Finals Thoughts

[181pl]

I got to watch 3 or 4 games and congrats to the winners. Couldn’t watch Lakeland v Venice bc of Christmas party but followed on score stream.

Chaminade is probably the class of the state.

Columbus looked good. BP looked good. If Homestead could kick a FG most of us on here would be celebrating. 

lakeland and mainland won classics.

Bradford was tough and played Cocoa fairly close. 

 

looking forward to things going back to normal next year with seven classes and that open division will make teams like Chaminade and St. Thomas earn titles (although this year was probably the year to get STA) Should be interesting.

[BigBoyBall]

I wonder how much money FHSAA really made by placing this in Tallahassee? The crowds looked smaller, and why can't we just keep it in central Florida between Orlando (universal and WD) and Tampa (BG and Island) so it can be a family outing?

[Nulli Secundus]

42 minutes ago, BigBoyBall said:

I wonder how much money FHSAA really made by placing this in Tallahassee? The crowds looked smaller, and why can't we just keep it in central Florida between Orlando (universal and WD) and Tampa (BG and Island) so it can be a family outing?

Part of that is a desire to not only host, but bid competitively if multiple applications for sites are offered.

[DarterBlue2]

3 hours ago, BigBoyBall said:

I wonder how much money FHSAA really made by placing this in Tallahassee? The crowds looked smaller, and why can't we just keep it in central Florida between Orlando (universal and WD) and Tampa (BG and Island) so it can be a family outing?

The crowds were smaller. But this has been a trend. There are a number of reasons for the decline in attendance. A few follow:

1. The overall cost of attending the games relative to incomes. High school football games are generally attended by friends and family of the players and rabid fans. It's generally not supported by the kind of individual that attends the college game, let alone the NFL. Most of these individuals are low income.
2. The demise of small town teams making the finals. Back in the day, a number of the state championship games, regardless of classification, consisted of battles which had at least one representative from a small town or semi rural area (Bartow, Suwanee. Sarasota, Belle Glades, etc.). Fans from those areas tended to attend high school football finals. Often, literally the whole town would make the trip to support the local team.
3. The rise of the super team. When three, four and five peat teams become the norm, as they have, attendance diminishes. No one wants to watch a game where the result isn't in doubt. And even the fans of the dominant team get bored and start to not attend.
4. The cost of attending versus watching a quality broadcast from home. 
5. Despite having some of the best players in the entire nation, Florida fans, due to a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that so many residents are recent transplants, just don't support the game the way they do in: Georgia, Alabama, Texas, etc. This is just a sad reality.

Even in a central location such as Orlando, attendance had been dwindling over the years. The move to Tallahassee this year, probably accounted for a percentage of the decline, but we were already heading in that direction. The irony is that this year's championship games were very competitive with the exception of the Chaminade blowout and actually very cheap to attend if you excluded travel costs. Each game cost only $20 which included parking. And if you bought your tickets the day before, $17, including parking. Moreover, if you were willing to stay in the stadium between games (about a two hour wait), you were not asked to leave. Therefore, for the princely sum of $51, you could have watched the entire nine games if you were willing to put up with a little inconvenience.  At $51, for the mathematically challenged, that amounts to less than $6 a game including parking which is less than the cost of attending a regular game today in most parts of the state. In some cases, a lot less. 

From a competitive standpoint, this may be the best games I have ever attended. I only got to watch the last six games (Friday and Saturday) as I had personal matters to attend to on Thursday. I was more than happy with the size of the stadium, which was adequate; the quality of the field, which was artificial turf; and the parking which was right next to the stadium with four ways to enter and exit which minimized bottlenecks entering and leaving. 

In recent times, the best attended games were held in Daytona Beach at the municipal stadium where BCU plays its home games. But the reason for the large attendance was to a degree a one off. 1. There were three Orlando area teams in the finals: Apopka, Edgewater and Jones. The trip from Orlando is about 45 miles, so it was not much of a hike for Orlando area fans to make it. 2. Miami Northwestern was in the finals. The Bulls fans, to their credit, always travel well. But for parking issues, and the overall management of the games played there, Daytona Beach may have represented the best place to have the finals. The stadium size was adequate and the venue was centrally located. 

As I make the move to life elsewhere, Florida high school football will always be a very fond memory in my heart. I was blessed to be an Apopka fan during the period of the school's greatest success. My interest in the game at this level started in 1998 when a neighbor's son was on the Dr. Phillips roster. He looked up to me as an "alternate parent" and nagged me to come watch DP play from the beginning of the season that year. I told him if the team won its first five games I would attend game six. They did and I kept my promise and was hooked from there on. It helped that in 1999 my first son began high school and that in 2001 when Apopka won its first state title both my sons attended high school there. 

 

[Jullian]

On 12/10/2023 at 8:04 AM, 181pl said:

I got to watch 3 or 4 games and congrats to the winners. Couldn’t watch Lakeland v Venice bc of Christmas party but followed on score stream.

 

 

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Chaminade is probably the class of the state.

 

 

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Columbus looked good. BP looked good. If Homestead could kick a FG most of us on here would be celebrating. 

lakeland and mainland won classics.

Bradford was tough and played Cocoa fairly close. 

 

looking forward to things going back to normal next year with seven classes and that open division will make teams like Chaminade and St. Thomas earn titles (although this year was probably the year to get STA) Should be interesting.

Lol!!!! Make St Thomas & Chaminade earn titles???? Wow. Glad the Aquinas haters didn’t get to come on here & celebrate. Well that’s every year, I guess. The final score will always be the bottom line. Woulda, coulda, Shoulda, if & but have never beaten AQUINAS!   The FG kicker never had the chance, the arrogant coach took away any chance for victory with his dumb decisions. 

[Manatee Magic]

I know our attendance looks awfully light.  There was a time in the 90s when if we had a home playoff game, it was pretty darn crowded.  Now the place is like half-empty.  Even the band is like 1/4th the size it used to be.  The magic is GONE.

[DarterBlue2]

10 minutes ago, Manatee Magic said:

I know our attendance looks awfully light.  There was a time in the 90s when if we had a home playoff game, it was pretty darn crowded.  Now the place is like half-empty.  Even the band is like 1/4th the size it used to be.  The magic is GONE.

For now. But things run in cycles. Manatee has talent in the area. If you rebuild it, they will come. 

[muckboy561]

On 12/10/2023 at 11:19 PM, BigBoyBall said:

I wonder how much money FHSAA really made by placing this in Tallahassee? The crowds looked smaller, and why can't we just keep it in central Florida between Orlando (universal and WD) and Tampa (BG and Island) so it can be a family outing?

Keep it in Tallahassee lol I live down the street from FAMU

[Nulli Secundus]

11 minutes ago, muckboy561 said:

Keep it in Tallahassee lol I live down the street from FAMU

So did my grandparents on Osceola St.

[Dr. D]

Some comments made in the meeting by the FHSAA Executive Director definitely led me to believe that the Finals are going back to Tallahassee next year. 

[Nulli Secundus]

1 hour ago, Dr. D said:

Some comments made in the meeting by the FHSAA Executive Director definitely led me to believe that the Finals are going back to Tallahassee next year. 

Agreed based on how FAMU's graduation schedule was mentioned.

[nolebull813]

1 hour ago, Dr. D said:

Some comments made in the meeting by the FHSAA Executive Director definitely led me to believe that the Finals are going back to Tallahassee next year. 

Horrible. So South Florida supplies most of the teams and has to drive 7 hours to play. 

[muckboy561]

19 hours ago, Nulli Secundus said:

So did my grandparents on Osceola St.

Ok I live on the same street where they have the haunted house. 

[Dan in Daytona]

On 12/12/2023 at 6:28 PM, Nulli Secundus said:

Agreed based on how FAMU's graduation schedule was mentioned.

Never use FAMU and graduation in the same sentence, it's an oxymoron.....Happy Holidays, Snake.

[muckboy561]

On 12/12/2023 at 6:25 PM, Dr. D said:

Some comments made in the meeting by the FHSAA Executive Director definitely led me to believe that the Finals are going back to Tallahassee next year. 

Yes!!!!

[flabuck]

What is often overlooked in the grand scheme of things, like it or not the FHSAA has to operate as a business. Without having access to the books and looking in from afar the football championship weekend does not look like a highly profitable weekend in its current form and location.

This year the entire state could watch the games due to Bally's signing a rights deal, we have no idea how much money was exchanged. Bally's parent company is having deep financial issues and I doubt the contract was a huge payout to the FHSAA. In some respects it may have been a way to appease those Floridians that are not serviced by Spectrum or wanted to pay by the game. It did give Bally's three full days of programming for that day and replays to fill other schedule voids.

Looking in from afar, I didn't see large numbers of people in the stands, you have very limited revenue when the teams involved are so far from the game site.  This in some respect it  ties into the tv deal, how many south Floridians are going to travel all the way to FAMU when they can stay home and watch it on Ballys. The stands often looked  like a family and friends crowd. I know some schools set up charter busses for students, that is a cost that has to be paid somehow.

Here is where the money comes in, there are a lot of costs per team involved with transportation / lodging being the main one. You not only have the expenses of 18 teams but you have the expenses for nine sets of game officials,  Lowering the number from nine games to seven may be enough to make the balance sheet look much better.

As a long term solution I have to wonder if the FHSAA has ever considered creating its own site to own and operate somewhere in the Gainesville area. They could contest many high school tournaments at such a site, rent it out for other events. They could build a 10-12,000 seat stadium . As a comparison the stadium where the finals where held in Ft. Lauderdale was 19,000 seats and even with local teams playing the stadium did not sell out. As a comparison Traz Powell in Miami holds 10,000 and it would be aboutthe right size.  From what I have read they are having a difficult time finding sites to bid on hosting the event, your own facility eliminates those issues and the FSHAA has control of the event.

[Dr. D]

Just watching the Texas 6A-1 championship game between Duncanville and North Shore at AT&T Stadium (JerryWorld); looks like the lower bowls are pretty full, so I'm guessing between 40-50,000 in attendance, which is not uncommon for the larger classes in Texas over their championship weekend.  Guess the FHSAA can only dream of a scenario like that.  A lot has been discussed on this board about the decline in interest/attendance in Florida, so I won't belabor those points.  However, I do like the idea of an FHSAA-owned facility.  Maybe they could partner with the city of Gainesville, since I have heard the public facility in Gainesville is not in great shape.  Maybe in exchange for a 30-year commitment to hold the championships in Gainesville.  Sounds good in theory, but, sadly, never happening.