Big 12 baseball championship to move from Texas to new location in 2026
Surprise Stadium, the Phoenix-area spring training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, will be site of a premier college baseball event next May.
The Big 12 Conference announced Monday that the Big 12 baseball championship, which has been held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas since 2022 will move to Arizona starting next season.
League officials did not indicate how many years the Big 12 championship will be played at Surprise Stadium, which recently rated No. 1 in USA Today’s rankings of Major League Baseball’s best spring training facilities.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with REV Entertainment as the Big 12 baseball championship moves to a world-class venue in Arizona,” Big 12 chief competition officer Scott Draper said in a news release. “Surprise Stadium is a premier facility that will create a great atmosphere and experience for our student-athletes and fans.”
The venue, which seats 10,714 fans, offers lawn seating and air-conditioned suites.
Surprise Stadium has played host to major-league spring training for two decades. It’s also the site of Arizona Fall League games and an annual college baseball tournament that will be operated by REV Entertainment, in partnership with the City of Surprise, beginning in 2026.
The Big 12 has since 2022 staged its baseball championship at Globe Life Field, in conjunction with REV Entertainment.
The Big 12 indicated it will continue its partnership with REV Entertainment for planning and operation of the event at Surprise Stadium. The 2026 Big 12 baseball championship will make its debut at Surprise Stadium with a 12-team field May 20-23, 2026.
KU baseball coach Dan Fitzgerald — his No. 25-ranked Jayhawks (42-14) open the 2025 tournament at 4 p.m. Thursday against the winner of a Wednesday game between Baylor and Oklahoma State — spoke Monday about championship event’s looming move to Arizona.
“We looked up the weather right right away. It’s 103 right now in Arizona, and it’s pretty nice inside of Globe Life,” Fitzgerald said with a smile.
Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, has a retractable roof.
“I think it’s good,” Fitzgerald added of the move. “I think that the big one for me is which place affords us the opportunity to put forth the best tournament.”
The KU coach believes a pod format, which would guarantee each team two games (compared to this year’s single-elimination format and guarantee of just one game) would be ideal.
Fitzgerald said the league’s coaches last spring suggested a 12-team pool-play format in which three teams would be placed in each of four different pods. The pod winners would move to single-elimination semifinals.
“It’s time-tested, and if you look at RPI and trying to protect five through eight in the standings — those are usually the teams on the bubble — the pod format’s really good,” Fitzgerald said. “I think if we can, wherever we go, (we should) try to do that format.
“We do have a West Coast presence now, although I’ve never really understood how Arizona is West Coast. They’re not on the coast, but Arizona, Utah, we’ve got a bunch of teams that swing that direction.
“So I think it’s good. It (Surprise Stadium) is a great park. It’s a super-cool park. And, yeah, I think it’ll be great.”
Until 2022, when Globe Life Field became the home of the Big 12’s postseason event, the tourney was held at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.
The Big 12 holds its football championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington and its basketball championship at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center (where the conference’s current contract runs through 2031).
Big 12 football media days will return to the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility this July after being held in Las Vegas last summer.
Here’s the schedule for the upcoming Big 12 baseball tourney in Texas:
Big 12 Baseball Championship
All times Central
Wednesday’s games
Game 1 – No. 5 Arizona State vs. No. 12 BYU, 9 a.m., ESPN+
Game 2 – No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Texas Tech, 12:30 p.m., ESPNU & ESPN+
Game 3 – No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Baylor, 4 p.m., ESPNU & ESPN+
Game 4 – No. 6 Kansas State vs. No. 11 Houston, 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 & ESPN+
Thursday’s games
Game 5 – No. 4 Arizona vs. Game 1 Winner, 9 a.m., ESPN+
Game 6 – No. 1 West Virginia vs. Game 2 Winner, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+
Game 7 – No. 2 Kansas vs. Game 3 Winner, 4 p.m., ESPNU & ESPN+
Game 8 – No. 3 TCU vs. Game 4 Winner, 7:30 p.m., ESPNU & ESPN+
Friday’s games
Game 9 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 4 p.m. – ESPN+
Game 10 – Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
Saturday’s game
Game 11 – Championship, 6 p.m.. ESPNU & ESPN+
