Tucson Electric Park opened in 1998. Larger and more modern than central Tucson's Hi Corbett Field, it is situated 4 miles south of Hi Corbett, at the intersection of several major thoroughfares including I-10 and SR-86. TEP opened the same year that the Arizona Diamondbacks began operations in Phoenix, and the Tucson Toros moved from Hi Corbett to TEP, renamed themselves the Tucson Sidewinders, and became the Diamondbacks' AAA affiliate. Furthermore, the Diamondbacks themselves became a tenant of TEP for spring training, sharing the facility with the Chicago White Sox. Across town, the Colorado Rockies continued to hold their spring training at Hi Corbett Field.
Departure of MLB spring training
The Chicago White Sox had an agreement to move to Glendale in a stadium that was completed in the 2009 season. However, the Sox' lease on TEP was to last through 2012. In order to leave TEP early, the Sox proposed a youth baseball academy backed by Major League Baseball surrounding TEP. On November 18, 2008 the Pima County Board of Supervisors agreed to the White Sox's revised offer of $5 million, thus allowing the team to move to Glendale in time for the 2009 season. Colorado Rockies, spring training occupant of Tucson's Hi Corbett Field, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were tenants at TEP and the Kino Sports Complex, indicated that they would both need Tucson to have three teams in order to continue playing there. Tucson was therefore abandoned as a spring training venue, and all Cactus League games now take place in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Diamondbacks and Rockies share the new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, which opened in 2011 near Scottsdale.
Departure of the Sidewinders
The Tucson Sidewinders also played their last season at TEP in 2008. The team moved to Reno, Nevada, renaming itself the Reno Aces and remaining the AAA affiliate of the Diamondbacks. At the same time, the Reno Silver Sox of the independentGolden Baseball League, displaced by the arrival of the Aces, relocated to Tucson. Instead of using TEP, however, the new team located itself at the more historic Hi Corbett Field and retook the historic name of the Tucson Toros. TEP was thus, for a time, without any Major League or minor league baseball tenant.
In 2011, the San Diego Padres Triple-A affiliate relocated from Portland, Oregon to Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium and renamed itself the Tucson Padres. They were formerly known as the Portland Beavers. Originally the San Diego Padres organization wanted to arrange for a stadium to be approved and constructed in Escondido, California, however that stadium plan later fell through when California eliminated their redevelopment agencies. The team departed Tucson for El Paso, Texas prior to the beginning of the 2014 season and assumed the name "El Paso Chihuahuas."
FC Tucson
Since 2012, FC Tucson has played its games at Kino Sports Complex's North Stadium. The club began its existence in the Premier Development League, and in 2019 began play in the higher-level USL League One.
The Pima Community College Aztecs football played its home games at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium for several seasons. The team will move to the Kino Sports Complex North Stadium for its 2014 fall Football season.
