Super 7 expands
- Updated: November 13, 2019
AHSAA brings Birmingham’s new Protective Life Stadium into championship rotation beginning 2021
From AHSAA office
MONTGOMERY — When the state’s best football teams start talking about where they want to finish their seasons in the next couple years they will have another venue to consider.
The future of the AHSAA’s Super 7 state high school football championships has been set for 2021-2032, pending final approvals in process from the AHSAA and community partners, adding UAB’s new Protective Life Stadium in downtown Birmingham to the traditional venues at Auburn and Alabama.
The new structure continues the tradition of using the state’s premier football venues as the backdrop for teams in all seven AHSAA classifications to compete for their football state title each year.
“It is with great pride that we announce the continuation of Super 7 for 2021-2032 and our partnership with the communities of Auburn-Opelika, Tuscaloosa, and now Birmingham,” AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said. “The communities of Auburn-Opelika and Tuscaloosa helped the AHSAA take this event to a new level in 2009 and created the standard of excellence for hosting that is unmatched across high school athletics.
“The AHSAA is grateful for Auburn-Opelika and Tuscaloosa embracing a new idea to include Birmingham in the rotation which will now provide three high quality venues for our member schools to showcase their football programs at the end of each season.”
The 2021 event will begin the new rotation as the newly constructed Protective Life Stadium will host its first Super 7 Dec. 1-3, and following in 2024, 2027 and 2030. The 2021 event will mark the return of the state high school football championships to Birmingham for the first time since 2008, when the city last hosted the event in its Super 6 format at historic Legion Field, where the championships were played from 1996-2008. Legion Field also was host to the large-school championship game from 1971-1995.
“We are pleased to see the AHSAA Super 7 return to the city where it began more than 20 years ago,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. “… As a progressive city focused on building a better future for our young people, we look forward to working closely with the AHSAA to celebrate championship-caliber high school sports for years to come.”
Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium will host in 2022 as well as 2026, 2028, and 2032.Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium will host in 2023, 2025, 2029, and 2031.
“High school sports offer a unique place where life lessons are taught, the spirit of competition is cultivated, and the will to work towards excellence is engrained,” Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said. “The City of Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama have always been synonymous with great football and striving towards excellence, and we want to continue that tradition by offering the opportunity for our youth across the state to continue to come to our city to play in the same arena as some of the greats who have come before them.”
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