Pitbull Stadium set to host state high school football championships for next three years
South Florida’s top football contenders won’t have to go too far to play for a state title for the next three seasons.
After weeks of speculation and anticipation, the Florida High School Athletic Association made it official Friday, announcing that the state football championships for Classes 7A-1A will be held at Pitbull Stadium on the campus of FIU at the end of this and the next two high school football seasons.
“Creating opportunities for our student-athletes has been a top priority of ours and this facility will provide a unique and memorable football championship experience to all participating student-athletes and coaches, as well as their traveling fans,” FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon said in a press release. “We could not be more grateful for Florida International University’s efforts in making these championships a reality for the student-athletes of the State of Florida.”
This year’s games will be held from Wednesday, Dec. 11 to Saturday, Dec. 14.
The schedule begins with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Wednesday night. The other six games will be played over the following three days - two per day with kickoff times at 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The move gives Miami-Dade and Broward County teams the opportunity to potentially play in front of large crowds of their fans as happened when the state hosted the event at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale in 2021 and 2022 and at Hard Rock Stadium in 2005 and 2006 when it set an attendance records for a single-game and for an overall championship weekend.
This will be the first time the venue, then known as FIU Stadium, has hosted the state finals since 2005 and first time for Miami-Dade County since 2006. In August, FIU announced a 10-year partnership with international superstar and entrepreneur Armando Christian Pérez, better known as Pitbull.
“We are thrilled to welcome Florida’s best high school football teams and their supporters to our beautiful campus and South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium to compete for state championships over the next several years,” stated FIU Director of Athletics Scott Carr in a press release. “Pitbull Stadium is a first-of-its-kind naming rights partnership, and we expect to deliver a first-class experience to every student-athlete, coach and spectator.”
South Florida teams have been prolific at winning state championships for over a decade.
Since 2012, at least three state championships have been won by Dade or Broward teams each season including 2019 when teams from those two counties won seven of a possible eight.
The past two seasons with the state aligning teams by Metro and Suburban classifications, Dade and Broward swept the four classes in which they were placed in 2022 and three of four in 2023.
Heading into the final weeks of the regular season, Miami Central and Plantation American Heritage are top seeds in their respective classifications. Miami Columbus, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas and Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna are also all in contention to repeat as state champions.
Tickets will be $14 per game if purchased in advance and $17 the day of the games.
