1 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The city of Hoover spent about $11 million on renovations at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in advance of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, including a new entrance and newly designed and repaved parking lot.
2 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team practices at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
3 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
Banners decorate Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
4 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The city of Hoover spent about $11 million on renovations at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in advance of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, including a new entrance and newly designed and repaved parking lot.
5 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team practices at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
6 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
Banners decorate Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
7 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The city of Hoover spent about $11 million on renovations at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in advance of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, including a new entrance and newly designed and repaved parking lot.
8 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
Final preparations are made to a newly revamped media briefing room at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
9 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team practices at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
10 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The city of Hoover spent about $11 million on renovations at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in advance of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, including a new entrance and newly designed and repaved parking lot.
11 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team practices at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
12 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The city of Hoover spent about $11 million on renovations at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in advance of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, including a new entrance and newly designed and repaved parking lot.
13 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team practices at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
14 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The city of Hoover spent about $11 million on renovations at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in advance of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, including a new entrance and newly designed and repaved parking lot.
15 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
Banners decorate Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
16 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
The city of Hoover spent about $11 million on renovations at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in advance of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, including a new entrance and newly designed and repaved parking lot.
17 of 17
Photo by Jon Anderson
Banners decorate Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Monday, May 20, 2024, the day before the beginning of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament.
Visitors to the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament will see some changes as soon as they arrive at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The city of Hoover recently completed about $11 million worth of upgrades at the stadium in the second of three phases of planned renovations. The city redesigned and repaved the portion of the parking lot directly in front of the stadium and down the third base side and added new lights and islands in the parking lot, as well as a new entryway to the stadium itself.
The roof on the stadium also was repainted a royal blue color, and the media room, which most people won’t see, was renovated with better lighting and technology for cameras and microphones, Hoover City Administrator Ken Grimes said.
Brasfield & Gorrie was the general contractor for the work, and Goodwyn Mills Cawood was the architectural firm.
Last year, in the first phase of renovations, both locker rooms were redone at a cost of close to $3 million, Grimes said.
The third phase, slated to be done in time for the 2025 tournament, will include a redesign and repaving of the rest of the parking lot that extends over to the Finley Center and a variety of improvements inside the stadium, he said.
Those interior improvements will include a 4,250-square-foot club suite addition down the third base side on the concourse level, with glass doors that open up to a new chairback seating section, Hoover Parks and Recreation Director Erin Colbaugh said. Another planned improvement is a new two-tier outfield patio on the first base side of the field between the scoreboard and bullpen, Grimes said.
Additionally, the chairback seating in the lower bowl of the stadium will be replaced with new chairback seating, and six sections of aluminum bleachers on the second level will be replaced with chairback seating, Colbaugh said. The remaining aluminum bleachers will get new backs put on them, she said.
The third phase of renovations also will include a new entrance from the lower parking lot on the third base side of the field and a total renovation of the concourse area, including new flooring and light fixtures to give the stadium a more modern look, Grimes said.
The third phase of renovations for 2025 is expected to cost about $11 million as well, putting the total price tag for three years’ worth of renovations at about $25 million, Grimes said.
This is the final year on the SEC’s current contract with the city of Hoover for the SEC Baseball Tournament, but a one-year optional extension remains in place for the 2025 tournament, Colbaugh said. Hoover officials have been in discussions with the SEC about extending the city’s contract with the SEC even further, she said.
Grimes said he feels good about the city’s chances of getting that contract extension, despite interest by some other areas within the conference to pull it away from Hoover.
“The relationship is extremely strong,” Grimes said. “We want to make sure we keep SEC baseball as long as we can.”
This is the 47th SEC Baseball Tournament and the 27th year it has been held in Hoover.
2024 TOURNAMENT DETAILS
The first game of the 2024 tournament featured Georgia against LSU at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, with LSU winning 9-1. That was followed by Alabama losing to South Carolina 10-5. The third game for Tuesday featured Vanderbilt and Florida, with Vandy coming out on top 6-3. This was followed by Mississippi State beating Ole Miss 2-1. The losers on Tuesday did not advance in the tournament.
The top four-seeded teams — Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M — got a bye for day one and played their first game of the tournament on Wednesday. LSU beat Kentucky 11-0, followed by South Carolina beating Arkansas 6-5. Then Vanderbilt won over Tennessee 13-4, and Mississippi State defeated Texas A&M 5-3.
Double-elimination play began Wednesday and will continue through Friday.
Kentucky faces Arkansas at 9:30 a.m., followed by No. 1 seed Tennessee vs. No. 2 seed Texas A&M. Then at 4:30 p.m., LSU takes on South Carolina, followed by Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.
Single-elimination semifinals will be held Saturday, and the championship game is at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Bracket courtesy of the Southeastern Conference
Last year’s tournament drew a record crowd of 171,288 spectators, according to the SEC. Vanderbilt won the tournament last year with a 10-4 victory over Texas A&M in the championship game.
This is the final year of the current tournament format. The 2025 tournament will move to a 16-team single-elimination tournament.
While reserve seating tickets have sold out for this year’s tournament, there still are general admission tickets for sale. General admission tickets cost $18, or $9 for children ages 3-12. Tickets are available at secticketoffice.com/events/secbb.html or at the Hoover Met 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 12:04 a.m. on Thursday, May 23.
