFootball.com and what is going on but it is time to come to you all and provide some updates to everyone on what is going on.

Going forward usually every Sunday or Monday, I will try to provide some insights of what we are working on and what we are doing here at FlordiaHSFootball.com inside The Weekly Kickoff to provide you a picture of how we want to keep you around as a loyal fan and follower and how we can earn your trust or reestablish your trust in us.

As an independent media website, we have to evolve in many different ways and that includes looking at what is working and what is not working and evaluating those things. Sometimes, it requires us to look back on our past to learn how we can move forward into the future. We are not owned by a massive media corporation or conglomerate and have been this way for over over 15 years and we want to keep it going this way for many more years to come.

With that said, we have to have be diversified in how we earn revenue which means we have to look at how we earn revenue and look at doing so in multiple ways including through advertising, partnerships, and memberships/subscriptions among other ways we are looking to streamline revenue in an ever-changing and ever challenging world of digital media that we live in.

Inside this edition of The Weekly Kickoff:

• FloridaHSFootball.com App Removed
• Memberships Returning
• All-State Teams Releasing This Week
• Content Ideas Welcomed
• Girls Flag Football Season Kicking Off

FLORIDAHSFOOTBALL.COM APP REMOVED FROM APP STORES

At the start of the year we asked that the FloridaHSFootball.com App that we launched last year be removed from the app stores on Apple and Google. After some determination, the cost of keeping an app running along with the time it takes for maintenance was not something we could fiscally keep going.

While we hoped to have drawn more people to the app, we realized that people continued to visit the website through their mobile device and through links on social media on their mobile devices. Ultimately this defeated the purpose of the app altogether.

The service used to build the app out also had its limitations which also did not include deep linking which would have allowed users to open up links directly clicked on to the app that was downloaded on their phone. Deep linking is something that is very time consuming and is expensive and as a small business (in the eyes of the IRS, Uncle Sam, Federal Government, etc.), it becomes a cost that actually has a negative impact on us.

As such, after looking at the costs for 2025, we decided the best course of action was to step back from pushing the app and look back upon what we have done best over the years, some which we will look back on here in this article and will paint the picture of what we are doing.

Is it possible for an app to return for FlordiaHSFootball.com? I will never say never, but it has the be right moment, the right opportunity, and basically be the best for FloridaHSFootball.com for short-term and long-term growth in the ever changing pace of digital media.  

MEMBERSHIPS RETURNING

With the app gone, one thing we realized is that while we had a small following with our previous subscription/paywall option, we had a form of revenue that had seen some growth before the launch of the app. When launching the app, it forced us to dump the paywall model as Apple in particular would not allow an app to exist with a website that had a paywall model without offering a paywall option on the app directly. It was only after evaluating things heading into 2025 that told us we had actually hurt ourselves by cutting out the paywall after discovering people just were not turning to an app when they already knew how to access FloridaHSFootball.com for the last 15 years.

As such, we are returning back to having a Membership system or otherwise known as a subscription/paywall system. This time however, we are taking a very different approach to it as we are going to take on more of a magazine-style approach on this model. That means we will have two different levels of subscription, both which will be billed annually.

Season Ticket Membership

Description:
The Season Ticket gives you everything you need to stay informed and engaged with Florida high school football and girls flag football. Perfect for fans who love the game and want unlimited access to the best coverage.

What You Get:

• Unlimited Access: In-depth game recaps, rankings, and weekly previews for all the action.

• Weekly Newsletter: Get key insights and updates delivered straight to your inbox.

• Affordable Price: For less than $3.50/month, enjoy year-round coverage and exclusive articles.

Only $3.33/month*

*Membership billed annually at $39.99

Premium Season Ticket Membership

Description:
The Premium Season Ticket is designed for the ultimate fan who wants insider access, exclusive perks, and a deeper connection to the Florida high school football & girls flag football community.

What You Get:

• All Season Ticket Benefits: Unlimited access to articles, rankings, and game previews.

• Premium Podcasts: Exclusive episodes featuring expert analysis, interviews, and in-depth discussions.

• Private Community Access: Connect with other fans in our subscriber-only forums including Discord, Facebook & X (Twitter).

• Seasonal Gift: Receive a personalized gift from FloridaHSFootball.com on anniversary date of subscription (after first year).

• Exclusive Perks: Giveaways, subscriber-only polls, and more!

• Early Access to New Features: Be the first to experience new site tools, features, or content formats before anyone else.

Just only $4.99/month*

*Membership billed annually at $59.99

You can check out and view both levels of membership, along with signing up for a Season Ticket Membership or Premium Season Ticket Membership, by clicking here.

All payments will be processed via Stripe, and all members will have to sign up for a username, along with providing a mailing address for us for our records only. No members information will be sold to any third-party or use by any third-party.

ALL-STATE TEAMS RELEASING THIS WEEK

Before we get even deeper in to some of the stuff of looking back on the past and how that will help us move forward, we want to let everyone know that the All-State Teams presented by FloridaHSFootball.com is returning after a one-year hiatus.

I know that last year we did not release All-State teams for the 2023 season and the process had become complicated on top of a variety of issues both personally and with FloridaHSFootball.com. I deeply apologize for this happening and something I live with as lesson in learning things.

However, to not let the same issues keep from having All-State teams again from the 2024 season I went back to the drawing board and had several approaches I wanted to take on, but ultimately kept the selection of all-state teams in house as I reformulated the process, but before we talk about the reformulated process, we need to talk about how people will access the All-State teams.

While in years past the All-State teams have been made free to everyone, we are no longer in a position to provide the All-State teams in a free capacity. This could change in future years if we are to find a sponsor that will pay for the time, effort and research that is placed into creating the All-State Teams. The amount of hours spent and the fact it takes considerable time after going through research with available statistics, scouring over all-area/all-county teams and other data points, putting these teams together are no easy task. As such, All-State teams will be made available to those who are signed up for a Season Ticket or Premium Season Ticket membership. We apologize to all of those in advance regarding this, but this is the only way we can be compensated for the time and efforts that was put into this to make this happen. When we look at various media outlets who have put All-Area and All-County teams behind the paywall, we only feel it is fair and reasonable that we are afford the same opportunity here.

Now for the selection process and how we reformulated things…

As such, the All-State teams for the SSAA 11-Man and all eight FHSAA classifications will have first and second teams with 15 athletes selected on offense and 15 athletes selected on defense along with five more athletes selected for special teams. As such 35 athletes will be listed for first team selections and 35 more athletes for second team selections.

When it comes to honorable mention selections, there was some talk about possibly eliminating this section and I must admit in years past the honorable mention selections kind of went all over the place and there was never a consistent number of honorable mention selections. This year I decided to limit the number of honorable mention selections to 30 athletes maximum regardless of position. This is to keep things consistent and clean.

As such, the new process will allow 900 athletes to be recognized. In 2023 over 38,000 athletes participated in high school football in Florida and as such going based upon this number, only 2.4% of the athletes that played high school football in 2024 will be recognized if the numbers hold up or exceed this number for the 2024 season which will be unknown for several more months for participation surveys are released by the FHSAA.

We will be releasing our nominees for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Specialist of the Year, and Coach of the Year on our social media platforms on X (Twitter), Facebook and Instagram on Monday (tomorrow). One athlete will be named Overall Player of the Year among the nominees listed. The award winners will be named on the same day that the All-State teams are released on FloridaHSFootball.com.

Here is our schedule for All-State Teams:

Tue. Feb 18
SSAA, Class Rural, Class 1A, SSAA, Class Rural & 1A Award Winners

Wed. Feb 19
Class 2A, Class 3A, Class 2A & 3A Award Winners

Thu. Feb 20
Class 4A, Class 5A, Class 4A & 5A Award Winners

Fri. Feb 21
Class 6A, Class 7A, Class 6A & 7A Award Winners

CONTENT IDEAS WELCOME

We welcome any new content ideas you might have in mind including story ideas, games we should possibly cover, features and more. If you would like to send over your ideas, send an email to Joshua Wilson at joshua.wilson@floridahsfootball.com using “Content/Story Ideas” in the subject line.

GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL KICKS OFF THIS WEEK

Florida, the “Original OG” in Girls Flag Football kicks off this week with the regular season opening up tomorrow (Monday) around the state. As such, expect us to ramp up our coverage of girls flag football as the FHSAA has expanded the sport to four classifications with dozens of new programs launching in 2025.

Starting this week, expect to see content including daily game schedules, rankings, and daily recap reports from games around the state.

Coaches are encouraged to send us score information, stats and more by emailing Joshua Wilson at joshua.wilson@floridahsfootball.com, via X/Twitter @FlaHSFootball, or sending us a box score report at https://form.jotform.com/250467848338166. You can also send us content ideas for the season or your updated schedule to us by emailing Joshua Wilson at joshua.wilson@floridahsfootball.com.