From trash to treasure, the $850 million Ontario Sports Empire is nearing completion

When looking for a site to handle trash, the idea of the Ontario Sports Empire was born.

“You know, it’s interesting. Projects like these are really exciting and have lots of origin stories, but I will tell you that this one really begins with trash,” Ontario City Manager Scott Ochoa said in an interview.

That’s how the idea for what is now the massive $850 million, 200-acre Ontario Sports Empire – which will serve both local and traveling teams – began, according to Ochoa.

He said the city was looking for a way to reduce the cost of hauling trash long distances to Fontana, as well as the wear and tear on hauling vehicles, and was searching for a centralized location to create a more efficient system.

“We need to have someplace that we can at least transfer from our street-loading trucks so that way we aren’t getting so much wear and tear and that we’re depreciating that much more quickly,” Ochoa said. “Get the trash onto trucks that will allow them to go to Fontana without a significant impact on our customers and, in doing so, actually stabilize long-term costs for customers. So the idea was, ‘where would you do that?’”

The answer appeared to lie with a soccer complex, the Ontario Soccer Park, just above the 60 Freeway, but then came the question, “If we were going to take what is today the soccer complex, and turn that into the city’s corporate facility yard, how would you deal with the impact?”

That’s where things started, looking at the Ontario Soccer Park property for a different use. That park has not yet closed, but it will go out of commission following the full opening of what came to become the Sports Empire, Ochoa said.

The $850 million Ontario Sports Empire complex is nearing completion and on track for an October opening in Ontario on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The momentum of the Sports Empire also became a convenient catalyst for acquiring a Minor League baseball franchise for the city and rounding out the complex with a new baseball stadium, he said.

Ochoa said the timing was right for the former Rancho Cucamonga Quakes team to move to Ontario, given mandatory minor league stadium upgrade requirements that went into effect in 2025.

The MLB listed upgrade requirements such as requiring on-site weight rooms, properly sized batting cages and pitching tunnels and dining facilities, among other things.

The resulting team move and new stadium built with the required facilities, ONT Field, fit right into the Sports Empire and ONT Field was named ballpark of the year for 2026.

ONT Field was developed at a cost of $150 million – that cost is included in the $850 million overall investment in the Sports Empire.

Ochoa said the Sports Empire is the largest of its kind “West of the Rockies” in the number and variety of sports it can accommodate.

The caveat is that there is no comparable facility that combines a minor league stadium with a large youth sports facility, city officials said.

The recreational sports complex will have 20 multi-purpose long fields for sports like soccer and lacrosse, four football/flag football and rugby fields; and for baseball and soccer 14 youth diamonds, eight full-sized diamonds and two championship fields.

The sports complex is slated to have its opening-day celebration on Saturday, Oct. 24 with activities, performances and guest speakers.

“There is nothing like this in regard to big fields,” Christopher Hirz, Ontario Sports Empire general manager, said in an interview. “There are places around here that have little fields but nothing that has eight full-size turfed baseball diamonds.”

According to Hirz, the capacity for the complex is quite large, as it can accommodate up to 100 soccer teams playing simultaneously when using a combination of half-field games; and up to 92 baseball teams playing in a tournament.

With its size and amenities, the Sports Empire is positioned to compete with other regional sports complexes for tournaments and other sports events.

The competitors with multipurpose fields, according to a 2023 market study for the Greater Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau, include:

–Great Park Sports Complex in Irvine

–Galway Downs Soccer Complex in Temecula

–SoCal Sports Complex in Oceanside

–SilverLakes Equestrian and Sports Park in Norco

–San Bernardino Soccer Complex

The market study listed these competitors with baseball and softball fields:

—Great Park Sports Complex

–Kaiser Permanente Sports Village in Bakersfield

–Big League Dreams Sports Park Mira Loma (Jurupa Valley)

–Big League Dreams Chino Hills

–Big League Dreams West Covina

The study was conducted by HVS Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities Consulting.

As word of the Ontario Sports Empire has spread, so has the buzz among regional sports teams and leagues interested in available venues.

The Empire’s fields could be beneficial for training, recreational use, games and tournaments, said Josh Rose, the technical director for AYSO S1 Alliance, a competitive, regional soccer club based in Torrance.

Rose also coaches the Boys Under 11 and Boys Under 12 Division 2 teams based in Chino Hills.

“Location and the actual quality of the field, having newly constructed fields with modern materials that are in good condition, would be the driving factor for us,” Rose said.

And while he’s previously considered other parks, like SilverLakes complex in Norco or Ayala Park in Chino, Rose said what he’s considering in a venue “is a place that can host a larger number of teams.”

The Chino Valley and the rest of the Inland Empire have grown considerably as a sports hub due to population growth, he said.

“A lot of these places get reserved pretty far in advance,” Rose said. “Having new fields come into the region … the coaches that I know are actively pursuing more space, more time, more fields, more teams. There’s definitely a buzz.”

In addition to its sports fields and diamonds, the Sports Empire complex also has concession stands, shaded seating, several playgrounds, and a main complex area that will feature a 150-foot by 50-foot LED screen on a six-story parking structure with 1,250 parking spaces capable of streaming.

Two large air-conditioned community-style rooms are also available upstairs at each concession stand, offering a space for teams to gather and eat.

Near the main complex will also be cabana-like spaces that families can rent out that will also have TVs capable of streaming games being played on the sports complex’s fields, Hirz said.

Also found around the sports complex will be sports-themed artwork and photo opportunities like a giant whistle.

Hirz said the first baseball tournament is scheduled for Halloween day this year as the sports empire will be open and ready for business.

He also said the fields were already getting booked up through 2027 but emphasized how important it was to him to keep some bookings for local teams and keep things affordable.

Additional events are also in the works for the complex, including a large Lunar New Year Celebration in February 2027, according to Hirz.

Although an aquatic center was at one point a part of the sports complex plan, it will no longer be there; instead, it will be part of future plans to renovate nearby Westwind Park off Riverside Drive, northeast of the Sports Empire, according to Ochoa.

“There is a reimagining of Westwind that will come in future phases,” he said. “But long story short, the idea is that the Little League fields that are there at Westwind will remain, the tennis courts that are there will remain in place, and the goal is going to be to do a new, or at least reconstructed, community center and a bona fide swim complex.”

A significant economic impact is expected from the Ontario Sports Empire, which is projected to bring in 1.2 million visitors and around $62 million annually in spending between youth sports tournaments and minor league games, according to city documents.

The close proximity to Ontario International Airport, about 10 minutes away, is also slated to help bring in more business.

The second phase of the Sports Empire is currently underway, as Ochoa said elevation grading has begun for two hotels, a Residence Inn and an A-Loft.

A stadium village with planned retail and restaurants is still in the planning stages for down the road, he said.

For more information, visit https://ontariosportsempire.com/

Contributing writer Joshua Silla contributed to this story.