Destin Wrapup: Hoover keeps SEC Baseball Tournament

DESTIN, Fla. – Topping competitive bids from four other cities, Hoover, Ala. has retained the rights to host the annual SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium for an undetermined length of time.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was granted the authority by school presidents on Friday to negotiate and finalize a multi-year deal with the Alabama Sports Foundation and city of Hoover, which recently approved $70 million for upgrades and additions to the stadium in an effort to keep the tournament in Alabama.

Jacksonville, Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans submitted bids to the conference office, but essentially lost to the incumbent.

“We saw things in better condition this year than we have and the city of Hoover has an investment plan to build a $70 campus around the baseball stadium,” Sankey said Friday during a press conference wrapping up four days of meetings at the Hilton Sandestin. “That pretty much set them apart. But we had five cities submit proposals and it was a difficult task.”

Hoover plans to construct an events center for 2017 to be used for a Fan Fest while the tournament is going on. By 2018, Hoover plans to build six practice fields adjacent to the stadium (one will duplicate the dimensions of the Hoover Met) as well as expand and improve the parking and RV lots to accommodate 5,000 vehicles.

“We look forward to working with Hoover to finalize that agreement and continuing on the success we had this year when we had over 150,000 fans in attendance at the tournament,” Sankey said. “The ability to have a campus setting with something for our fans and having the teams stay at nice hotels nearby and practice on a field that is as replica of the ballpark was important. The City of Hoover’s investment in structure around the stadium was the tipping point.”

In other news on the final day of the SEC spring meetings:

-- The SEC approved allowing the video feed from the replay booth to be shown on in-stadium video boards during official reviews. Previously, only the TV network feed could be shown to fans.

-- The league will continue to utilize an independent medical observer in the press box for all SEC home football games.

-- The men’s golf championship in April will now feature two days of match play in an effort to mirror and better prepare SEC teams for the NCAA championships.

-- In the wake of Florida and LSU having to cancel home games against Idaho in 2014 and McNeese State in 2015, respectively, and USC being forced to move a home football game last October because of catastrophic flooding in parts of Columbia, the SEC approved the purchase of conference-wide revenue protection insurance against losses that may arise from the cancellation or postponement of games.

-- The SEC established a 1:30 a.m. local time curfew for all suspended games.

-- The SEC increased bowl revenue distribution by $25,000 at all levels after allowable deductions. Here is the breakdown of bowl payouts for each level:

-- For bowl games paying each team less than $1.5 million, the SEC school shall retain $1.03 million plus a travel allowance.

-- For bowl games paying each team between $1.5 million and $3.99 million, the SEC shall retain $1.3 million plus a travel allowance.

-- For bowl games paying each ream between $4 million and $5.99 million, the SEC school shall retain $1.5 million plus a travel allowance.

-- For bowl games and the CFB playoff semifinals paying each team $6 million or more, the SEC school shall retain $2.03 million. If a SEC school reaches the national championship games, it will receive an additional $2.13 million.

-- The SEC widened the definition of the term “serious misconduct” in its by-laws pertaining to transfer student to include sexual assault, domestic violence, date violence, stalking or “conduct of a nature that creates serious concerns about the safety of others.” Moreover, SEC schools are now obligated to conduct an inquiry into the transfer’s background that satisfies the SEC’s “minimum due diligence expectations prior to consummating the scholarship paperwork or allowing them to practice or compete. Sankey emphasized the admittance of an athlete into school is a decision left to the institution, not the conference office.

-- Sankey said the football coaches, “in a uniform voice,” believe the environment around satellite camps is “not healthy.” Sankey insisted the SEC continues to maintain the improper purpose of many satellite camps is recruiting based rather than instruction based.

-- Two biggest non-stories of the week: 1) Moving the SEC men’s basketball tournament to November, as suggested by Kentucky coach John Calipari (obviously still miffed the Wildcats got a No. 4 seed and Texas A&M a No. 3 seed after capturing the tourney title); and 2) Auburn shifting to the SEC East. While the latter 'story' makes geographic sense, it will never happen as long as arch-rival Alabama remains in the Western Division.