Ontario, California, is moving from construction to activation on one of the Inland Empire’s most ambitious sports-tourism projects. The Ontario Sports Empire is entering its next phase as the city prepares to open the recreational portion of a roughly 190- to 200-acre sports and entertainment district on October 24, 2026.
The scale is significant. City projections call for about 1.2 million new visitors, $62 million in new net spending, $1.5 million in new tax revenue and more than 610 full-time jobs once the broader development is operating.
The project is also moving beyond the original concept of a minor-league baseball stadium. ONT Field opened earlier in 2026 as the home of the Ontario Tower Buzzers, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate, while the surrounding sports fields are now approaching their public launch. The shift matters because the long-term economic argument for Ontario Sports Empire depends less on baseball attendance than on how often the entire district can bring athletes, families, tournaments, spectators and visitors into Ontario.
ONT Field Has Become The First Anchor Of A Much Larger District
The first phase of Ontario Sports Empire established its most visible attraction: ONT Field, a 6,500-capacity baseball stadium with approximately 4,500 fixed seats, additional berm and terraced viewing areas, and more than 75,000 square feet dedicated to food and beverage offerings.
The stadium is also deliberately connected to Ontario’s identity as an aviation and logistics hub. The Ontario International Airport Authority approved naming rights for ONT Field in July 2026, reinforcing the relationship between the airport and the new sports district. The stadium incorporates aviation references including a terminal-style entrance, a luggage-carousel bar, a P-38 aircraft display and a lighted runway feature. ONT Field is therefore positioned as more than a baseball facility; it is part of the city’s broader visitor-economy strategy.
That distinction becomes more important as the recreational portion opens. A baseball stadium can create concentrated visitor activity around games, but a large multi-sport complex can produce a much broader calendar.
Ontario’s next phase is designed to do exactly that.
More Than 120 Acres Could Shift The Project Toward Youth Sports Tourism
The biggest change is the amount of land dedicated to fields rather than professional sports.
San Bernardino County economic development officials describe ONT Field as occupying roughly 15 acres, while another 120 acres are expected to contain football, soccer and baseball facilities capable of attracting an estimated 1.5 million visitors annually. Jennifer McLain Hiramoto, Ontario’s executive director of economic development, has described the sports complex as a regional tourism asset rather than simply a ballpark project.
The broader complex is expected to include 20 long fields, 14 youth diamond fields, eight full-size diamond fields, four football/rugby fields and two championship diamond fields. The exact acreage and field configuration varies across city and project materials as the development advances, but the strategic direction is consistent: Ontario is building enough capacity to host multiple events simultaneously.
That capacity changes the economic equation.
A tournament can occupy fields for an entire weekend, fill nearby hotels with teams and families, generate restaurant traffic and create spending across several days. A professional baseball game generally concentrates much of that activity around a smaller number of dates.
The objective is therefore to create repeatable visitor demand rather than depend on a single sports property.
October 24 Marks A Transition From Construction To Activation
The next milestone arrives October 24, 2026, when Ontario Sports Empire is scheduled to hold its grand opening.
The event is planned as a full-day community activation featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony, youth clinics, baseball and soccer activities, football challenges, live entertainment, food vendors and appearances by professional athletes. The project’s official event calendar identifies the grand opening as the beginning of the recreational complex’s operating phase.
This transition is economically important because opening a facility does not automatically create a sports-tourism industry. The fields must be programmed.
Ontario Sports Empire’s current calendar already promotes tournaments and community events, while its baseball and softball operation is designed around 14 youth diamonds, eight full-size diamonds and two championship fields. Ontario Sports Empire’s tournament facilities show how the project is positioning itself for organized competition rather than occasional recreational use.
The real test will be how quickly the venue develops a recurring tournament schedule and whether organizers can attract competitions from outside the Inland Empire.
Ontario International Airport Gives The Sports Empire A Regional Advantage
The location gives Ontario another asset that many youth-sports destinations have to build over time: an airport.
Ontario International Airport is close enough to make air travel practical for teams, tournament organizers and visitors arriving from outside Southern California. The Sports Empire describes the airport as roughly a 10-minute drive from the complex, while the Ontario International Airport Authority has emphasized the relationship between the airport, ONT Field and the region’s tourism economy.
That proximity could matter for high-level tournaments where teams travel significant distances.
Ontario also sits within a major Southern California transportation network, with access to Interstate 60 and connections to other regional highways. The result is a facility that can draw from local recreational leagues while also pursuing a much larger regional and national market.
For sports tourism economic development, this is an important distinction: infrastructure becomes more valuable when it expands the geographic market that can realistically use it.
The Economic Model Depends On Visitors Staying Longer
Ontario’s projected $62 million in net new spending is one of the most important figures attached to the project, but the number should be viewed as an outcome of visitor behavior rather than a guaranteed return.
The city has estimated approximately 1.2 million new visitors, $1.5 million in new tax revenue and more than 610 full-time jobs. Earlier city projections also estimated more than $61 million in annual spending from the broader sports complex.
The distinction between visitors and spending is critical.
If a large percentage of visitors are local residents attending short recreational activities, the direct tourism effect will be smaller. If tournaments attract families from across California and other states who stay several nights, the economic footprint becomes substantially larger.
That makes hotel occupancy, average length of stay, restaurant spending and retail activity more useful measures than attendance alone.
The project already has a major advantage in this respect. Ontario Sports Empire’s official materials cite approximately 6,000 hotel rooms nearby, giving tournament organizers a substantial lodging base within the immediate market. Ontario’s economic development profile also identifies hospitality, retail and dining as important components of the district’s long-term development strategy.
The Dodgers Brand Adds A Second Layer To The Strategy
The Ontario Tower Buzzers give the Sports Empire a professional sports identity before the recreational complex reaches full operation.
The team is the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, providing Ontario with a nationally recognized baseball connection while creating a regular schedule of professional games. ONT Field’s design reinforces that relationship through Dodger-inspired visual elements and branding.
The Dodgers connection can help in two ways.
First, it gives the district an established sports brand that can attract spectators even when youth tournaments are not taking place. Second, it creates a natural pathway between professional baseball and community participation.
That combination could prove particularly useful for a facility intended to serve youth leagues, tournament operators, professional sports fans and families at the same time.
The challenge is making sure the different audiences complement one another rather than operate as separate attractions.
Retail And Hospitality Will Determine How Much Spending Stays Local
Sports facilities generate economic activity, but surrounding businesses determine how much of that activity remains in the local economy.
Ontario’s development plans recognize this by incorporating retail, restaurants, entertainment, public spaces and future hospitality components into the larger district. The city is actively seeking restaurants, sports bars and other businesses that can serve event attendees and residents.
The project’s policy planning goes even further. A 2026 draft policy plan describes the Sports Empire district as a year-round regional destination integrating sports with entertainment, hospitality, retail, housing, open space and recreation.
That approach is significant because tournament families do not spend all of their time at the fields.
They eat breakfast before games, purchase meals between matches, shop, stay in hotels, visit attractions and spend time together after competition ends. If those activities occur inside or immediately around the Sports Empire district, Ontario captures more of the visitor’s economic activity.
If visitors leave the area after games, the sports complex can still create regional economic benefits, but the direct local-development effect becomes less concentrated.
Community Recreation Makes The Project More Than A Tourism Investment
The next phase also has a local purpose that distinguishes the project from a conventional professional stadium development.
The community sports complex is scheduled to include eight baseball and softball diamonds, eight full-size soccer fields, multi-use athletic fields, six concession stands, two championship plazas, three playgrounds totaling more than 27,000 square feet, family activity areas and public art.
Those amenities give Ontario residents a reason to use the complex even when there is no major tournament.
That recurring local usage can help support the facilities between large events and create a stronger connection between sports tourism and quality of life.
For city officials, that may be one of the most important long-term elements of the investment. A sports complex that is heavily used by residents can provide public value even before every tourism projection is realized.
The Next Phase Will Test Ontario’s Ability To Fill The Calendar
The physical infrastructure is approaching completion. The harder part now is programming it.
Ontario Sports Empire’s official calendar currently promotes a growing collection of events, while the October 24 grand opening is intended to introduce the recreational facilities to the public.
The economic success of the district will ultimately depend on the frequency, scale and geographic reach of those events.
Several indicators will be worth watching:
- Tournament participation from outside the Inland Empire
- Hotel room nights generated by sports events
- Repeat bookings from tournament organizers
- Restaurant and retail sales during major competitions
- Professional baseball attendance at ONT Field
- Local utilization by youth leagues and schools
- New businesses and hospitality projects surrounding the complex
These measurements will help determine whether Ontario has built a large sports facility or a durable sports-tourism economy.
Ontario Is Building A Sports District Rather Than A Single Venue
The significance of Ontario Sports Empire is becoming clearer as the project moves into its next phase.
The city is combining a professional baseball stadium, a massive youth-sports complex, community recreation, hospitality, retail, entertainment and airport access within one regional development strategy. The result is considerably different from a traditional stadium project centered on a handful of professional games.
Ontario’s projected 1.2 million visitors, $62 million in new net spending, $1.5 million in new tax revenue and more than 610 jobs remain projections rather than realized outcomes. But the infrastructure required to pursue those targets is increasingly becoming operational.
The October 24 opening therefore represents more than a ceremonial milestone. It is the point at which Ontario’s economic-development strategy moves from construction spending and projected benefits to measurable visitor activity.
If tournaments fill the fields, hotels capture multi-night stays, local businesses convert visitors into customers and residents consistently use the recreational facilities, the Sports Empire could become one of Southern California’s most significant examples of sports infrastructure being used as a year-round economic-development platform.
The next phase will determine whether the project’s scale translates into the recurring economic activity Ontario has been planning for since the original sports-complex concept was unveiled.
