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Single-site football championships on their way? Will there be a 6A?
SAN ANTONIO — When UIL athletic director Charles Breithaupt met with the media today, it wasn’t all about steroids. (Just most of it).
There actually were a couple of other notable topics that arose, the most interesting of which were the concept of creating a 6A and a potential future of single sites for football state championship games.
First, regarding 6A: Breithaupt said that, at the moment, the idea has been tossed around, with the perceived benefit being an equitable balance of around 200 schools in each classification. But he also admitted that right now there aren’t enough schools to make it work, and that it would probably create some travel headaches. (Though less so than a Division I/Division II setup).
I have no real strong feeling about the potential of creating a 6A. If that were to happen, however, I would offer the suggestion of going back to one football state title per classification. It’ll never happen, but a guy can dream.
Incidentally, it was good to hear Breithaupt say that in the wake of a fourth playoff team in 4A, he doesn’t envision any future playoff changes in the near future.
“if we let many more teams in, we’re going to have to let everybody in,” Breithaupt said, “and I can tell you that no one on our (UIL) staff wants that.”
Then the single site issue arose, and while it didn’t garner as much discussion as steroids, it wasn’t too far behind. Breithaupt championed how well the single site concept has worked in Class 5A, and he brought up some good points. Namely, the fact that the single-day, single-site setup allows for a TV broadcast of both championship games, which “helps grow the sport,” Breithaupt said.
He also made the comment that the UIL is able to broker a better financial deal with big stadiums like the Alamodome or Reliant Stadium — site of this year’s 5A title games — than individual schools would. He added that the coaches who have participated in those 5A state title games the last two years appreciated not having to worry about setting up a playoff site for once.
However, that’s all well and good, but many other coaches have been vocal in their opposition, including the directors of the THSCA. One of their primary concerns is travel. For instance, let’s say for argument’s sake that Waco High and Killeen met in the 4A Division I title game, which could (on paper) happen since the Lions are in Region II and the Kangaroos are in Region IV.
If a preset 4A site were in place in, say, San Antonio, it wouldn’t make a lick of sense to bypass a more natural site (like Temple’s Wildcat Stadium) just so the rest of the state can watch on TV.
Breithaupt at one point said the single-site setup is “good for the fans,” but in the preceding example (and others like it), I’d say it’s not.
At any rate, given how much the UIL seems to like the idea and since Class 4A now has four playoff teams per district like their 5A brethren, you can bet more single sites are on their way.
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By Kent
July 29, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
Other states have dealt with this sort of thing before.
Oregon recently went to 6A and it has FAR fewer high schools than Texas. The big downside to doing so is that it will break up a lot of historic and natural pairings and increase travel distances. Remember, even though this is Texas, it isn’t just football that is affected. Every sport from cross country to volleyball will be affected.
As for single sites? As I recall, in Washington they hold all the state championships in a single stadium on a single day. Usually at the Seahawks stadium. Starting with 1A around noon and ending with 5A in the evening. Football fans can literally OD on HS football.
The kids and fans also like playing in the big stadiums. If Waco and Killeen were playing in the state final, they’d be much more psyched about playing in one of the big pro stadiums, even if it meant driving farther.
Weather is also a factor. I went to a lot of the China Spring playoff games last year. The final two games against Cuero and Celina were absolutely bitter cold nights in mid-December. Scheduling mid-December night games in the Alamo Dome or in Houston does make some sense for the fans and players, even if the drive is longer.
By Robert
August 2, 2008 9:40 PM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
If Waco had a domed stadium it would have a chance to snag the state games every year. Waco is the most Central part of the state.
I was hoping Baylor would build a dome stadium on the river…… that way they could also go after all the state games.
They could even go as far to use the old Baylor stadium for 4-A finals and Waco ISD for 3-A finals all in the same weekend.
What a boost for Waco if that could happen…. it’s a dream tho.
By Kent
August 4, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse
A domed football stadium along the river? Makes absolutely no sense to me. Baylor plays afternoon games in the fall. This is perhaps the perfect climate in which to watch afternoon games on warm Saturday afternoons in October. Domes make sense in places like Minneapolis for football and Seattle and Phoenix for baseball. But not Waco for football. Late season college games are almost always afternoon games and the average Saturday afternoon weather in early December is pretty reasonable. It’s only the Friday night games in December when it can get really cold. A domed stadium would never in a million years pay for itself based on the occasional HS football playoff game.
In any event, Midway is about to embark on a $10+ million dollar stadium expansion. A remodeled Midway stadium should be the perfect venue for regional playoff games. From what I understand, the expanded Midway stadium should end up being about like the concrete Waco ISD stadium on the home side, with extensive Aluminum bleachers on the visitor’s side. Certainly large enough for regional 3A playoff games.
If the city of Waco wants to build a new stadium along the Brazos, I’d highly recommend a minor league baseball stadium. Football stadiums get used about 6-8 times/year. Baseball stadiums get used about 80 times/year. A minor league baseball stadium would bring people downtown on a far more regular basis and would be a much better anchor for additional shops and restaurants. A few weeks ago I was in Corpus Christi and the new Whataburger Field minor league stadium is a real gem
http://www.baseballparks.com/Corpus.asp
It’s much more realistic to expect that Waco could put a first class minor league stadium right down on the Brazos. And it would add much more to the city than simply moving the Baylor Football team 5 miles north.