Pop Warner’s national championship event is coming to Charlotte in 2025-26
For the first time in 30 years, Pop Warner’s national championship event won’t be held in Orlando, Florida.
It’s coming to Charlotte instead.
Pop Warner Little Scholars, the nation’s leading youth football and cheerleading organization, announced on Tuesday that its Pop Warner Super Bowl and Cheer & Dance Nationals will take place in the Charlotte area in 2025 and 2026.
The Super Bowl week is scheduled for Dec. 6-13, 2025, at the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex at Matthews, and the cheer and dance nationals will be held December 8-11, 2025, in the Charlotte Convention Center in uptown.
The dates for the 2026 championships will be announced next year.
“Charlotte is an incredible city with a rich sports culture, top-notch hospitality, and endless entertainment options, making it the perfect host for the Pop Warner National Championships,” Steve Strawbridge, Pop Warner President and CEO, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to bring one of youth sports’ most prestigious events to such a vibrant community and provide our young student-athletes and their families with a memorable championship experience. We can’t wait to showcase the talent, teamwork and sportsmanship of our participants on this exciting new stage.”
Additionally, Pop Warner will host a new Flag Football tournament as part of its Super Bowl week. The inaugural tournament will bring together some of the best flag football teams across the country, per a release — an effort that means a lot to the area.
Flag football, after all, has taken hold in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The sport hosted its gold medal contest of the International Federation of American Football’s Americas Continental Championship in July 2023. The Carolina Panthers have also invested heavily in the game.
In October, the sport was added to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“The Carolina Panthers are proud of the team’s long-standing close relationship with Pop Warner Little Scholars in which the team has provided resources, opportunities and experiences for thousands of Pop Warner players, coaches and cheerleaders over the years,” Riley Fields, the Carolina Panthers’ director of community relations, said in a statement. “Pop Warner has an established legacy of being national leader in youth football development. We are thrilled for Charlotte to host the Pop Warner Super Bowl as the best of youth football is showcased on a national stage.”
The Panthers have also put on youth football events for decades. Last year, the team hosted its “Little Panthers Game of the Month” for the first time at Bank of America Stadium.
Pop Warner Little Scholars was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. The nationals bring together 10,000 athletes and their families from across the country, per a release.
