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The Big 12 Conference has announced Oklahoma City and Arlington as future sites for the Big 12 Baseball Championship. Oklahoma City’s Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark will host the tournament in 2021. Arlington’s new Globe Life Field will welcome the championship to Texas for the first time in 18 years in 2022 and also host the event in 2023 and 2024.
“Oklahoma City and Arlington have a successful history of hosting Big 12 championships,” said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “We are pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with Oklahoma City in hosting our baseball championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and also look forward to playing in the new home of the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.”
“Oklahoma City is proud to host the Big 12 Baseball Championship again in 2021,” said Sue Hollenbeck, Director of Sport Business at Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We are very honored to have a long history and a great partnership with the Big 12 and look forward to another exciting and successful event this year and next. OKC looks forward to the championship returning to the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in the future.”
“We are excited to welcome the Big 12 Baseball Championship back to Arlington and to Globe Life Field for the first time,” said Sean Decker, Texas Rangers Executive Vice President of Sports & Entertainment. “We were honored to be considered along with many great cities around the country and are ecstatic to be selected for this three-year run beginning in 2022. We would like to thank Commissioner Bowlsby and the Big 12 Conference for their support and trust in us and look forward to our continued partnership.”
The Big 12 has played 20 of its 23 baseball championships in Oklahoma City, including the last four seasons. Arlington hosted the event in 2002 and most recently in 2004, while Tulsa was the home site in 2015. Additionally, the Championship will be held in Oklahoma City in 2020.
Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark has been recognized as being one of the best facilities in Minor League Baseball by several national publications, including Baseball America and the USA Today Travel Media Group. The Oklahoma City Dodgers franchise has been a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League since 1998. In 2018, the team was named the Triple-A winner of the Bob Freitas Award presented by Baseball America for excellence in minor league operations.
The new home of the Texas Rangers, the state-of-the-art Globe Life Field will open this March. The 1.8 million square foot facility will include a 5.5 acre retractable roof for climate control and shelter for fans during the hot summer months. With a capacity of approximately 40,300 and a seating bowl that will bring fans closer to the action, Globe Life Field will also serve as a premier multipurpose venue that will include capabilities for hosting numerous sports and entertainment events year round.
Big 12 baseball is steep with history including a combined 118 regional appearances, 42 super regionals, 26 College World Series berths and a pair of National Champions. Since 1997, 1,077 student-athletes have been taken in the annual Major League Baseball Draft. Forty-three Big 12 standouts have been selected in the first round, including four players picked in the top-11 of the 2019 MLB Draft.