The Iowa Shrine Game will have a new home starting next year. The annual high school football all-star game will move to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
The game has been played at Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium for the past dozen years, but was forced to move because of a new NCAA rule.
Jim Marlin, Executive Director of the Cedar Valley Sports Commission says the rule prevents “non scholastic football” games from being played on Division 1-A campuses. It does not impact high school playoff games.
Marlin says that the Shrine Bowl board and U.N.I. had a mutual interest in putting the game on in the Dome. He says the Shriners were already thinking of holding the game there and it was an obvious alternative once the rule started.
Marlin says that there is a week’s worth of activities surrounding the game that will also move to the Cedar Valley. “It really is amazing the amount that they pack into the week. The kids will spend time out during the week for social activities…there’s a parade Saturday morning before the parade…there’s a banquet of almost 800 people…so it really is a community-wide 7-day event,” according to Marlin.
Marlin doesn’t have a specific dollar amount that the events will bring to the area, but says that the money will be spread across the Cedar Valley. “It’s significant in that they’re coming in and spending money at the water park, and spending money with the Bucks and spending money at the convention center, and then renting the Dome. And that doesn’t include the money they’re spending on housing all the players and the cheerleaders in the dorms for 7 days,” Marlin says.
Next year’s Iowa Shrine Game will the be 41st edition of the all-star competition.
By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls