Big business boost: LL tourney packed Pearsall

By Editor | July 21, 2026 |

By Breyana Segura

A post-analysis report revealed that the ten-day District 21 Little League All-Star Tournament hosted in Pearsall drew roughly 14,000 visitors to the city’s sports complex, driving significant local consumer traffic and concluding with several local teams advancing to the postseason play.

Community Development Director Krystal Garcia presented city councilors with the figures Tuesday, July 14, noting there were 73 competing teams in a 123-game tournament.

“It was a crazy, fun-filled eleven days,” Garcia said.

Pearsall Little League President Steven Rendon expressed gratitude to the city council for sponsoring the hospitality amenities.

“One-hundred and twenty-three games is a lot of time,” Rendon said of the tournament. “We had three teams make it to the championship, two teams to sectionals, one team to the state tournament. It was a memory for all these kids; that was the best part of it.”

To prepare for the tournament, Garcia said the city used $26,000 from its general fund to address deferred maintenance needs requested by the Little League district board. Aging infrastructure, including netting and perimeter fencing, which Garcia said had not been updated in a significant amount of time, were some of the items upgraded for the tournament.

To track the economic and logistical impact of the event, city officials used Placer AI, a data tool that tracks mobile phone location data to analyze visitor metrics, between June 13 and 23.

According to Elizabeth Gonzalez, data showed that attendance peaked on opening day, June 13, with 3,400 visitors to the Victor Trevino Sports Complex, tapering down to 911 attendees by the final day on June 23.

Data metrics indicated that roughly 2,600 of the total 14,000 attendees were Pearsall residents, meaning thousands of out-of-town visitors entered the area.

The AI software also traced consumer behavior immediately before and after visitors arrived at the sports complex. The top 10 places visited prior to arrival included H-E-B, Starbucks, Walmart, QT in Devine, Shell, Petro, McDonalds, Whataburger in Lytle, and Chevron.

After the games, data showed local fast-food establishments and Garcia’s Bar and Grill received the highest influx of traffic.

“There was definitely more traffic,” City Manager Federico Reyes said. “We did this with Hispanic Heritage Festival, too. We are able to see traffic flow and see what these people did before and after. It did bring in some much-needed business. It is a good thing from our end.”

Councilors quizzed Rendon over profits from the event. The Little League president said the league essentially broke even due to the high operational overhead.

According to Rendon, the league spent $23,000 to pay umpires, an expense that was partially offset by event parking fees. While the concession stands generated revenue, the profits were immediately redirected back into the program.

“So what Little League did was that both senior teams got donations from us to help offset all the costs of the tournaments,” Rendon said. “Really, whatever we profited from the district tournament we turned around and gave it back to the teams.”

Rendon said the primary success of the tournament was showcasing Pearsall’s ability to host large-scale All-Star events and bringing positive recognition to the local organization.

In a glance into the broader league operations, Rendon said 440 local children registered for the league’s regular season.

Despite the enrollment, the league faced over $5,000 in unpaid registration fees.

“We are not going to turn kids away from not being able to pay the fees,” Rendon said, adding that the league remains committed to youth participation regardless of socio-economic status.