One of the best things that the N.C. High School Athletic Association does — and certainly the most visible — is put on fantastic state championships at great venues.

Currently, basketball, football, volleyball, softball, track and field, and wrestling use ACC or other college venues. Golf championships are sometimes at courses that have hosted majors (Pinehurst No. 2 included).

But the NCHSAA faces two complicating factors next year.

The first is its budget. The NCHSAA has reported losses the last few years due to both rising venue costs plus a new state law, passed in Oct. 2023, that prevented the association from making revenue from corporate sponsors, which affected almost a third of the NCHSAA’s operational budget. (Corporate sponsors are allowed for the postseason only.)

The second is that we’re going from four to eight classifications next fall. In theory, that’s double the financial committment.

Although the NCHSAA’s working relationships with venues across the state has served it well for decades, there’s a fear that many titles will be forced shift from top-tier sites to high schools, where staffing, security, locker rooms, parking (both lot size plus being able to handle traffic during transitions between games), playing surface, and availability present more headaches.

There is, however, a way forward for the NCHSAA.

It’s a process that the NCHSAA has never had to use because of its rapport and expertise, but hard times require hard measures.

It’s time to put these championships out to the highest bidder.

This is a measure that can maintain elite championship venues amid eight classifications and ever-evolving state limitations.

High school championships, if packaged together, provide a great economic impact to the areas they serve. As we learned when the old basketball regional format went away, places like Fayetteville, Greenville, and Hickory were more interested in bringing in crowds over a number of days than they are bringing in fans for just one Saturday’s worth of games. Winston-Salem was a huge winner with last year’s weeklong “Final Four” format — I spent more money there in three days than I had in the previous two years.

So the first move, then, is to add days to a championship weekend, rather than doubling the number of venues and keeping the days the same. For example, volleyball currently has all four title games on Saturday. Next year it’ll have eight title games, and it would be best to stretch them out with one or two on Thursday, a few more on Friday, and three or four on Saturday. (Having a single Sunday afternoon championship should be given some thought, but I don’t think it’s likely.) This also helps NCHSAA staff from being stretched too thin.

Next, you have to make the cities and their host sites compete for championships by putting them out for bids, even packaging some sports together. Tennessee does this with its weeklong spring championships, bundling them all together for “Spring Fling.” Like a Super Bowl or an all-star game host city, the “Spring Fling” winners are announced years in advance.

Not every championship would be as highly-sought after to warrant bidding, of course.

Burlington might be the best if not only place to knock out seven or eight dual-team tennis titles without the NCHSAA having to spend much money. Softball venues are the hardest to come by, so there might not be as much of a point in including them in a bid when perhaps only UNC-Greensboro has a site that can host crowds from two title series in the same weekend.

But if Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper wants to bring eight football championships to his stadium — he’s mentioned hosting before! — over the course of 3-4 days instead of having them at N.C. State and UNC, this would be the way for him to make that happen.

If N.C. State and UNC want to keep the best players playing in their facilities for state titles, they or someone else would have to pony up the cash to match.

The NCHSAA should make back more money with this arrangement, a much-needed positive turn for its budget woes.

But the real winners would be our current and future students, coaches, fans, and communities.

They wouldn’t have to be relegated to second-tier status at makeshift championship sites.

Their own fantastic seasons would have an equally elite venue to match.