HOOVER, Ala. — After a brief scare, the SEC Baseball Tournament entered into a new agreement with the City of Hoover to keep the event at the Metropolitan Stadium. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey made the official announcement on June 3 ensuring that the tournament will be held in Hoover for a twentieth consecutive year.

“We are pleased to continue the tradition of hosting the top conference baseball tournament in the country,” stated Gene Hallman, Executive Director of the Alabama Sports Council. “Our goal at the Alabama Sports Council is to continue to grow our community’s reputation as an outstanding host of a wide variety of sporting events. We want to thank the City of Hoover for their outstanding support and also thank the Southeastern Conference for their confidence in our ability to manage this successful tournament.”

Hoover beat out New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville and Jacksonville (FL) to keep the event. The Hoover Met’s new amenities were considered one of the top reasons for retaining the tournament.

The City of Hoover is developing a new $76 million sports complex that will be adjacent to the Hoover Met. The 155,000 square foot indoor events center will be completed by May, 2017, and additional RV parking will also be added. New outdoor sports fields will be completed by February, 2018.

The 2016 SEC Baseball Tournament drew a record-breaking 150,064 fans from all over the United States, surpassing the 2013 attendance record of 134,496.

Next year’s event will be held May 23-28.