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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTGOMERY – The AHSAA officially announced its new plan for the hosting rights to the Super 7 football state championships, and it’s a mix of something old and something new.

The state announced at its Central Board of Control winter meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 29 that Protective Stadium in Birmingham and Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile will rotate as Super 7 hosts for the next four years.

AHSAA executive director Heath Harmon presented the two-site plan to the Central Board of Control on Wednesday, and the board approved the plan for the next four years.

Under the plan, the 2025 and 2027 Super 7 championships will be held in Birmingham at Protective Stadium while the 2026 and 2028 editions will be in Mobile at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The Tuscaloosa News previously reported in November that the state was down to four sites. ASU Stadium in Montgomery and Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy were not selected as host sites.

“I want to thank all the cities that showed interest in hosting our Super 7 football championships in the coming years,” Harmon said. “All were impressive and could be outstanding venues for our Super 7 event. However, after much study and discussion, we concluded these two cities were our best options at this time, and I especially want to thank our Central Board for their guidance and support.”

The state decided to change the plan for the Super 7 after the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, which potentially meant that Alabama and Auburn would host home first-round games that conflicted with the football state championships.

As a result, Bryant-Denny Stadium and Jordan-Hare Stadium pulled out of the three-city rotation which went into effect in 2021 when Protective Stadium was added. Protective Stadium hosted the 2024 edition of the Super 7 as planned while a new plan was developed.

The 2025 edition will be the third year that the Super 7 has been held in Protective Stadium. The home of UAB football, the Birmingham Stallions and Birmingham Legion FC hosted the 2021 and 2024 editions.

Both years had local flair as Thompson won the Class 7A state championship in 2021 and 2024 while Spain Park played in the 2024 Class 6A/7A girls flag football state championship.

Hancock Whitney Stadium will host the Super 7 for the first time in 2026. The home of South Alabama football has served as the host for the past five North-South All-Star Football Classics, the 2024 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic and every Senior Bowl since 2021.

Birmingham hosted every football state championship from 1996 to 2009 at Legion Field when it was known as the Super 6. It also hosted the largest class’ championship game from the early 1970s to 2009.

Then, it changed to rotate between Alabama and Auburn from 2009 to 2020 before Protective Stadium made it a three-city rotation from 2021 to 2024.

The Super 6 expanded to seven games when the AHSAA added Class 7A in 2014, eight with the first girls flag football state championship game in 2021 and nine in 2023 when flag football expanded to two classifications, Class 1A-5A and Class 6A/7A.

“We are grateful to the cities of Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Opelika, Auburn University, the University of Alabama and their tourism bureaus for taking the Super 7 championships to the next level,” Harmon said. “We think we now have an outstanding plan in place and look forward to continue working with Birmingham and now Mobile while striving to keep our Super 7 the envy of many other states across the nation.”

The AHSAA did not say what would happen if UAB and South Alabama must host their respective football conference championship games.