ExxonMobil Baytown Events Center plans move forward with new focus on youth sports

September 3, 2026

A major sports and entertainment venue is taking shape in Baytown, and the city is narrowing its focus to youth sports.

The city of Baytown is developing the new ExxonMobil Baytown Events Center. The facility will be at the corner of Texas Avenue and Decker Drive east of Highway 146. The city worked with consultants and engaged with the community to determine a final plan for the project.

The city expects to break ground in mid-2027 and open the facility in early 2029.

The city will use $75 million from an economic development agreement with Spring-based ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. (NYSE: XOM) to fund the project. The company’s Baytown Complex is just west of the project on the other side of Highway 146.

After initially discussing larger plans for the facility, including potentially using the site for professional sports, the city of Baytown now is moving forward with a refined focus on youth sports, said Jason Calder, the city’s communications and engagement manager. The facility will be able to hold eight basketball courts, 16 volleyball courts or 24 pickleball courts. It also can be configured for concerts with a capacity of 4,500 and for conventions.

“We changed the scope based on need, based on the conversations that were happening with the public and what was needed for this side of the area,” Calder said. “It was always going to be some kind of youth sports attraction, but we really just went down that road a lot stronger than was originally anticipated.”

Additionally, the project will include a major renovation to Sterling Municipal Library, which is on the same site as the new events center. The city will finance the library project with the general fund rather than the economic development agreement funding the events center. The combined project's total footprint will be 154,000 gross square feet, including more than 100,000 square feet for the events center.

The master plan for the site also includes space for a future 4,000-seat indoor arena to complement the events center.

“We want to have those plans now so that when we’re ready to pull the trigger on that in the near future, we can do that and not bat an eye,” Calder said. “It was intentionally done. There’s a lot of intentionality with this.”

Future tenant space will sit between the events center and arena. The city is in discussions with potential sports medicine tenants to fill that space. The plan is to give the entire campus a name, but the city has not yet identified one.

“It’s definitely a different direction, but a direction that everybody is comfortable with,” Calder said. “We can attract and keep some of those local tournaments and attract regional tournaments to have that as an offering. We want to bring in tournaments you’ve never seen in Baytown before.”