Surprise Stadium to host Big 12 Conference baseball tournament in 2026

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Every February and March, Surprise hosts some of the top players in Major League Baseball, as the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals come to town for spring training. 

Now, the city will host some of the top players in college baseball every May.  

The Big 12 Conference, which the Arizona State Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats are both members of, announced Monday that it will move its conference baseball tournament to Surprise Stadium in Surprise starting in 2026.  

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“We are excited to continue our partnership with REV Entertainment as the Big 12 Baseball Championship moves to a world-class venue in Arizona,” Scott Draper, the Big 12 Conference’s Chief Competition Officer, said in a press release. “Surprise Stadium is a premier facility that will create a great atmosphere and experience for our student-athletes and fans.”  

REV Entertainment operates as “the official sports and entertainment partner of the Texas Rangers,” according to the company’s website.  

“Bringing the Big 12 Baseball Championship to Surprise Stadium represents an exciting new chapter in our partnership with the Big 12 Conference and the City of Surprise,” REV Entertainment Senior Vice President Jared Schrom said in the press release. “We look forward to creating a new tradition in Arizona starting in 2026.” 

This move follows a similar move made by the Pac-12 Conference when ASU and Arizona were members. When the Pac-12 began playing a conference tournament in 2022, the Conference announced it would be played at Scottsdale Stadium in Old Town Scottsdale. The tournament stayed at that ballpark, which is the spring training home of the San Francisco Giants, until 10 of the 12 member schools left after the 2024 season.  

The Big 12 currently plays its conference tournament at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, which is the regular-season home of the Rangers. Arizona is the No. 4 seed in this year’s tournament, and ASU is the No. 5 seed. The teams will square off on Thursday if ASU defeats No. 12 seed BYU on Wednesday.   

The Big 12 has put on a conference tournament in baseball each season, except for 2020, since 1997. This will be the 12th time the tournament has changed locations. 

Originally played at All Sports Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the Big 12 tournament has bounced between locations in Oklahoma and Texas for its almost 30 seasons. 

Surprise Stadium opened in 2002. It has a seating capacity of 10,714 and can seat up to 3,000 people on the lawn behind the outfield fence. The stadium was voted as the best spring training ballpark in either Florida or Arizona in USAToday’s 10Best. The stadium is located at 15850 N Bullard Avenue in Surprise, just west of Surprise City Hall and just north of the intersection of Bullard Avenue and Greenway Road.  

The 2026 Big 12 Tournament will be held from May 20-23. Tickets will go on sale at a later date.  

The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, NBA’s Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.

Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL’s Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.

The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football’s Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.

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