Escambia County, FL
11/10/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/10/2026 18:30
SEC Soccer Tournament Draws Thousands to Escambia County
The Southeastern Conference Women's Soccer Tournament is already drawing thousands of attendees to Escambia County's Ashton Brosnaham Athletic Park, with record-breaking attendance for the first day of the tournament.
The SEC Women's Soccer Tournament kicked off Sunday, Nov. 8 with more than 2,600 attendees on day one. The tournament runs through Nov. 15, starting with 12 SEC soccer teams that will ultimately be narrowed down to the top two teams competing for the SEC Championship title on Sunday, Nov. 15.
This marks the fifth consecutive year that Ashton Brosnaham Athletic Park has served as the location for the tournament, drawing thousands of attendees and generating millions of dollars in local economic impact.
Tickets for the remaining games are available for purchase online. Click here for ticket information.
"It's an honor to host the SEC tournament in District 5 once again, and I'm excited to welcome the players, coaches, and fans back to Escambia County," District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry said. "This is an exciting opportunity not just for Escambia County, but for all of Northwest Florida as we draw thousands of attendees to our area and showcase our community as a destination for sporting events. I appreciate our strong partnership with Pensacola Sports and the SEC, along with the countless staff members and volunteers who work hard to make this event a success. On behalf of Escambia County, I'd like to welcome all of the teams and their fans, and wish all of them a wonderful tournament."
Several local schools took field trips to Ashton Brosnaham to watch the SEC games on Nov. 10, with students from Beulah Middle School, Lipscomb Elementary School and McArthur Elementary School showing their support for the teams.
Stuart Pease, Tournament Director with the SEC, said the tournament is off to a great start, and he encouraged everyone to come enjoy the tournament this week.
"We're excited to be here and be back in Pensacola," Pease said. "Day one, we set attendance records, so the energy's been great, the players are excited to be here. The teams love coming back, obviously the beach is a great plus, beautiful beaches - but really the community involvement, how the community comes out and shows up for the tournament, it all ties in together to make it a great spot for SEC soccer."
Escambia County Parks and Recreation Director Michael Rhodes highlighted the valuable partnerships that make the SEC tournament possible each year, also noting the significant effort the Parks and Recreation team puts into getting the Ashton Brosnaham Athletic Park tournament-ready.
"This is one of the largest sporting events that we host at an Escambia County Parks facility," Rhodes said. "Getting exposure throughout the country to Escambia County, to Pensacola, Florida, to this little gem of a community, it also proves that we can hold events of this nature. We have the facilities, we have the resources, and when people come to Pensacola, they always want to come back."
Escambia County has completed significant improvements over the years to continue to make the Ashton Brosnaham Athletic Park a first-rate sports complex, including a new multi-use facility that opened in 2023, which serves as additional locker room space for the SEC Soccer Tournament, along with other sporting events including local youth, high school and college soccer. Parks and Recreation staff also repaved the parking lot in 2024 and completed significant upgrades to the field turf at Ashton Brosnaham.
Rhodes also emphasized the impact this tournament has on local youth soccer players, who get to see elite college athletes playing at their hometown soccer complex.
"This is a great opportunity for the youth of this community to come out and see games of this nature in our own community," Rhodes said. "Today at the game you have several elementary schools out here, and then at the other side of the park, we have the youth soccer program with 800-plus strong youth that are coming out to these games and seeing that their dreams can become reality."
Pensacola Sports President and CEO Jason Libbert said the economic impact of the SEC tournament is in the millions of dollars, and it also gives Escambia County and the greater Pensacola area positive exposure with the games being streamed on the SEC Network and ESPN for the championship game.
"The tournament has been phenomenal," Libbert said. "They love coming here, we've got 12 teams from across the Southeast, a lot of your major SEC teams are in town playing for the conference championship right here at the beautiful Ashton Brosnaham complex. They're staying on the beach, they're visiting our restaurants, our shops, they're bringing their family and friends in town. It's a great event that we're proud to host with Escambia County Parks and Rec, City of Pensacola, and a lot of community partners."
SEC Tournament semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1:30 p.m. Visit the SEC Sports website for game details.
Escambia County, FL published this content on November 10, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 11, 2026 at 00:30 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]