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| HDFC PR, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
Stagg Bowl LI will be played on Jan. 4 or Jan. 5, 2025, as part of the new expanded playoff structure which will see 40 teams play it out over six weekends for the 2024 Division III football national championship. And it will be played in Houston, Texas, in Shell Energy Stadium, a 12-year-old facility that is home to Houston Dynamo FC, the NWSL's Houston Dash, and Texas Southern football.
The stadium was recently renovated and seats 22,039 for football.
The Stagg Bowl has been played in the Houston area twice before, in 2018 and 2019. The attendance at these games varied widely -- when Mary Hardin-Baylor played in the game, it drew 6,816, but the following year, when North Central defeated UW-Whitewater, it was played in front of just 1,362 fans.
With the new playoff schedule, there will be two weeks between the semifinals, on Dec. 21, and the championship game.
The stadium also features natural grass, which the Stagg Bowl has not been played on since 2004.