Could Indiana high school football championships move sites? Share your thoughts
· Yahoo Sports
In 1984, the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis and began their long tenure at the Hoosier Dome.
When construction began in 1982 on the Hoosier Dome, it was intended to lure an NFL team to the Hoosier State. On March 29, 1984, the Colts moved, and two months later, the stadium opened.
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That year was also the first year that high school football state championships were played in the state at an NFL venue. For the next 23 years, those championship games were played at the Hoosier Dome, later renamed the RCA Dome in 1994.
After construction was finished on Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008, the games were then moved there and have remained at the site since.
However, with rumors of the Chicago Bears moving to Hammond in the northwestern part of the state and the potential for Indiana to host two professional football stadiums, is there any chance the championship games could move or be rotated?
Illinois' current state championship host site(s)
The Bears also don't host the Illinois football state championship games. Soldier Field has never hosted the IHSA state championships, and the games are currently played at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.
Illinois is a state that rotates the location of the championship games.
Illinois State will host the games from 2023 to 2027, and previously hosted them from 1974 to 1998. Other sites have included Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois (1999-2022), Northern Illinois' Huskie Stadium (2013-2021, odd years), and Northwestern's Dyche Stadium (1980-1984, Classes 5A and 6A).
Last season, a winter storm in November forced multiple sites to host. Classes 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A played at Hanock Stadium on Friday, November 28, while the 5A and 6A games were played the following Tuesday. Huskie Stadium played host to the 7A and 8A championships on December 3.
Different corners of the state
One of the biggest draws and reasons for the RCA Dome and then Lucas Oil Stadium being the host site for the football state championships is the location.
Not only is Indianapolis right in the middle of the state, but the stadium is also in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. Some states play their state championships at college sites, but with colleges such as Ball State, Indiana, Indiana State, Notre Dame, and Purdue scattered throughout the state, the IHSAA has maintained a centralized site.
Hammond is nearly 160 miles and 2.5 hours from downtown Indianapolis. While schools in the northern half of Indiana likely would find the commute to Hammond more manageable, the rest of the state would be a different story.
In addition to being home to the Colts and the IHSAA state championships, Lucas Oil Stadium has hosted numerous concerts and other sporting events.
In 2012, Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl, every year it's where the NFL Scouting Combine is held, the Big Ten Football Championship has been played at Lucas Oil Stadium every year since 2011, the 2025 Royal Rumble, four Final Fours, the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, and in 2022, the College Football Playoff National Championship was played in the stadium.
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