photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Lawrence High sophomore Ethan Curry breaks up a pass to Lawrence Free State senior Landon Leipold Friday, October 25, 2024, in Lawrence.

The KSHSAA high school football state championship games have been held at various venues across the state in the last few years, between Emporia, Hays, Pittsburg and other sites.

Where the games haven’t been played at since 2003 is either of its two biggest possible venues. That’s something that Kansas coach Lance Leipold would like to change, and both Lawrence and Free State’s football coaches agree with the idea.

“Possibly my idea was (at) whichever site the KU-K-State game would be played, the other school would host (state championship games) that year, and try to formulate that way,” Leipold said in a press conference on July 31.

Jason Thoren remembers playing at both the KU and K-State’s football stadiums when he played for Lawrence in the early 1990s. Thoren and the Lions went to three state championships, two of which were held in Manhattan and the other in Lawrence.

“I would 100% be in favor of doing that — it was a neat deal,” Thoren, now the head coach at Lawrence, said. “It’s a totally different deal (at KU or K-State). My vote would be 100%, yes.”

Free State coach Kevin Stewart said that a change in venue could lead to the state championship games becoming more of “an event” for the entire state, with the possibility of more Kansans filling up more seats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

“I would love that — that would be awesome,” Stewart said of the possible change. “People would know, ‘Hey, this weekend is the state championships, let’s go to Manhattan or Lawrence and make it a deal.’ It would take time to make it a big deal, but over time it would make it an event for the state of Kansas.”

Stewart said that other states — such as Texas, which has its games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the home of the Dallas Cowboys — have a central location for all state championships, and that it creates that larger atmosphere.

“Over time, that would be really good,” Stewart said. “My concern for the first year or the first few years is those stadiums are huge, and we don’t know how good the crowd will be. It might feel empty. But I think over time it would build to something good.”

Stewart believes the current sites do have a good atmosphere with a packed crowd at venues like Emporia State, which holds up to 10,000 fans. Bill Snyder Family Stadium has a capacity of 50,000, and the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium will hold around 40,000.

“If you get 5,000 people at (Emporia State), it feels like a lot, whereas if you get 5,000 people at KU it’s going to feel empty,” Stewart said.

Both Thoren and Stewart agreed that the change would be a lot of fun for the players, and that playing at those two stadiums has a different feel than the Division II or junior-college stadiums.

KSHSAA currently spreads its state championship games out to multiple venues across the state at different community colleges and Division II sites. That arrangement could change, according to KSHSAA Assistant Executive Director Mark Lentz, and that the organization is willing to listen to any offers.

“The KSHSAA is always open to great locations for our state championship games,” Lentz said in an email. “The current locations of Hutchinson CC, Emporia State, and Greensburg, are dedicated to providing a great experience for the schools and athletes.”

Lentz added that Leipold has not reached out to KSHSAA about the possibility since the press conference, and that KSHSAA is “always willing to listen and considering offers from the colleges.”