Play ball!
Ontario’s massive new mega sports facility is now open.
RELATED: $850 million, 200-acre Ontario Sports Empire is nearing completion
The 190-acre Ontario Sports Empire welcomed guests Saturday morning, Oct. 24, as hundreds came out for a community celebration, ribbon-cutting ceremony — and, of course, plenty of sports opportunities.
Ontario resident Bernice Moreno was excited to bring her sons, Hendrix and Malcohm Herron, to the new complex, which is down the street from their house.
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Anthony Muñoz, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member and alum of Ontario’s Chaffey High School, speaks Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, during the grand opening of the Ontario Sports Empire. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Contributing Photographer)
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Anthony Muñoz, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member and alum of Ontario’s Chaffey High School, speaks Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, during the grand opening of the Ontario Sports Empire. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Contributing Photographer)
She’s eager to get her kids into flag football, baseball and soccer and hopes the city will open a basketball facility, too.
“We’ve heard so many great things about it, and we’re excited to check it out,” Moreno said of the complex. “More community, more family, more athletics … I’m all for it, for accessible youth sports. It keeps them out of trouble.”
The multi-million-dollar complex is at Ontario and Chino avenues, near the 60 Freeway and adjacent to ONT Field, home of baseball’s minor league team the Ontario Tower Buzzers, which began play earlier this year.
The city of Ontario-owned facility will host local and traveling sports teams and handle practices, games, tournaments and recreational play. The project, an $850 million investment, is part of the $150 million development at neighboring ONT Field.
Its website calls the state-of-the-art venue an “empire of sports and events.”
Ontario Sports Empire features 20 multipurpose fields for soccer, lacrosse and other sports, 14 youth diamond fields, eight full-size diamonds, four flag football and rugby fields, and two championship fields meant to accommodate regional and national tournaments, as well as local sports and community events.
City officials, those who worked on the project, league athletes and facility leaders joined in Saturday’s celebration.
City leaders clipped a ribbon as hundreds entered the sprawling venue. Ontario Sports Empire flags waved everywhere, along with streamers and banners. The marching band from Ontario’s Chaffey High School played. Cheerleaders from Chaffey and Colony High School greeted guests. Maverick, the furry yellow Tower Buzzers’ mascot excitedly played soccer with kids.
The grand opening also included vendors, family activities, live music and youth baseball, soccer, flag football workshops and games.
Opening weekend will feature the complex’s first Perfect Game tournaments and American Youth Soccer Organization games. Interactive sports challenges included a home run derby, field baseball clinic, field goal challenge and football and soccer clinics.
Guests could meet former Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Joe Kelly and ex-NFL player Anthony Muñoz, an Ontario native who has a park in the city named for him.
The venue’s opening “marks the completion of the largest multi-use sports and entertainment complex west of the Rocky Mountains,” states a news release that also calls it a “premier hub for sports tourism, retail, hospitality and community life in Southern California.”
The facility is near the city’s Ontario Soccer Park, less than 3 miles up the road on Philadelphia Street. Ontario City Manager Scott Ochoa said that park “will go out of commission” after Ontario Sports Empire is fully open.
City officials said the vast sports complex is estimated to attract more 1 million visitors, raise $1.5 million in tax revenue and spark over $60 million in new net spending. It’s also creating more than 600 full-time jobs.
With its proximity to ONT Field and Ontario International Airport, the project is expected to fulfill Ontario’s “long-term goals for economic activity, tourism and city pride,” officials said.
A market study from the Greater Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau said Sports Empire will compete with multipurpose sports facilities such as the Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine, the Galway Downs soccer complex near Temecula, and the SilverLakes equestrian and sports park in Norco.
In a statement, Ontario Mayor Paul Leon called the venue “a community asset” that “our great city can enjoy, and it will strengthen Ontario for decades to come.”
The facility also includes recreational areas, cabana-style areas with TVs that families can rent, concession stands and several sprawling playgrounds for little ones. The sports theme is evident and includes artwork and a giant interactive whistle.
The complex boasts fresh green turf on its fields, awnings to shade audiences and giant playgrounds around each field area and concession stand. The central football fields were teeming Saturday with kids and families playing games and activities and learning more about area youth sports leagues.
A second phase of the Sports Empire is underway, Ochoa, the city manager, said. Grading has begun for two nearby hotels, a Residence Inn and an A-Loft. Also, a stadium village with retail and restaurants is in the early planning stages.
Claudia Hernandez, who works for the city of Ontario, proudly wore her Tower Buzzers merchandise for the complex’s opening day.
“This has been long awaited for the community, for the kids,” Hernandez said. “It’s exciting for everybody. We’re the heart of the Inland Empire — and we’re just getting bigger and better, for businesses and residents. This is the place to come.”
Ariel Maravilla, a baseball player from Chino, is excited to start playing tournament games at the complex with his new team, the Saviors baseball club.
He looks forward to the high-quality fields and getting to play on real turf. He encouraged other kids to get involved in athletics.
“I’m so excited,” Ariel said. “I’ve learned that baseball is just a game, so just have fun. Loosey-goosey it.”
Jaybee Valledor came to the event with his family, including wife Lendle and 3-year-old son Jaylen Max, who just started playing T-ball in an Ontario youth league.
The parents were excited to introduce him to sports, Jaybee Valledor said, because it’s “important to be involved in the community …. And Jaylen loves playing sports.”
