Unwelcome news for USC fans: SEC baseball tournament not moving
If South Carolina is going to shake off its SEC baseball tournament blues, the Gamecocks will have to do it at the site of so many of those bad memories.
The SEC voted Friday to keep its baseball tournament in Hoover, Ala., for the foreseeable future despite bids from New Orleans, La., Memphis, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., and Jacksonville, Fla., to host the event. Some South Carolina fans were rooting for anywhere but Hoover to win the bid. The Gamecocks are 2-13 in Hoover dating back to 2010 and have lost eight straight conference tournament games in the stadium.
“I think it came to an over $70 million new investment by Hoover ... and good parking, too,” said USC president Harris Pastides, who added that all 14 SEC athletics directors voted to keep the tournament in Hoover.
The Hoover Met and surrounding area will undergo significant renovations in the coming years, including the addition of a new entertainment complex and six new practice fields on the same property, including one that is the exact dimensions of the Hoover Met, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said.
“That very much set that situation apart,” Sankey said.
Hoover will host its 20th straight SEC Tournament in 2017. The length of the league’s new deal with the city has not yet been finalized.
This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Unwelcome news for USC fans: SEC baseball tournament not moving."