USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect/Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
MIAA playoff game at Gillette Stadium next to Robert Kraft
The best high school football teams in Massachusetts were slated to head to Gillette Stadium to play for a state championship toward the start of December. However, that will no longer be the case after the venue unexpectedly pulled the plug on the arrangement while forcing the state’s governing body to scramble to find a new location.
There are some high school football stadiums in Texas that put some venues at the college level to shame, but most kids who pursue the sport during their teenage years become accustomed to unglamorous and largely generic venues united by an aesthetic defined by metal bleachers, chain-link fences, and a field that’s surrounded by a running track.
However, some of those players are lucky enough to experience what it’s like to play inside a stadium where an NFL team normally does its thing. As of last year, there were nine states that held their championship games at one of those venues, including Massachusetts, which has been holding its title showdowns at Gillette Stadium, the home of the Patriots, since 2007.
That was supposed to be the case this year, but there’s been a fair amount of finger-pointing after we learned that will not end up being the case.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft blamed scheduling issues after Gillette Stadium informed the MIAA it needs to find a new place for high school football title games
In 2007, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) struck an agreement with the Kraft family, which donated Gillette Stadium to be used as the site of the statewide Super Bowl showdowns used to crown a high school football champion across its various divisions.
That arrangement has remained in place for close to two decades, and last year, sixteen teams from across Massachusetts got to play a game at Gillette while vying for one of the eight titles that were up for grabs.
That was also the plan for 2026, but according to The Boston Herald, the MIAA is now being forced to search for a new venue with around a month to go before the final round of the postseason gets underway after being informed that Gillette is no longer an option.
Message from the MIAA:
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association was informed late last week that the utilization of Gillette Stadium for the MIAA Football Championships is no longer an option.
We thank the Patriots organization for hosting this event for nearly two decades.
Whereas the 2026 MIAA Football Tournament begins this week, we will work diligently to secure host sites that provide the best possible championship experience for our student athletes and our school communities.
— Tommy Cassell (@TommyCassell_) November 2, 2026
A spokesperson for Kraft Sports and Entertainment shed some more light on the situation while blaming “scheduling restraints” linked to a game between the Patriots and the Bills on Sunday, December 6th, which will be played a day after a potential MLS playoff game featuring the New England Revolution (who would also use the stadium for practices in the preceding days).
Response from Kraft Sports and Entertainment:
“For nearly two decades, Gillette Stadium and the Kraft family have been proud to donate the use of Gillette Stadium and host the MIAA football state championship games during the first week of December. Due to scheduling constraints and the associated logistics from the Revolution’s playoff schedule and the Patriots home game on December 6, Gillette Stadium will unfortunately be unable to host the state championship games this year. We wish all the schools, student-athletes and their families the best of luck with this year’s games and look forward to hosting this event again in the future.”
— Tommy Cassell (@TommyCassell_) November 2, 2026
Some people have argued the venue had plenty of time to prepare for this possibility and deserves to be blamed for leaving the MIAA and its teams hanging, although it also seems like the organization responsible for dictating the playoff schedule could have opted to hold the championships on weekdays instead of a weekend where this kind of issue had the potential to arise.
As things currently stand, it’s unclear what the MIAA is looking at when it comes to a contingency plan.
UMass and Boston College will both play their final game of the regular season a week before the high school Super Bowl unfolds, and you have to think McGuirk and Alumni Stadium are part of the conversation (the centrally located nature of the former could make it a particularly attractive option).
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the chips fall.