MHSAA Tickets Go Digital with GoFan
November 2, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
The MHSAA, in partnership with GoFan and high schools across the state, have kicked off the 2020 Football Playoffs with a new touchless, digital ticket offering.
Sporting events across the country are looking a little different this year with limited capacity in stadiums, social distancing and other statewide regulations that are challenging state associations and schools to think creatively on how to get fans in the stands safely. Digital ticketing is a faster and more expedient way to attend events and now a safer way as well.
“GoFan will make it easier on our spectators to purchase tickets for our tournament events and easier for our tournament sites from a management standpoint." said Mark Uyl, Executive Director of the MHSAA. “During this pandemic, GoFan is making it more convenient – and safer – for everyone.”
With limited capacity in mind, a select number of tickets are distributed to each team in advance of the game. Priority ticket purchasing is available first to parents and family members through a VIP link. Public sale of tickets may not be offered at all sites, based on availability, but purchasing may be done on the participating school GoFan pages beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday each week.
“GoFan is proud to partner with the MHSAA and play a key role in their digital ticketing implementation across the (state),” said B.J. Pilling, Chief Executive Officer of GoFan. “Digital ticketing is being adopted as the primary choice for many high schools and state associations."
MHSAA and GoFan also are implementing touchless ticketing across the state of Michigan during soccer, volleyball and cross country championships.
For a full list of championship events and how to get your tickets, click here.
About GoFan: GoFan is the leading digital ticketing solution for high school events. Led by innovative technology and unmatched support, GoFan provides schools with a turnkey platform to manage season, online, and at-event ticket sales. GoFan is a product of Huddle Tickets, which has provided over 2 billion event tickets to schools since 2001. Serving over 2,000 high schools and 37 state associations, GoFan provides fans frictionless access to high school events across the country (click link for more). You can also follow the company on Twitter @GoFanHS and LinkedIn, and like GoFan on Facebook.
About Michigan High School Athletic Association: The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
MHSAA 2025-26 Attendance Figures Show Increases in 10 Sports, Nearly Offsetting Early Deficit
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 25, 2026
Increased attendance in 10 sports nearly made up for a likely Halloween-driven deficit during the first week of last season’s football playoffs as Michigan High School Athletic Association postseason tournament attendance approached 1.4 million spectators again for the 2025-26 school year.
Total, MHSAA Tournament events drew 1,381,218 spectators at competitions for which admission is charged – which counts all MHSAA-sponsored sports except golf, skiing and tennis, as single tickets are not sold for those postseason events. The total of just under 1.4 million spectators was a decrease of 16,356 tickets sold across all sports (1.2 percent) from 2024-25 – but notable increases in other sports helped make up for a year-to-year decrease of 37,617 tickets (29 percent) for the District Semifinal round of the MHSAA 11-Player Football Playoffs, which along with 8-Player Regional Semifinals coincided with Halloween in 2025.
The Boys Lacrosse Tournament saw record attendance during its Semifinals and overall with 18,067 tickets sold across all rounds – that total representing an 18-percent increase from the previous season. Girls Volleyball Tournament attendance approached its overall record, with 118,332 tickets sold an increase of 6.7 percent from the 2025 postseason and just 99 tickets shy of tying the record set during the 2019 season. Girls volleyball did set records at the District (78,307) and Regional (26,793) levels.
Girls attendance as a whole rebounded in 2025-26, up to 460,730 tickets sold, an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous year. Girls basketball (146,322), competitive cheer (29,491), lacrosse (5,573) and individual wrestling (5,539) all joined volleyball as showing attendance jumps. Overall attendance for cross country (girls and boys combined) also saw an increase (17,778), as did boys basketball (262,338), boys swimming & diving (5,831) and individual wrestling (47,903). The Individual Wrestling Finals, specifically, enjoyed their largest audience since 2016-17.
Football did receive good news, despite the lower attendance that first week and also slightly lower attendance year-to-year for the 11-Player District Finals. The Regional rounds of the playoffs, 11 and 8-player combined, saw their highest attendance (68,469) since the 2012 season, and despite 8-Player Regional Semifinals coinciding with Halloween. The Semifinals attendance (33,085) saw their highest attendance also since 2012, and Finals attendance (44,708) was its highest since 2019.
The MHSAA also sponsored postseasons for the first time for field hockey and boys volleyball, adding overall ticket sales of 2,084 and 8,158, respectively.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.