JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The city of Jacksonville, in a partnership with the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), just announced it will host the statewide high school boys and girls basketball championships over the next three years.
Mayor Donna Deegan made the announcement inside Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena alongside the FHSAA and Jacksonville Sports Foundation.
“This new partnership with the FHSAA is a slam dunk for our city,” said Mayor Deegan.
Before now, the FHSAA said the games were held in Lakeland for the last 30 years. The FHSAA tells Action News Jax the last time Jacksonville hosted the games was in 1976, almost 50 years ago.
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“There’s lots of enthusiasm, lots of support here, which makes it great,” said Craig Camon, the executive director of the FHSAA, “some of the best players in the country have the opportunity to participate here in Jacksonville.”
The FHSAA said the games will be held next spring inside the University of North Florida’s arena, which the university says has a 5,400-person capacity. Damon is hoping to fill the bleachers with fans and families from around the state, driving to Jacksonville to support the student athletes.
He told Action News Jax it’s something he hopes will appeal to fans of all the major sports teams around Duval.
“A lot of our basketball players also play football. So this opportunity of seeing some guys that may be playing on an NFL team at some point in time playing in a state championship,” Damon said.
The FHSAA said schools in the rural bracket will have their championship games during the last weekend of February 2026. Schools with a 1A - 7A classification will play between March 3rd and March 14th.
The Jacksonville Sports Foundation, which worked with the city and the FHSAA to bring the games to Duval, is already setting its sights on other major sports events to be hosted locally.
“I want to see March Madness here,” said Samantha Vance, the executive director of the Jacksonville Sports Foundation, “I want to see the NFL draft here. I want to see the Super Bowl here, back again.”
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