Greg Sankey discusses future of SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, potential location change

Hoover, Alabama has become a very significant place for the Southeastern Conference when it comes to its postseason schedule. SEC baseball teams descend on Hoover Met Stadium to compete against the best of the best each May.

However, due to weather concerns, some have grown tired of playing the league’s tournament there. That’s a problem that falls at the feet of SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. Still, first and foremost, he credited the city for hosting another great year for the SEC in an interview with the SEC Network.

“First of all, the city of Hoover, Mayor Frank Brocato, his staff? (I) just met with Police Chief Derzis. They’ve done a phenomenal job,” Sankey said. “And whoever is in charge of weather for Hoover this week? (They) knocked it, literally, out of the park.”

From there, Sankey said a lot goes into a decision to potentially change the site of the SEC Tournament. He said the SEC has built something special in Hoover with how they’ve connected to the city. Once you consider how it also prepares them for the NCAA Tournament and College World Series, Sankey says reconsidering the location of the conference tournament is a unique process.

“Again, look at this crowd. We are the envy of every other conference in the baseball tournament,” Sankey said. “Here’s reality. I think there’s something to be said for what we’ve built here and we have to cherish that carefully. We have other points of interest and we’re going to consider those quickly and fully.”

“What we do here is prepare our teams for the next three or four weeks. During the season? You don’t have 11-inning games with two teams the game before yours. And then you’ll have to adjust your preparation. You don’t have to deal with two-hour rain delays. You know what’s going to happen the next three or four weeks? You’re going to have to deal with extra inning games involving other teams, you’re going to have to deal with rain delays. You’re going to have to deal with playing at midnight, which hasn’t happened all season,” said Sankey. “I think this has provided us with something really special. So we’re going to think carefully but we need to come to a decision. Look at it out there. It’s phenomenal with teams that are not from this metropolitan area.”

Hoover has hosted the SEC Tournament since 1998. While cities like Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, and Jacksonville all made bids back in 2016, Hoover remained the conference’s choice moving forward.

Weather is just going to play a role when you’re considering an outdoor sport, especially in that area at this time of year. Still, at the end of the day, it sounds like it’s going to take more than rain for Sankey and the SEC to seriously reconsider where their conference tournament should be played.