Changes are coming to the Missouri high school football championship games. On Tuesday, the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) announced a new venue for its Show-Me Bowl title games.
The MSHSAA will play all seven of its championship games at Western Missouri’s Spratt Memorial Stadium from 2025 through 2028. Actually, the deal with Western Missouri State University in St. Joseph starts this fall when the 8-man championship game will be played in the 10,000-seat stadium.
All of the 2024 11-man state championship games will be played at the University of Missouri’s Memorial Stadium in Columbia.
“We appreciate the work the cities put into this bid process, and we have taken this process very seriously,” MSHSAA Executive Director Dr. Jennifer Rukstad said. “We have an obligation to our membership to find not only the best facilities to host our championships, but also the best support from the host site to serve our schools’ needs. We are very excited about the next five years for the Show-Me Bowl!”
“We have been extremely fortunate to host a wide variety of high-profile events over the last several months and cannot wait to welcome our state’s best high school football teams to an outstanding venue here in St. Joseph and Buchanan County,” said Executive Director of the St. Joseph Sports Commission Brett Esely. “In conjunction with our partner Missouri Western State University, we look forward to delivering an outstanding championship experience for all involved!”
“We feel Spratt Stadium is one of the premier college venues in the state and for our university to be on display for the best of the best high school football teams across Missouri over these next few years is a win-win for everyone involved,” MWSU Director of Athletics Andy Carter said.
The move means that this will be the first time since the 80’s that the football championships will be played in the Kansas City area. Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Busch Stadium, the former home of the St. Louis Cardinals, alternated as the host site for the title games from 1982-1986.
