TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The peak of Tucson tourism season is rolling on into March with two major international sporting events taking center stage.

Over the next two weeks, Tucson will host a World Baseball Classic qualifier at the Kino Sports Complex and the Cologuard Classic at the La Paloma Country Club.

“I think Tucson should be very proud and excited because literally, the world is going to be watching Tucson in the next 10 days,” said Visit Tucson President and CEO Felipe Garcia.

This is the first time the World Baseball Classic is hosting an event in the Tucson area and the first time an event with MLB talent will be played at the Kino Sports Complex since 2010.

“It brings a tear to the eye. We’ve actually been walking through with staff, and we keep walking around and we’re kind of all like, wow, this looks amazing,” said Kino Sports Complex Director Sarah Horvath.

Horvath and crews at Kino have been working on renovations to the field for weeks. That work includes a brand new look with a scoreboard and upgraded field.

“We redid our dugouts; we’ve upgraded our locker rooms,” she said. “We have gotten a brand-new scoreboard, which is a brand-new Daktronics. It’s the first new scoreboard we’ve had since 1998.”

Traffic is something Garcia said he has been keeping an eye on and Tucson is already seeing an economic impact on local businesses before the event begins.

“Players are here. We’re very happy to see them. They’ve been training. They decided to arrive a few days early because, again, they wanted to make sure they’re qualifying in the tournament and we’re starting to see the fans come here,” Garcia said.

The start of fans coming in kicks off a huge two weeks of international sports in Tucson with the World Baseball Classic leading right into the Cologuard Classic.

Much like the revamped baseball field at the Kino, Tucson Conquistadors Executive Director Geoff Hill said they have been working since January to revamp the course at La Paloma.

The improvements include adding grandstands, setting up vendor space, coordinating parking with the University of Arizona as well as redirecting the normal 27-hole course to an 18-professional course.

“We started our build out here in January for all the hospitality structures and venues around the hospitality and getting parking in place. So, we’re excited to showcase that,” Hill said.

The 2024 Cologuard Classic brought in more than $700,000 to the Tucson Conquistadors, all of which was put back in the community through local sports teams.

“The majority of that’s going back to youth sports directly here in Tucson, and so we look forward to trumping that number this year. All the sales look good,” Hill said.

That total does not include the hundreds of thousands of dollars brought to local businesses during the tournament.

Garcia said with the World Baseball Classic event; these two weeks could help businesses throughout the summer.

“This is when we make our bread and butter, and then the summer we have to endure. So many hotels, restaurants, many businesses, they can continue to keep employees throughout the year,” Garcia said.

There have been dozens of partners with the Kino Sports Complex to put together the World Baseball Classic qualifier but none more important than the Southern Arizona Sports, Tourism, and Film Authority.

Leaders there, like chair Edgar Soto, said they realize the importance this event can have for businesses in southern Arizona as well as the improvement of the sports culture here.

“It’s bringing a lot of people here. They’re eating in our restaurants, they’re staying at our hotels, they’re renting cars. So, it’s a big deal,” Soto said. “This World Baseball Classic is going to show that we could put Tucson on the map as a sports town, a baseball town.”

Event organizers with Cologuard and the World Baseball Classic said their goal goes past these next two weeks. Hoping to get more international events to choose Tucson as a destination.

A big hope for the Kino Sports Complex is someone bringing a professional baseball team back to Tucson permanently.

“That’s the goal. To bring back an anchor tenant that can drive economic impact on a regular basis, create workforce and sustainability and bring good jobs here,” said SASTFA Executive Director Blake Eager.

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