Q&A: Behind the Scenes of the SEC Softball Tournament’s Big Move to Toyota Field

Here is what you need to know about the move to Alabama.

The SEC Softball Tournament announced a move to a neutral site starting in 2027. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Southeastern Conference sent shockwaves through the softball world when it announced the postseason softball tournament would be moving to Madison, Ala., starting in 2027.

Toyota Field, home of the Los Angeles Angels' Double-A minor league affiliate Rocket City Trash Pandas, will be the neutral site while the City of Huntsville and Madison County will share hosting duties.

The announcement sparked debate among softball fans on social media, but Joel Lamp, the Sports Development Manager for the Huntsville-Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, tells Softball On SI that the future of this tournament will rival Hoover, Ala., the site of the SEC Baseball Tournament.

Because I'm seeing a lot of pushback about the SEC taking the softball tournament to a baseball field.

Here is a video of how the Trash Pandas flip the field to proper softball dimensions.

It's a softball field in a baseball stadium.https://t.co/wrsXnI7acL

— Maren Angus-Coombs (@Maren_Angus) April 17, 2026

Here's is a Q&A with Lamp that should help answer any questions fans still have.

Softball On SI: A point of concern with the fans seems to be that you are just playing softball in a baseball stadium. How are you making sure that it feels like a softball tournament? Especially, with the massive amount of foul territory.

Lamp: We've got acres of foul territory, and that isn't going to work. So, we are moving home plate back 15 feet. So now, and with the way our backstop is, we don't have a wall as the backstop. It's netting all the way to field level. 
So that front row seat, you're closer to home plate than the pitcher is.

When you move home plate back, okay, now the dugouts are the right size. 
There's a right foul territory, and because they're Minor League Baseball dugouts, they're beyond belief big.

It's the same thing with what they do in Hoover. 
Hoover, you're playing in a traditional professional baseball stadium, and everybody in the league has built their calendar around coming to that. 
It's the same thing. That's what we're trying to build. That's what we're building in Madison. 
Our mission is to go build the softball version of Hoover at Toyota Field.

Softball On SI: When did you start planning for this?

Lamp: We pitched the SEC on this three years ago. The Rocket City Softball Showcase was our test and our proof of concept.

Softball On SI: What about the playing surface? What will you do to have it look like a softball field?

Lamp: So what happens is when we take out the baseball infield. We start covering it with grass. Because remember, home plate moves, so does the outfield wall. 
So the outfield wall is a... I mean, it's not further past third base for the baseball field. 
We lay down what's called Stay and Play. When we flip back to baseball, that sod gets repurposed and is used as the new baseball infield.

We're scraping down. We will scrape down everything on the baseball infield. Start taking out. We'll start taking out the grass to get to whatever for the baselines, and then we will throw down sod in the outfield to create the softball outfield so there's no lip on the infield. 
It's the same as anywhere else. Then, that sod we repurposed to come back is the baseball infield.

Softball On SI: How time-consuming is it to flip the field from baseball to softball and back to baseball?

Lamp: The easier piece of this is going to softball. The hard part is going back to baseball. 
That's why with the deal with the Trash Pandas, they have to go out of town for two weeks. Could they do the transition in 48 hours and have us playing baseball on Monday? Probably, but boy, it's not going to go well later in the season that we flipped it so fast. 


The baseball team is going out of town for a week, which gives it plenty of time to grow in, and being in a situation where nobody's going to get hurt, the field looks pretty good.

Softball On SI: What about the outfield dimensions? Do you know if it will be 200 down the lines and 220 to center or 220 all the way around?

Lamp: I think we're mirroring the extent of the rules. We're taking whatever's in the rule book and placing it down on the field.

Softball On SI: How convenient is the location for the teams and fans?

Lamp: All 15 teams can stay within 15 minutes of the stadium. That's key.

The fans have three hotels on top of the stadium to choose from to attend the event and not pay crazy graduation rates for hotel rooms. We're gonna make it where when you come off the interstate to the ballpark, you know, you're at the SEC tournament. You know it's a big deal, and we want to create that. Those three hotels at the ballpark? None of the teams are staying there. We told the teams, we don't want you staying there, that's not part of the experience.

Softball On SI: What about warm-up space? Where will teams go to hit before games?

Lamp: We've got a rec center about, I'd say, maybe less than a mile from the stadium. And it's got two softball fields and we're building batting cages. 
So each team will have a separate warm-up area for pregame.

So when you have that 14-inning game, and they hit back in the fifth inning of that game, and they've been sitting there for two hours waiting. Now, they've just been sitting there. Well, now they're able, if they want, to go hit. They want to go run around, whatever. They got their own facility to go do that stuff.

We'll give them a police escort from the practice field up to the stadium when it's time to bring them in.

Today’s SEC Softball Tournament says a lot about “growing the game," but social media reads like: grow it… only if it benefits my team.

You might not like the decision, but we’re arguing over a bigger stadium, more tickets, and more money.

That’s growth.

— Maren Angus-Coombs (@Maren_Angus) April 17, 2026

Extra Perks Toyota Field Has to Offer

According to Lamp, visitors have the option of staying at one of the hotels nearby and not needed their car again until they leave. There are dozens of restaurants nearby and the park will also have RV hookeups beyond the left field wall.

There will also be ticket sale options for suites and party decks. There are even four suites on the concourse level for sale.

More announcements will come but for now, the move to Madison feels like a step in the right direction for the SEC.