Washington high school football championships moving to Husky Stadium in 2023

After a nearly 30-year absence, the Washington state high school football championships are returning to Seattle.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) and the University of Washington have agreed on a one-year deal to host Gridiron Classic at Husky Stadium in the upcoming season.

Six games — three apiece on Friday and Saturday — will be played Dec. 1-2 on the state's largest college campus.

WIAA officials approved the agreement during an executive board meeting Sunday.

Mick Hoffman, the WIAA executive director, credited the determination of UW athletic director Jen Cohen, assistant athletic director Dan Erickson and their team to getting a deal done.

"The kids ... get to play on a Pac-12 field in a phenomenal facility, which is cool," Hoffman said. "The fan is going to have to navigate getting there at certain times of the day. Will it impact attendance? I don't know."

Traditionally, this has been one of the WIAA's marquee "destination venue" state championship events.

From 1977 to 1994, "Kingbowl" was held at the downtown Kingdome in Seattle before it moved south to the Tacoma Dome in 1995 where it was renamed "Gridiron Classic."

But with the event incurring rising costs and sagging attendance, the WIAA ended that association with the Tacoma Dome after the 2018 season, and voted to relocate the football championships to three high school stadiums in Pierce County: Sparks Stadium, Mount Tahoma Stadium and Harry E. Lang Stadium.

Over that span, talks with the University of Washington had been ongoing — and a deal was struck this spring.

"It's a leap of faith that it will work out for the University of Washington and for us," Hoffman said.

If this one-year trial works out well, that could lead to Husky Stadium becoming a more permanent host for the football championships - especially after the WIAA puts it up for bid for the next five-year cycle (2024-28).

One of the event format changes this December is the distribution of games - three on Friday (1B, 1A and 3A) and Saturday (2B, 2A and 4A). Kickoff times both days will be at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m.

Hoffman said that the scheduling change was based on a decision to give teams four hours for each game, which was one of the recommendations passed along from coaches who played in WIAA title games the past three seasons at high school stadiums with limited locker-room access.

"At Husky Stadium, we won't necessarily have more locker rooms," Hoffman said. "So it's safer to give (teams) four hours in between games."

Jason Ronquillo, the coach at Class 3A champion Yelm, said the switch to Husky Stadium is a welcomed move.

"I think the kids deserve it," Ronquillo said. "The entire game itself is about the kids, and you try and give them the best venues to play in."

(Featured file photo by Vince Miller)