Can Ligonier play with Richland?

[PRFootball]

Wish the state games were still there. Be great to drive 10 mins and watch all of them.

1st rounds might be, games are on the eastern side this year.

[Crimson's Ghost]

As many of us seem to agree that Mansion Park is a great facility for District and State Playoffs, what are your thoughts on  BG having a home game for the District championship game in years past?  Should BG (#3) win this week and Northern Cambria (#1) win this week, the higher ranked team will have to go on the road to Mansion to play BG on their home field.  In a situation like that, I think St. Francis would be a nice facility, close to be equal distance for both.

I can see both sides of it, but if UCLA ever makes the Rose Bowl, they aren't going to change it to a different venue. So it's just kinda one of those things I guess.  But they could move it theoretically.  Homer-Center has knocked off BG twice in the past five years in the D6 title at Mansion, so it hasn't been a detriment. And the years BG won, they were just the far superior team anyway. 

[Lionjacket]

Do you think there is enough parking at Mansion Park to accommodate 2 State Finals a day?

[Crimson's Ghost]

How was parking when they used to hold the state titles?

[Manfred]

The teams from far away @ Mansion don't fill their sides of the stadium. It's when a few of the locals made it to the final @ Mansion that the parking might, I say might, have been a concern. You can park on the side streets all the way around the stadium, including the back side on the street that runs past Baker Mansion. Get there early enough, no parking issues.

[TAHS92Alum]

I was there for the Tyrone vs Mt Carmel final in 96 and can say i parked about a half mile away. When there are two large fan bases parking can be an issue at Mansion

[Steve92]

I like them being opposite.  Basketball in Philly and football in Pittsburgh then switch it the next year.  Attendance would probably double if they did that.

This makes a lot of sense.  Holding the championship games in the state's population centers certainly has the potential to increase attendance.   Alternating between the two cities keeps access fair.  This might not be ideal for those of us in Pennsyltucky in between, but for many of us Hershey is already a significant drive. 

[NeverQuit]

District games should always be site TBD. Mansion is no longer the only turf field around and the way brackets are now it’s not even equal distance most of the time. Plus who wants to go to a championship game and see the stands half empty? Look at Richland and LV this year, play it at IUP and both are meeting in the middle. Better parking, more sufficient seating, Indiana county is still D6, college field, etc. Just my two cents.

[billmurray]

People complain about the Philadelphia schools in Hershey for basketball in terms of attendance, meanwhile the Philadelphia Catholic League championship is played in front of a soldout 8,000 gym.  People just go because it's good basketball, you'll get more of a walk-up crowd if the state title games are in bigger cities or rotated around. 

I could see that with football too, have the state title games in the Pittsburgh area one year, there could be some really good crowds if a few WPIAL teams make it that far.  Hershey just isn't an attraction in late December. 

Problem #1: Money. It's like 140K for the wpial title games, 4 of them, for one day. 3 days would be over 400K.....never happen.
Problem #2: Hershey gives the PIAA a "sweet" deal for these games.  Very inexpensive for them. 
Problem #3: NFL Schedules this year would have worked, not next year. 
Problem #4: Grass. by the sixth game, ugg...
I agree, games should be in Altoona....I never cared about parking, there was enough, could be better. Crowds would be better. More people from around the state would travel there. Center of the state. Perfect location. 
Locations should aways be HS fields if possible. Why pay rent to a college? Keep the money with the high schools

[Joe Bivitz]

District games should always be site TBD. Mansion is no longer the only turf field around and the way brackets are now it’s not even equal distance most of the time. Plus who wants to go to a championship game and see the stands half empty? Look at Richland and LV this year, play it at IUP and both are meeting in the middle. Better parking, more sufficient seating, Indiana county is still D6, college field, etc. Just my two cents.

You might want to take a look at a map.  IUP is not meeting in the middle for Richland and Ligonier Valley