The Florida High School Athletic Association board of directors voted 10-0 Tuesday morning in Gainesville to officially create the FHSAA Open Division, a new championship platform that will debut in the 2026-27 school year and reshape the state’s postseason landscape.

• Originally endorsed by the board in June 2024, the finalized format was approved June 9.

“This is an exciting step forward for high school athletics in the state of Florida,” FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon said in a statement. “This has been in the works for the past few years, and after today’s board approval, we are excited to officially share it with everyone and look forward to seeing these teams compete in the Open Division Championships.”

Here’s a breakdown of what it is and how it could impact area programs.

What sports will the Open Division include?

The format will be implemented in football, girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, flag football, and boys and girls lacrosse.

Who will participate in the Open Division?

The Open Division will consist of the top eight teams statewide, regardless of classification.

For football, the top eight will be selected based on MaxPreps rankings on the MaxPreps website at the conclusion of the regular season. For all other Open Division sports, qualifiers will be selected from the FHSAA Power Rankings by MaxPreps, posted on the FHSAA website, at the conclusion of district tournaments.

How will the format work?

The eight qualifying teams will be divided into two pools of four. Pool A consists of seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8, while Pool B consists of seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7. Each team is guaranteed at least one home contest during pool play.

At the conclusion of pool play, the top two teams from each pool advance to the State Finals host site for a single-elimination tournament to determine the Open Division state champion.

In the event of a tie during pool play, tiebreakers will be applied in the following order: head-to-head results among tied teams, points allowed among tied teams only, point differential among tied teams only, and overall point differential from all games.

What is the goal?

The FHSAA developed the Open Division to provide a premier competitive pathway for the state’s highest-performing programs while maintaining the integrity and tradition of FHSAA State Championship competition across all classifications.

Additional details regarding sport-specific timelines, championship dates and State Finals host sites will be shared at a later date.

How could this impact area teams?

Had the format been in place in 2025-26, South Walton baseball and Niceville boys and girls soccer would have qualified for the Open Division. The Seahawks instead captured the area’s first baseball state title under the standard Class 3A bracket.

Going forward, several area programs could find themselves on the Open Division borderline.

Niceville softball, which returns much of the core from last year’s state runner-up team, could land in the Open Division. Depending on where programs like Winter Springs end up, the Eagles could also see a different path through 3A.

Choctaw flag football, under coach Jim Bay, has been one of the state’s elite programs and could see another opening at a state title as the top-ranked teams are pulled into a single division.

Fort Walton Beach girls basketball will be in a region featuring defending state champions Bishop Kenny and Booker T. Washington, both of which return several contributors. The new format could reshape the Vikings’ path to the final round.

Niceville volleyball has a developing core but faces a region that includes Chiles and Gulf Breeze, two of the state’s top programs. That picture could shift under the new format.

Choctaw football, along with Choctaw and Niceville baseball, could also see its postseason picture change.

How the Open Division plays out remains to be seen, but its arrival promises to alter the postseason landscape across the area and the state.