OHSAA football state finals | Games to stay at Canton's Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium

CANTON TWP. – The Ohio High School Athletic Association state championship football games will call Canton home through at least 2026.

OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute announced a three-year contract extension Monday to keep the state finals at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium and naming the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the host of the event. He made the announcement at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Luncheon Club at Tozzi's on 12th.

“We are excited to continue to grow this partnership with the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Ute said. “They have been so good to work with and are just as excited as us to take the next steps with the finals in Canton and have people experience all that the Hall of Fame, the surrounding Hall of Fame Village and Canton have to offer in addition to state championship football.

"We also thank Visit Canton for their support of the state championships and appreciate their support to host the games in Stark County.”

Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement, “The Hall wants this relationship to continue long into the future."

"Our staff will look for additional ways to build the weekend into a full community celebration — making the experience even more special for the teams playing in Canton and creating memories that will last a lifetime.”

The games returned to Canton in 2021, the first year of a three-year contract for Hall of Fame Stadium to host all seven title games. But the partnership between the OHSAA football state finals and Stark County extends back well before 2021.

Visit Canton first hosted the state football championships starting in 1990 and it, too, continues as a sponsor and partner of the games.

“Visit Canton is delighted that the OHSAA has selected Stark County to continue to host its state high school football championship games,” Visit Canton President and CEO Allyson Bussey said in a statement. “Without question, this event has become a cornerstone for our community for several decades. We continue our commitment to support this longstanding partnership with the OHSAA and Pro Football Hall of Fame and look forward to welcoming the teams, coaches and fans to Canton.”

Canton and Stark County have a long history in hosting the OHSAA football finals.

Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium's title game history

The OHSAA football playoff era began in 1972. At first, there were only three enrollment-based divisions, Class AAA, Class AA and Class A. Massillon played host to that Class AA championship game in 1972 and 1973.

Stark County fell out of the rotation after that. Akron's Rubber Bowl became a go-to site from 1975 to 1982. Other title games landed in Dayton, Upper Arlington, Cincinnati, Mansfield, Groveport and Springfield.

Ohio Stadium hosted football state championship games much of the 1980s

The playoffs expanded to five divisions in 1980. Ohio Stadium soon took over as the main championship location. The home of the Ohio State Buckeyes played host to every title game from 1983 to 1989.

The title games moved out in 1990, when Warren won the Division I state title in the Rubber Bowl. The four other title games were played at Massillon.

Stark County becomes lone host of OHSAA football championships

It was a similar story in 1991 and 1992, when the Division I games were played in Canton, and the other four title games went to Massillon.

Massillon was the sole host of all five title games in 1993. After the system expanded to six divisions, Massillon squeezed in all six title games in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997.

The massive preparation required to accommodate Canton McKinley's appearance in the 1997 title game contributed to splitting the championship games between Massillon and Canton in 1998, when McKinley again won a state title in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Fawcett Stadium and Tiger Stadium shared the championship games for 16 years, from 1998 to 2013, the year the system expanded to seven divisions.

Championship games go back to Ohio State before return to Stark County

All seven title games moved to Columbus for the 2014-2016 finals, amid the renaming and piecemeal demolition of Fawcett Stadium.

In 2017, with an all-new Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in place, the title games were moved to Canton. It was the first time all of the games were played in Canton, which subsequently hosted all of the games in 2018 and 2019.

Ohio high school football: OHSAA chief Doug Ute talks about how 'wow factor,' community keep OHSAA football state finals in Canton

In 2020, with COVID-19 altering the season, the title games were expected to be played at Fortress Obetz in suburban Columbus. But only one game, the Division I final, ended up being played there.

The championship games in the six other divisions landed in Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium across three days. The six games were shifted to Massillon because of a curfew being put in place in Franklin County. Despite the short turnaround, the games went off relatively issue-free at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

All seven games then returned to Canton, under contract, through 2023. A new contract now keeps them in Canton through 2026.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio high school football state finals to stay in Canton through 2026