Could Hosting SEC Baseball, Softball Tournaments Soon be Foreign to Alabama? All Things CW
It's ironic that the University of Alabama baseball team is playing its final midweek game of the season at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery on the same day that the SEC softball tournament is set to start at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, the on campus home of the Razorbacks.
Both are indicative of the directions the league is going with those spring sports, and especially postseason play.
Riverwalk Stadium is the home of the Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League. The ballpark opened in 2004, with a total capacity of 7,000, and it's become a regular venue for the Crimson Tide to visit.
This year the team also played a game at Toyota Field in Madison, the home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Thanks to a terrific turnout and outstanding atmosphere, it too could soon feature a regular or annual game with the Crimson Tide.
Looking around the SEC landscape, there are plenty of premier minor-league baseball facilities in cities like Nashville, Memphis, and with the inclusion of Oklahoma, Tulsa, and even a couple of major league stadiums in its territory.
Even though the Hoover Met has hosted the baseball tournament nearly every year since 1996 (in 1997 it was at Golden Park in Columbus, Ga., and the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic), it's only under contract with the SEC through 2024.
The league will naturally consider its options. The lure of bigger markets and exposure, and of course potential revenue, could soon have the tournament on the road. But some of the advantages of staying put in Hoover include it being centrally located, the added indoor facility, practice facility, fan area and the great parking setup. The stadium also seats 10,800, which is more than most minor-league parks.
"We have a great relationship with the city, "SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. "Obviously a tradition that has been established there. We've had some initial conversations about our future and obviously those will engage much more intentionally moving forward.
"We also think about expansion and what opportunities could be there, can we add an upper deck to the Hoover Met."
However, softball has a "different reality" from baseball, as Sankey put it. The league tournament rotates among the schools and there's no plan to change that.
"The best softball facilities, I think, in America are on our campuses," Sankey said.
However, there is one possibility for a potential permanent host, using the same facility as where the national championship is annually played. Starting next year, USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City will be in the SEC's geographical footprint.
That could potentially give the SEC programs a familiarity, and competitive advantage during the Women's College World Series, and there isn't a coach in the league who won't be interested in that.
Not to be pessimistic, but Alabama fans should enjoy having these tournaments around while they can.
Christopher Walsh's notes column appears regularly on BamaCentral.
