NCAA softball champions coming to Clearwater

Sixteen elite women’s NCAA softball programs – including Sunshine State stalwarts Florida State University and the University of Central Florida – will be competing in the fifth annual Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational in February.

Between Feb. 15 and, 18 there will be a total of 40 games across four fields at the Eddie C. Moore Complex, all to be shown on various ESPN platforms. Thirteen of the 16 squads qualified for the 2022 NCAA softball championships, and five advanced to the NCAA Women’s College World Series including FSU, which lost the championship round to the University of Oklahoma.

The Invitational is a round-robin tournament with no playoffs or championship, and is one of the major kick-off events for the 2024 NCAA season.

For the 2023 event, fans from 47 states and four countries bought tickets, according to Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. In 2023, more than half the 7,000 visitors spent at least three days at the event, generating more than 2,000 hotel room nights and an estimated total economic impact of around $11 million for the community. Around 17,000 tickets were sold.

“The event has really put Clearwater on the map for softball,” said Caleb Peterson, Senior Business Development Manager for Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. “It is a conversation starter across the board.”

For the fans, it’s a chance to see a fixed amount of their favorite teams’ games. In an elimination or double elimination tournament, you will have less opportunity to see your team should they lose early.

As a bellwether tournament to start the season, Peterson added “the road to Oklahoma City (host city of the College World Series) starts in Clearwater.”