PIAA bidding war: Altoona proposal included free rent
Games awarded to Cumberland Valley; PSU price tag was $140,000
Trending
Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association announced its decision to move the high school football state championships from Hersheypark Stadium for the first time since Altoona's Mansion Park last hosted the games in 1997.
The PIAA received four competitive bids from Altoona Area High School, Hershey Entertainment, Cumberland Valley High School and Penn State University and ultimately selected Cumberland Valley, which is located in Mechanicsburg -- near the PIAA offices.
After confirming the site selection Wednesday, PIAA Executive Director Robert Lombardi said the proposals could be made public, and after a request from the Mirror, the PIAA shared the information, which showed a large disparity.
Altoona, partnering with Explore Altoona Executive Director Mark Ickes, was willing to provide all services free of charge to the PIAA.
That included the Mansion Park facility rental, preparation and clean up, scoreboard operation, clock operation, emergency medical service and ambulance availability, ticket sellers and takers, ushers, parking lot attendants, security, law enforcement, a trainer, two locker room stewards, a media steward and catering for PIAA administration and game staff.
"Explore Altoona was extremely pleased to have partnered with the Altoona Area School District and (Altoona athletic director) Phil Riccio in having submitted an attractive proposal to the PIAA," Ickes said. "We are disappointed with the organization's ultimate decision."
Bid breakdown
Cumberland Valley offered to provide the same services for a fee of $10,630 per year, but $8,000 per year would be covered by a sponsorship from the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation.
Cumberland Valley was also awarded the high school soccer, field hockey and volleyball championships and will have hosting privileges for the next four seasons for the finals in each sport, including football.
"We are thrilled to host the top high school athletes in football, soccer, field hockey and volleyball in the Cumberland Valley for the PIAA championships," Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau Public Relations Manager Aaron Jumper said. "This will be a great opportunity for families across Pennsylvania to eat, shop, stay and experience our region.
"Due to the number of visitors these events will bring into our area to stay in our hotel rooms, as well as support our local businesses, we partnered with Cumberland Valley School District to offset operating costs to host the PIAA championships."
Penn State's offer would have come with a significantly higher price tag.
Its proposal called for the PIAA to pay $40,000 per game for the six state championship contests for a total of $240,000.
The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau offered a sponsorship of $100,000 per year that would have dropped the PIAA's bill to "not exceed" $140,000, which would increase 3 percent for each year Penn State would host.
Hershey Entertainment's proposal was to be determined, as its facility rental structure is that the PIAA received the first $40,000 of gross ticket receipts before the rest was split with 55 percent going to the PIAA and 45 percent going to the Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company.
Turf surfaces favored
Lombardi alluded to cost being an issue with Penn State's bid, along with a grass field, during Wednesday's meeting.
"Playing on grass for six games doesn't fly real well. That's a difficult thing," Lombardi said. "The number of people we have been drawing the past five years, I'm not sure we could have paid the bill. We were very honored that they considered us, and maybe that opens the door for venues like that going forward, because it was nice to be wanted, for once."
Cumberland Valley played on a natural grass surface last season but plans a major overhaul later this year to artificial turf, which is scheduled to be completed in August prior to the high school football season.
"Among the RFPs (Request for Proposals) that were submitted, the Cumberland Valley facility was very competitive," Lombardi said. "Especially with some of the changes that they will be making, not only to adding a new field and changing the press box, but they also have an indoor surface that can be used as a training room and weight room, a media center, two artificial surfaces that can be used for walkthroughs and player locker rooms. There were quite a host of things that were very attractive along with a very nice financial package for us."
PIAA Associate Executive Director Melissa Mertz listed the following as "considerable factors" that went into choosing Cumberland Valley: Installation of new turf field, state-of-the-art video, sound and lighting systems, upgraded concessions, upgraded visitor's side press box, indoor turf facility, athletic training center, meeting spaces for teams, officials and members of the media, cafeterias for team meals and film rooms.
Franklin wanted PSU
Following the announcement, many on social media questioned the PIAA for not taking advantage of the opportunity to provide memories for players participating in the state finals by holding the games at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State football coach James Franklin was among those looking for answers on Thursday.
"I talked to Coach Franklin, because he was asking me what I knew about the decision," said Hollidaysburg athletic director and football coach Homer DeLattre, who is also an executive manager on the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association. "He asked about that ... and he wanted a chance to get to talk to Dr. Lombardi or get a contact at the PIAA to see if he could reach out to get some answers about (the decision). He was just doing some research and trying to find out the same thing everyone else is trying to find out, what went into the decision."
Ultimately, DeLattre said, it was "a PIAA decision."
"They make a lot of decisions," he said. "Most of them are really good ones, and not that this is a bad one, it's just unfortunate for somebody. It's like a great basketball game where everyone plays great and does well and no one deserves to lose, but someone has to lose in the end. It's unfortunate."
Franklin has advocated for Penn State to host the PIAA finals for several years.
"I think there are a lot of reasons why that makes sense," he said at Penn State's media day in 2019. "We're in the center part of the state. I think it would be exciting for kids to have the opportunity to do that, and you see that in other states, as well. So, there's some opportunities there, and we're going to look at them."
Altoona's history
Riccio was optimistic that Altoona could regain the finals for the first time since last hosting in 1997.
"We sent them a heck of a proposal," Riccio said Wednesday. "We were excited about the proposal we put together with myself, our school district administration, Explore Altoona in cooperation with ABCD group and the Chamber. We felt we had all the bases covered whether it be with the facility, locker rooms, media rooms, administrative rooms at the stadium, our press box at the stadium, the size, we addressed the parking. We had everything covered."
When contacted Thursday, Riccio made it clear that he respects the PIAA's decision and congratulated Cumberland Valley on its winning proposal.
"Phil sent the PSFCA a very good letter asking for support," DeLattre said. "I think there's a lot of people who supported that from the Pittsburgh area and such, but there's also a lot of guys that are happy it stayed where it did."
Here from 1992-97
Mansion Park has hosted 26 state championship football games, the second most following Hersheypark Stadium, which has hosted every final from 1998 to 2021, the 3A final in 1988, and the 3A and 4A final in 1989 and 1990.
Altoona hosted Bethlehem Catholic's 26-11 win over Wilmington in the 1988 Class 2A state final, the first year the PIAA held a state championship game in football. That same year, Beaver Stadium held its only state final when Pittsburgh Central Catholic defeated Cedar Cliff, 14-7, in the 4A final.
Other sites that have been used include Shippensburg University, Middletown's Memorial Stadium, Lackawanna County Stadium, Pittsburgh's South Stadium and Wilkes-Barre's Memorial Stadium.
The PIAA moved all four of its state final games to Mansion Park from 1992 through 1997.
"It was a true team off-the-field effort with Tom Bradley, Dr. Dennis Murray, Vince Nedimyer and my staff at the (Allegheny Mountains Convention) Visitors Bureau," said Cheryl Ebersole, who was the Visitors Bureau Executive Director during the time the finals were in Altoona. "We really made it a whole experience. The games were extremely important, but it became a significant economic impact for Blair County when we hosted the games. Our lodging properties and restaurants were filled, and not only were they filled and very busy, it was during our non-peak season in Blair County. It really provided an extra boost to our economy and extended the tourism season."
This past season, a total of 19,822 people attended the six championship games held at Hersheypark Stadium. The highest-attended game was in Class 4A, which drew 4,306 fans. Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic's Class 1A championship win over Redbank Valley drew 2,563 people.
"It's extremely disappointing that the games are no longer held here, because I know a lot of people worked so hard to bring the games to the area and hoped the investment of what they did to host the games that they would continue to come back," Ebersole said. "It's a sense of pride also for the community to be able to host and showcase the area."
Ebersole said it came as a shock when the PIAA moved the state finals to Hershey in 1998.
"We were very surprised that the games would not remain," Ebersole said. "We felt that anything that needed to be improved or added to we could have done if we would have known that they wanted or needed those things. We were very sad to see them leave."
Altoona completed major upgrades to its playing surface and scoreboard prior to the 2021 high school football season to enhance its bid.
Cumberland Valley's football field, Harry C. Chapman Field, has a capacity of 8,045 plus the ability to accommodate 82 wheelchair seats.
Mansion Park has a capacity of 10,400. Cumberland Valley's proposal listed 20 hotels within a six-mile drive while Altoona's cited 1,400 hotel and motel rooms within the direct Altoona market and an additional 3,000+ within a 30-minute drive radius.
"I talked to Coach Riccio about it, and I talked to Coach Franklin on the phone (Thursday) about it and talked to (Cumberland Valley football coach) Josh Oswalt at Cumberland Valley. He's on the board of directors at the PSFCA with me, so I'm sure there's some happy people and unhappy people," DeLattre said. "It's just unfortunate with all these great facilities we have here in Pennsylvania that someone had to lose out."