The magic of Alex Box stadium lies in the deeply rooted history and tradition surrounding the diamond that has become a staple of postseason play.
The 20 regionals and five super regionals LSU has hosted since 1986 have brought millions of dollars into Baton Rouge. However, LSU doesn’t see the majority of profits made from the potentially lucrative weekend.
Instead, the NCAA is the primary beneficiary of the tournament, with teams looking to host strictly for the on-field advantage.
“Postseason play is supposed to be played at Alex Box Stadium,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It’s something that we’ve become accustomed to. I think [hosting] means a lot to this community. It means a lot to this school, and it means a lot to this program.”
Schools typically receive bids to host a regional based on regular season play, with the top eight teams playing in their home stadiums.
However, the NCAA has a strict set of requirements that all schools must conform to in order to receive a bid. If a school doesn’t meet these requirements, they may still earn a national ranking but not the ability to host.
According to David Taylor, LSU’s assistant director of game and event management, the NCAA requires hosts to guarantee a minimum of $50,000 paid at the end of the tournament or 75 percent of all revenue totaling more than that figure. If a school is unable to raise the $50,000 minimum, they are contractually obligated to pull money out of University funds to cover the difference.
Taylor said the $50,000 minimum is the NCAA’s way of guaranteeing it breaks even because it pays for most of the costs associated with hosting the tournament, except for staff salaries at host universities.
Taylor is in charge of producing LSU’s bid packet to the NCAA that shows the program and, more importantly, the stadium are up to NCAA specifications.
LSU is projected to raise approximately $200,000 in ticket sales from hosting the regional and super regional tournaments.
Host schools must also be able to provide 200 “prime seating tickets” to each visiting teams’ fans for regionals and 600 to the visiting super regional team.
The stadium must be able to accommodate all media needs, including a press box, conference room, enough staff to service the event and specific lighting and camera stands for ESPN to broadcast the game.
If a school doesn’t meet all of these specifications, they risk not being awarded a bid to host the regional.
In return, schools get a home-field advantage most desperately crave and which often paves a path to Omaha.
LSU is 41-7 in post season games played in Alex Box since 1999, when the NCAA switched to the super regional format. They have only failed to advance to a super regional once when hosting a regional.
“Two years ago, when we played on the road, it was tough. You’re playing the No. 1 seed,” said senior shortstop Austin Nola. “We played in UCLA, and we won the first one and we were set up and then we lost to UCLA, and then you’ve got to pull yourself up out of the loser’s bracket.”
Contact Mike Gegenheimer at [email protected]