National Championships Expands for 2024

USBands announces an expanded line-up for the 2024 National Championships providing performance opportunities for bands of all levels of achievement at MetLife Stadium and J. Birney Crum Stadium over the first two weekends in November.

Due to unique scheduling circumstances and stadium availability, USBands has revamped a portion of the Nationals schedule to accommodate increased registrations and requests for expanded participation at MetLife Stadium. 

The 2024 Nationals at MetLife Stadium will be held on Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2 featuring the Open Class Bands and in response to popular request, the addition of Group IVA and VA competition.

Friday’s event will feature Group IVA, VA and II Open for 2024 and a projected line-up of Group IVA, VA and III Open for 2025. Saturday’s competition will feature Group I, III, IV and V Open challenging for their 2024 titles. Of note, the Friday, November 1 competition has the potential of being moved to Sunday, November 3 based on the NFL schedule to be released later this Spring.

Meanwhile in Allentown, due to the PIAA high school football schedule, the A Class Nationals will be held at J. Birney Crum Stadium on Saturday, November 9 and Sunday, November 10. Increasing participation has allowed USBands to expand the A Class National Championships to showcase Group IA, IIA and IIIA exclusively at this legendary venue. Saturday, November 9 will feature the Group IA and IIIA bands in competition with the Group IIA to perform on Sunday, November 10.

Seedings for the 2024 National Championships are also undergoing minor revisions in order to address the equity of seedings and allow for at-large performance opportunities by bands from outside the regions traditionally served by USBands. More details will be announced in the coming weeks in the 2024 Participation Guide.

As in past years, A Class groups may be split into separate sub-groups based on registration levels when more than 18 bands per group are enrolled as part of the standard policy for Championship events in the past few seasons. Final decisions regarding sub-group categorization will occur after October 7 when band classifications are finalized.

Priority Registration for USBands Member Schools will begin on Friday, March 1. Open Registration for all schools will open on March 4, 2024.