Hancock-Whitney Stadium on the University of South Alabama campus is being considered as a site for the annual Super 7. (Photo courtesy of the Mobile Sports Authority)
Alabama High School Athletic Association Executive Director Heath Harmon said Mobile and Hancock-Whitney made a favorable impression on him as a possible site for the Super 7 and said a decision could come in January. (Jimmy Wigfield/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MOBILE — A decision on a possible new rotation for the Super 7 that might include Mobile’s Hancock-Whitney Stadium could come in January, according to Alabama High School Athletic Association Executive Director Heath Harmon.
“I certainly think it’s a venue that is really nice,” Harmon said during Saturday’s Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic at the University of South Alabama’s on-campus stadium. “It’s been good being down here this week and we’re in the process of looking at all that. I’m very thankful for everybody involved here. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes at these events. We’re in the process now of just going through all of the sites that submitted RFPs (request for proposal). It should be pretty soon. It will be early next year.”
Mobile Sports Authority Executive Director Danny Corte said Harmon’s visit to Hancock-Whitney Stadium gave him another chance to extol Mobile’s virtues as a Super 7 site. Harmon made an official visit to tour the facility and meet with Corte and other local officials in November.
Danny Corte
“I feel cautiously optimistic,” Corte said during Saturday’s game. “We do have some more work to do. It’s just a little bit, one step at a time, but I think we’ve made some progress. This was the first time that coach Harmon has seen a game in Hancock-Whitney, so I think from what I’ve heard everything went well.”
Corte said he was going to try and meet with Harmon this week.
“I just want to go through some details,” Corte said. “I want him to have all the information he needs to make a decision.”
The AHSAA’s Central Board of Control has indicated it wants to see the Super 7 move around instead of staying in one city. Birmingham’s Protective Stadium hosted the Super 7 for the first time earlier this month and will also host it in 2027 and 2030. A possible rotation could involve Mobile and Alabama State’s stadium in Montgomery.
Corte said Mobile and Hancock-Whitney Stadium have proven they can handle premier AHSAA events by hosting the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic and the North-South All-Star Game.
Protective Stadium has the largest capacity of the three stadiums (47,000), plus 34 suites and four locker rooms, which the AHSAA says is mandatory. Hancock-Whitney Stadium holds 25,450 fans with 11 suites and two locker rooms. Alabama State’s stadium, which opened in 2012, seats 26,500, has 20 suites and five locker rooms.
Corte told the Call News in June he had been talking with USA athletic director Joel Erdmann about creating more locker rooms and suites at Hancock-Whitney Stadium.
“There’s a few other things besides that and we need to address each one of those head on and say, ‘Here’s our idea, what do you think?’ and just kind of talk our way through it and see if we can come to a meeting of the minds,” Corte said.
The City of Birmingham, its convention and visitors bureau and the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority signed a deal in October 2020 to pay the AHSAA $200,000 for each Super 7 it hosts. Corte told the Call News in June that figure would likely increase for all sites.
The Super 7 drew 41,264 fans in three days in Birmingham this year, 43,014 in Tuscaloosa in 2023 and 61,519 in Auburn in 2022. Corte told the Call News in June the Super 7’s economic impact in Mobile would be $15 million to $20 million.
