MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Following Cumberland Valley High School's first-ever football championship weekend, the PIAA says the event was extremely successful.
Across the six championship games, the PIAA sold 15,729 tickets to the football state championships at Cumberland Valley. The PIAA says there was an increase in attendance to the games, and paid attendance was about the same as 2021.
The difference in ticket sale revenue to the PIAA is due to profit sharing between the host site and the PIAA. In past years, Hersheypark Stadium took a percentage of ticket revenue as a site host fee. Cumberland Valley did not receive any of the ticket revenue in 2022, per the school district's agreement with the PIAA.
For 24 years, the PIAA host football state championships at Hersheypark Stadium, but chose to move the event to Cumberland Valley High School from 2022-25. The move was shocking to some in the football community, due to the longevity of the event in Hershey.
The PIAA said the decision to move to Cumberland Valley was due to upgraded facilities, overall cost to host the events, and the location.
“I always thought this would be a great centrally located place to host the state championships,” said Cumberland Valley Athletic Director Mike Craig when the decision was made.
The Eagles won the bid to host the PIAA state championships due to their upgraded facilities, including an indoor turf field, and the installation of turf at Chapman Field. Cumberland Valley said they were eager for the chance to host more state championships after hosting the team wrestling, swim & dive, and volleyball state championships.
“It really is nice to be wanted,” said PIAA Executive Director Dr. Bob Lombardi. “To be wanted by a school that’s a member of our association is very, very important.”
PIAA will pay Cumberland Valley just 2,600 dollars to host each year of football championships.
Full interview with Dr. Lombardi
The PIAA also shared that field hockey state championships had record attendance. Across the three games on the Cumberland Valley campus, the PIAA sold over 2,000 tickets.
The boys and girls soccer, girls volleyball, field hockey and football state championships will be at Cumberland Valley until 2025. The bid process to host the games is open every four years.
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