Trevor Heid of the AZ Fall Classic discusses his group’s baseball tournament with the Surprise City Council on Sept. 19.
Courtesy Surprise TV
The city of Surprise is throwing its money behind the return of the AZ Fall Classic to the city.
The Surprise City Council on Sept. 19 approved $25,000 in reimbursements to the tournament, which is planning another four weeks of baseball in Surprise.
The city esitmates 16,000 people will attend more than 200 games that will be played over four weeks at the Surprise Recreation Campus. It’s expected to bring more than 400 total room nights to the city economy.
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The city of Surprise is throwing its money behind the return of the AZ Fall Classic to the city.
The Surprise City Council on Sept. 19 approved $25,000 in reimbursements to the tournament, which is planning another four weeks of baseball in Surprise.
The city esitmates 16,000 people will attend more than 200 games that will be played over four weeks at the Surprise Recreation Campus. It’s expected to bring more than 400 total room nights to the city economy.
The AZ Fall Classic started in 1995 at the Peoria Sports Complex to help high school players become connected with college recruiters. The four weeks of baseball last September and October brought in about 15,000 people to Surprise.
The city will be reimbursing the tournament $2,500 for every 100 room nights that are verified for a maximum of $25,000. The reimbusement can be used for facility fees, hotel reimbursements and rebates and event marketing.
As part of the agreement, tournament officials must include “Surprise, Arizona” in any form of marketing to be eligible for reimbursements.
Trevor Heid, owner and president of AZ Fall Classic, told the council that out of his group’s six events of the year, four of the weeks are in Surprise.
“Our goal is to get high school players connected with colleges,” Heid said.
More than 500 teams are expected to play this year with about 80% of the teams from outside Arizona.
Jason Stone can be reached at jstone@iniusa.org. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Jason Jason Stone joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2019, after a distinguished three decade media career that included stops at the Arizona Republic, iHeart Media/Clear Channel and Beckett Sports Card magazine. He remembers when airports sold newspapers.
Community: He is a big supporter of the Valley's original sports team: The Phoenix Suns.
Education: Northern Arizona University with a BS in broadcast journalism and a minor in sports coaching.
Random Fact: The capital of Nebraska is Lincoln.
Hobbies: Surfing, backgammon and men who aren't afraid to cry.
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