The SEC has made the news official that the SEC Baseball Tournament will remain in Hoover through at least 2028. News broke last week that Hoover and the SEC were close to coming to an agreement on a deal for the tournament to stay at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
On Thursday, the SEC, the City of Hoover and the Public Park and Recreation Board of the City of Hoover released a joint statement that a deal has been finalized.
The SEC also has the option of keeping the SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Met in 2029 and 2030.
“The SEC Tournament has become one of the premier events in college baseball and the Hoover Met is a special venue for our fans,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing a positive relationship with the City of Hoover as the home of our baseball tournament.”
Hoover has been the home of the SEC Baseball Tournament since 1998.
The agreement for the tournament to remain at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium comes as renovations to the park have already happened in recent years, with more on the way.
Up next as far as renovations include redesigning and repaving a portion of the parking lot and adding a suite down the third base side of the concourse level. There will also reportedly be an outfield patio on the first base side of the field between the scoreboard and bullpen.
The latest renovations that are on the way will complete a three-phase set of renovations to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Approximately $14 million in total were spent the previous two years, and the total project will cost approximately $25 million.
While the SEC Baseball Tournament is remaining in Hoover, some changes are on the way.
The Southeastern Conference has agreed on a new format for the SEC Baseball Tournament beginning in 2025, the first year that Oklahoma and Texas will join the league.
According to a press release, the league will have a 16-team tournament that will be single elimination. The top four seeds in the tournament will receive a double bye, while the teams seeded fifth through eighth will receive a single bye.
The new format will replace the previous format, which was a blend of single elimination and double elimination.
The new SEC Baseball Tournament format was approved by the league’s athletics directors in advance of the arrival of Oklahoma and Texas, which moved the league to 16 teams.
Though the SEC Tournament format will be changing in 2025, the regular season will still consist of 30 conference games for each team, with 10 three-game series played over the course of 10 weekends.
The new scheduling format will have each team facing two permanent opponents and eight rotating opponents on an annual basis, with no divisional format.
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