Finals Destination: Ford Field remains home to 11-player football championships, but adding 8-player is unlikely

Aug. 13—DETROIT — Ford Field has been home to the Detroit Lions since 2002. The venue hosted Super Bowl XL in 2006, the NCAA Final Four in 2009 and the Frozen Four in 2010.

College bowl games and conference championships have been won on that field. More than 78,000 packed the stadium for the "Basketbowl" between Kentucky and Michigan State men's basketball in 2003.

WWE brought the legendary Wrestlemania to Ford Field in 2007 and then just hosted the biggest party of the summer — Summerslam — at Ford Field on Aug. 5.

It has been the site of professional bull riding, Monster Jam and Supercross. The Rolling Stones, Eminem, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Madonna, Kid Rock, Bon Jovi, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, One Direction, AC/DC, Guns N Roses, U2, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd are just a few of the world-famous music artists to bring their act to Ford Field.

Not only will Ford Field be home to the Lions this year, but it will also host the inaugural Black Friday game as Michigan State closes out its regular-season football slate with a game against Big Ten rival Penn State on Nov. 24. Scheduling this game meant the MHSAA had to shuffle around the 11-player football state championship games, which have been played the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving since 2005. This year, games will instead be played on Saturday and Sunday.

"We're good with it, and we're happy to help," MHSAA Director of Communications Geoff Kimmerly said, pointing out that MSU hosts MHSAA basketball, softball, baseball and soccer finals while Ford Field hosts 11-player football and wrestling state championships. "When you realize that we have these two partners who do these things for us on a yearly basis that are pretty incredible and we're asked once to help, we were glad to do it. It's going to be a little different, but we can make this happen."

One event that is unlikely to take place at Ford Field in the near future — despite some pushing for it — is the MHSAA's 8-player football state title games that have called Northern Michigan University's Superior Dome in Marquette home for almost every year since 2011.

"It's very gracious of Northern and Marquette and those people to host us in that phenomenal venue," Suttons Bay 8-player football head coach Garrick Opie said. "But when you're a high school coach or a high school player in Michigan — whether it was the Pontiac Silverdome or Ford Field — there is something to be said for playing on a professional field."

Opie led the Norsemen to three straight appearances in the 8-player state championship game, making it to the Superior Dome in 2019 and 2021 and the Legacy Center in Brighton during the 2020 season that was delayed to early 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I'm biased because I would have liked to coach at Ford Field, and I wish the young men that played for Suttons Bay had that opportunity," Opie said. "That is a lifetime memory."

Opie said that sentiment is not meant to discount the great venue that the Superior Dome has been or the wonderful hospitality they have received there.

"I don't want to sound like we're not thankful for our opportunities there, but playing on Ford Field would be highly desirable by coaches and players. Knowing the Lions play there is probably the pinnacle of where you could play a sport in Michigan," Opie said.

Kimmerly said he and the rest of the MHSAA understand that playing in Detroit is a dream for every person associated with high school football, but he said Ford Field simply isn't the right-sized venue for the smaller game, adding that hosting both versions of the gridiron game would be a logistical migraine.

"Getting to play in a championship game, regardless of where it's played at, should be the dream," Kimmerly said. "Getting to play on a college field is a pretty awesome experience. We understand where people are coming from, but we feel like we're still providing a great experience for the teams that make it that far."

Smaller schools from smaller communities would have a tough time making Ford Field feel even a little bit full, Kimmerly said.

"They definitely come to support their schools, but those are small communities. Those games would be in a tough spot in Ford Field," he said. "It would be a very large stadium with a pretty small crowd, and I think the atmosphere at Northern is just much better. That stadium fits the crowd size much better and is still indoors."

Opie isn't so sure it should be about the size of the crowd or ticket sales.

"It should be about the achievement of playing at the most amazing venue possible when you make it to the state finals," Opie said. "I understand they'd like to have the venue as full as possible, but if you play high school football in Michigan and you make it to a state championship game, you should end up at Ford Field. That's just the way it should be."

Not all of Opie's fellow 8-player coaches necessarily agree, however.

"If you make it there, you don't care where you're playing. The ultimate goal is to get there," said Kevin O'Connell, the head coach of Gaylord St. Mary's 8-player program. "Northern is great. It's indoors. Kids like it loud. And the crowd is closer. You can really hear them. It's a smaller and more intimate venue for smaller schools."

O'Connell worries that some players would get swallowed up in the magnitude that is Ford Field.

"Ford Field would be immensely overwhelming," he said. "We're not talking about King versus Cass Tech or Muskegon versus Clarkston where you'd have large followings and fanbases filling up a good portion of the lower bowl. Division 7 and 8 where the schools are smaller but the fanbases are still large in perspective, but when you put them in a 65,000-capacity stadium, it doesn't feel like a lot."

While the topic comes up from time to time, Kimmerly said he has heard less about moving the 8-player finals to Ford Field since the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 game was moved to the Legacy Center, those playing at the Superior Dome seem to be more grateful to have that venue.

"I think people are happy playing at Northern. It's a really cool facility," Kimmerly said. "You go in there, it has the awesome wood ceiling. It's super cool. We can do all the stuff right there that we want to do, and we make it the same experience. Northern gives us a ton of help to make this a great experience, and the UP people come out to jump in and help us put this thing on."

Kimmerly said all of that work would also have to be done at Ford Field, and even more would be added because workers would have to redress the field as the dimensions for 11-player and 8-player football are different.

"It's not that easy to have Ford Field for three days in a row, and it would almost take a third day if you're going to redress the field correctly," Kimmerly said. "Playing five games in a day, in my head I could see us doing it, but I'm not sure we want to be starting games at 9 o'clock in the morning or even earlier."

Opie feels the memories would be worth the work, and he said having the 8-player finals at a different and smaller venue diminishes the growing sport that is 8-player football.

"It's not just the game. It's the full experience," Opie said. "There are times during the game when I tell the players to take a step back and look around. That's real. See the community. Experience it. Experience the venue. Experience the grand happening this is and take it in. Having that experience at a pro venue is like nothing else. The memories are forever."

For now, however, it seems those memories will have to be made at the Superior Dome.