Attendance and financial figures from the 2025 Georgia High School football state championships have stirred up the ongoing debate once again about where future state championships should be played.
According to data from the GHSA, last season’s state finals at Mercedes Benz Stadium drew 46,132 fans over the 3-day event from Monday thru Wednesday, December 15-17th.
That was 5,456 less fans than the previous year’s event, which drew 51,588 fans.
The result was $125,813 less in ticket revenue.
That, coupled with an increase in operating costs of 57,134 from Mercedes Benz Stadium served as a double whammy for the GHSA, thus resulting in a lower payout to each of the 16 participant teams that averaged a little over $9,900 per team.
So, when fans are presented with these numbers, the first reaction is to take the finals away from Mercedes Benz stadium.
However, a deeper dive into the numbers, specifically with the attendance figures, paints a different picture.
Attendance Up Significantly Since Finals Moved to Mercedes Benz
Despite the reports of the 2025 state finals attendance being lower than the prior year’s attendance, it’s a bit misleading.
When the GHSA announced that they would be moving the high school football state championships away from Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium to Mercedes Benz Stadium starting with the 2023 finals, the reviews were mixed.
In order to accommodate the 3-day event, the finals would have to be moved to a Monday-Wednesday schedule to avoid potential conflicts with Mercedes Benz other full time tenants, namely the Atlanta Falcons.
Despite the initial concerns that a weekday event would keep fans from being able to attend the finals, attendance leapt from the 26,971 yearly average over the four years at Georgia State to an average of 49,692 per year for the 3-day weekday finals from 2023 to 2025 at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
That’s about 23,000 more fans each year for the finals at Mercedes Benz since moving from Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium.
That’s the good news.
The bad news as was revealed by the GHSA financial report from last year’s finals is that despite the increase in fans, the expenses at Mercedes Benz Stadium were well, out of sight.
According to reported financials, the expenses for this past year’s 2025 finals was
approximate 843,000, which was an increase of 7 % over 2024 expenses, and a whopping 44% increase over their 2023 expenses.
So, while more fans turned out for the games at Mercedes Benz Stadium than at the Georgia State University, the expenses were astronomically higher at Mercedes compared to Center Parc Stadium, which has resulted in significantly less of a payout to the participating teams.
The 16 state finals teams received an estimated 21,000 each in 2022, the final season that the finals were played at Georgia State University.
The last three seasons that payout has averaged just 9731 per team.
So, if the state finals are going to stay at Mercedes Benz stadium, there will have to be a major reduction in expenses.
What Georgia High School Football Coaches Have To Say
We spoke to a few coaches about the advantages and disadvantages of playing at Mercedes Benz Stadium, including a couple who have first hand knowledge of what it’s like to play for and win a state championship at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Thomas County Central Head Coach Justin Rogers
Thomas County Central Head Coach Justin Rogers led his Yellow Jackets to the 2023 Class 6A and 2025 Class 5A state championship at Mercedes Benz stadium, but acknowledged a need to address the rising costs, and admitted that something has to be done to reel in the rising costs.
“I fully support playing at the Benz- it’s one of the premier venues in the country, hosting Super Bowls and national championships. It creates an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student athletes,” Rogers said.
“That said, I believe the state news to be more involved. With the amount of state funding and tax incentives that went into building Mercedes Benz Stadium, there should be a more affordable path for the GHSA to host championship events there. It’s hard to justify costs being higher in 2025 than they were in 2023-that shouldn’t be happening.”
“There has to be a solution where the GHSA can host games at a reduced rate-ideally covering operational costs like staffing -while recognizing that the venue still benefits from concessions and the public investment already made.
“It’s about doing what’s right for our schools, communities, and most importantly, our student athletes,” Rogers said.
Coffee Head Football Coach Mike Coe
Coffee High Head Coach Mike Coe led Coffee to the 2023 Class 5A State Championship, completing a perfect undefeated season with a 31-14 win over Creekside at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Coe also led Madison County, Fl to four state championships in games played at several outdoor venues throughout the Sunshine State.
Coe offered his thoughts on which type of environment he would prefer to see the state finals played in.
“I’ve coached in state finals games at The Swamp (University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium), The Benz, and Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee. Obviously the best thing about The Benz was it being indoors, but I am more of a traditionalist, and would love to see the finals at the high school location, allowing more local people who may not be able to afford to travel to attend the game,” Coe said.
“I would rather the two teams and the host community be able to keep more of the money to help support their programs in the future, while creating one heck of an atmosphere and a memory that will last forever,” Coe said.
Peachtree Ridge High School Head Football Coach Matt Helmrich
Coach Matt Helmrich has been the head coach at Peachtree Ridge since 2022 after spending five seasons as the head coach at Johns Creek High School.
Helmrich was 35-20 during his time at Johns Creek, including two region championships. He led the Gladiators to their last playoff appearances.
Since he left, Johns Creek has finished 3-37, including back to back winless seasons.
Before arriving in Georgia, Helmrich was a key member of the St Thomas Aquinas Football Coaching staff from 2010 to 2016, serving as Defensive Coordinator in 2014 and 2015.
He coached in four state finals with the Florida and National powerhouse in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2015.
He has led Peachtree ridge to a 29-17 record in his first four seasons, including a region title.
Helmrich offered his opinions of where he’d like to see the state finals played.
“I like the finals being played at neutral sites,” Helmrich admits. He also reminds us of a small fact that could prevent many home stadiums from hosting state championships.
“Many high school stadiums barely have the capacity-per GHSA rules-to host semifinal games. So, I’d be curious to see just how many teams in the past few title games could’ve even hosted a championship game,” Helmrich points out.
He points to the 2006 state title game between his program, Peachtree Ridge, and Roswell where neither team hosted the game.
And neither won it, also.
“Peachtree Ridge played Roswell in 2006 for the state title. Roswell couldn’t host, so the game was moved to McEachern,” Helmrich recalls.
The game ended in a tie, with both teams sharing the state championship.
Kind of like kissing your sister.
“I’m betting both teams would have preferred the Benz or another neutral site,” he said.
Helmrich also remembers one of the best state finals he’s ever witnessed, and how it had a lasting impression on him and his belief that a game of that importance should always be played at a neutral site.
“One of the best games I’ve ever watched was Colquitt at North Gwinnett for the Georgia Class 7A championship. It was an unbelievable atmosphere, but I would not have wanted to be the road (visitors) team in that situation,” Helmrich said.
That was the game that Colquitt led 17-16 and seemingly had it won after scoring the go ahead touchdown with less than a minute left in regulation, only to have multiple defensive penalties called on Colquitt County in the final 49 seconds which ended up costing them the championship in improbable fashion.
Whether it was “home cooking” or just bad luck, a road team losing in one of the most unlikely ways in the history of the state finals will always make fans question whether things may have been different if the game had been played at a neutral site.
Milton Head Football Coach Ben Reaves
Milton Head Football Coach Ben Reaves has the unique experience of having been a part of three state championships at Mercedes Benz Stadium and another state finals at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium
He was a coordinator on Milton’s 2018 state championship team, and the head coach of Milton’s 2023 and 2024 state champion teams that won titles at the Benz.
He was also the team’s offensive coordinator when Milton played Collins Hill for the state championship at Georgia State University’s Center Parc Stadium. Milton lost that game and finished as the GHSA Class 7A runner up.
So, being a part of state finals played at both Georgia State and Mercedes Benz gives Reaves a certain perspective of what it’s like to play at both neutral sites.
“I’m 100% Benz,” Reaves said about his thoughts of where the state finals should be played.
“I’ve played in state championships in the Benz and also at Georgia State. The year we played at Georgia State, it was cold, the games were late, it was raining, no fans came or wanted to be outside in that weather,” he said.
“When you’re indoors, it’s just an overall better experience for the teams and the fans, and whatever the weather is that night won’t affect the game, which lets both teams play and show who the overall better teams is because both are in a picture-perfect environment.”
It doesn’t hurt either when you’ve enjoyed unparalleled success at Mercedes Benz, as Reaves unabashedly points out.
“Plus, unlike any other college or professional team, I’m also undefeated in the Benz, so I could also be biased to that venue,” he said.
Spoken like a champion.
