WIAA state football championship games staying at Tacoma Dome

The high school state football championships aren’t going anywhere.

The Tacoma Dome will continue to host the state football championships despite losing the state semifinals, said Washington Interscholastic Activities Association executive director Mike Colbrese. The WIAA agreed to a three-year contract with the Tacoma Dome on Monday.

It was considering moving the state championships to the University of Washington, but ultimately the tradition of state football in Tacoma won over the WIAA’s executive board.

The agreement will cost the WIAA $45,000 in 2016; $52,500, plus an additional $1 per ticket surcharge, in 2017; and $62,500 in 2018.

It cost $46,640 for the WIAA to hold the state semifinals and the finals at the Tacoma Dome this past year, the last of a five-year deal. The per-weekend cost to hold the semifinals and the finals in the Tacoma Dome, as well as complaints from high schools in eastern Washington that have played their semifinal games in regional outdoor stadiums, were factors in the WIAA deciding to move all of the semifinals out, as it announced on Jan. 13.

The Tacoma Dome, the state’s largest indoor venue, opened in 1983 and began hosting the state semifinals the following year. It has hosted the state championships every year since 1995.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 5:38 PM with the headline "WIAA state football championship games staying at Tacoma Dome."