Burlington lands 2026 boys tennis and baseball state championships

Burlington will again sit at the center of North Carolina’s spring postseason schedule, with the NCHSAA assigning both the 3A and 4A men’s tennis championships and part of the baseball state title series to the city. The tennis individual finals are set for May 8-9 at Burlington Tennis Center, the dual-team finals follow May 15-16 at the same site, and Burlington Athletic Stadium will help host the baseball championships May 27-30 alongside North Main Athletic Complex in Holly Springs.

The repeat assignment matters because Burlington is not getting a one-time showcase. The NCHSAA said Burlington first hosted the men’s dual-team tennis championships in 2000 and has remained a regular championship site since, a long run that shows the city has held its place even as the state has expanded many spring events into an eight-classification format. This year’s slate also keeps Burlington in step with other established sites across North Carolina, including Cary Tennis Park, Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center in Raleigh, Duke and UNC Greensboro for softball, and Holly Springs for baseball.

At the center of Burlington’s appeal is Burlington Tennis Center, a city-owned complex built in 1996 and recognized by the United States Tennis Association in 1997 as an Outstanding Tennis Facility and official Tennis Welcome Center. The site has 12 lighted Plexipave courts, a pavilion, shaded bleachers and spectator viewing areas, the kind of setup that makes it easier to stage back-to-back championship rounds without straining a smaller venue. City materials say John Walton still directs the facility, linking today’s championship role to the program that helped build Burlington’s tennis reputation.

Burlington Athletic Stadium, known as Sockville, gives the city a similar edge on the baseball side. The stadium holds up to 3,000 spectators and sits at 1455 Graham Street in Fairchild Park, where baseball fields, a BMX track, playgrounds, tennis and pickleball courts and a one-mile walking trail cluster around one public complex. That layout helps explain why the NCHSAA keeps returning to the site for a multi-day championship format.

The economic payoff is baked into the calendar. Two separate tennis championship windows in early and mid-May, followed by baseball title games at the end of the month, create repeated waves of out-of-town teams, families and coaches that feed Burlington hotels, restaurants and weekend traffic. Last year showed the city can handle that load: the 2025 men’s dual-team tennis finals were played at Burlington Tennis Center, where Franklin Academy beat Pine Lake Prep 5-0 in the 2A title match, and Burlington Athletic Stadium served as one of two baseball championship venues alongside Ting Stadium in Holly Springs. The 2026 slate keeps both Burlington facilities in the rotation, signaling that the city is not just holding its statewide status, but reinforcing it.