Reata Sports Complex is at 9809 E. McDowell Mountain Ranch Road. It has five lighted international-size fields, a shaded playground, multi-use paths, a large patio and restrooms. It is open from sunrise to 10:30 p.m. Bell94 Sports Complex is a short drive west at 9390 E. Bell Road. It has six more lighted fields and keeps the same hours. The Scottsdale Sports Complex at 8081 E. Princess Drive completes the set.
Driving past them on a Saturday in November, it's easy to take the full parking lots and team canopies as ordinary weekend park use. They aren't. These three complexes run on a schedule the City of Scottsdale writes around hotel room nights and the WM Phoenix Open. Because of that, which weekends will be busy on McDowell Mountain Ranch's western edge is known long before the teams show up.
A park built to double as a parking lot
The fields exist because of a bond question. In November 2019, Scottsdale voters approved adding about 13 new fields north of Bell Road and east of the intersection of Thompson Peak Parkway and McDowell Mountain Ranch Road. The City of Scottsdale's Bell Road project page says local demand for fields was far greater than the supply.
The same page gives the second reason. For years, the biggest events at WestWorld and TPC Scottsdale had parked their crowds on temporary lots that needed dust control, temporary lighting and traffic control. Some of those lots were on State Trust land that was being sold and developed, so the city had to find new parking. The answer was grass that could hold soccer games most of the year and cars for a few weeks of it.
When Reata neared the end of its first year, Signals AZ published a city-attributed report on how the plan was working. It called the complex dual-use, built for leagues and tournaments and for overflow parking during the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction and the WM Phoenix Open. Reata sits next to WestWorld and about two miles from TPC Scottsdale. According to the report, Reata hosted 16 events in its first year, in soccer, lacrosse, rugby and ultimate frisbee, and was expected to host 25 in 2025. Nick Molinari, a senior director with the city, said in the report that the complex keeps a commitment to residents to provide "a flexible space that meets both sporting and event-related needs."
The tourism numbers in the same report show who the schedule serves. In fiscal year 2024-25, opening Reata added 31,000 field reservation hours. Events across Reata, Bell94 and the Scottsdale Sports Complex produced more than 4,000 Scottsdale hotel room bookings that year, 20% more than the year before. With Reata added, the report counted 21 city fields for local clubs, tournaments and overflow event parking.
Why a November weekend is booked by the previous January
The city's field rental guidelines explain why the same kinds of events come back on the same weekends. Tournaments get first priority. To count as a tournament, a group must reserve the whole facility for at least two consecutive full days. Tournament requests open on the first business day of the month, 10 months before the event.
A tournament can also keep its dates from year to year without them reopening to the public if it reserves the full facility, runs at least two full days and brings in 400 or more Scottsdale hotel room nights. The city can also set aside 20% of available time for national and regional premier events.
That rollover rule shapes the calendar. A large weekend that fills hotels can keep its dates, so the busiest weekends on Bell Road tend to stay busy year after year. Mid-November through mid-December, which Scottsdale's 2026 sheet fills completely, will likely look much the same next fall.
The weekends left on the 2026 sheet
The city's 2026 Fall Events schedule began in mid-August with RSL Fest de Futbol and has an event almost every weekend since. Here is what remains after this post publishes, alongside the WestWorld events on the same weekends.
| Weekend | Bell Road corridor fields | Organizer | WestWorld of Scottsdale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 6–8 | Kick for the Cure | AZ Soccer Events | Bentley Polo Championships, Sat. Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Nov. 13–15 | ActivStars Regionals | ActivStars Youth Outreach | |
| Nov. 20–22 | Wild West Shootout; ECNL Boys Phoenix | US Lax Events; Elite Club National League | Goodguys 29th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals, Nov. 20–22 |
| Nov. 27–29 | Desert Super Cup | Rated Sports | |
| Dec. 4–6 | The OPEN | Fusion Sports | Great Train Show, Dec. 5–6 |
| Dec. 11–13 | Holiday Classic | RSL-AZ Soccer | |
| Jan. 9–10, 2027 | WLF Lacrosse Tournament |
On Nov. 20–22 and Dec. 4–6, the fields and WestWorld are both busy. The Goodguys Southwest Nationals runs at 16601 N. Pima Road during the Wild West Shootout and ECNL Boys Phoenix weekend. The Great Train Show, with train-sale tables, operating displays and activities for children, falls during The OPEN. The weekend this post publishes starts the run, with Kick for the Cure on the fields and the Bentley Polo Championships at WestWorld on Saturday.
What stays open to the neighborhood between tournaments
All three complexes are city parks, and some of what they offer needs no reservation. The city's facility comparison lists:
- Multi-use paths at all three complexes.
- Shaded playgrounds at Reata and the Scottsdale Sports Complex. Bell94 does not have one.
- Restrooms and a large patio or veranda at each site.
- Drop-in goals only at the Scottsdale Sports Complex, in two areas with full-size goals and nets, one north of the playground and one north of the basketball court, available first come, first served. Bell94 and Reata have no drop-in areas.
- A lighted basketball court at the Scottsdale Sports Complex only.
Organized play is the exception. That includes a team practice, a pickup league or a coached workout, and the city requires a reservation for all of it. The rental guidelines also say no drop-in organized sports play is permitted. All fields are Bermuda grass with installed goals, groomed and watered on an automatic system. They look ready for a casual game, but casual team use still goes through the city's permit process.
January and February, when the fields serve the big events
The last item on the fall sheet is the WLF Lacrosse Tournament on Jan. 9–10, 2027. After that, the fields go back to the second job the 2019 bond gave them.
The rental guidelines restrict hourly reservations in January and February. The time the city counts as available for booking also excludes the period set aside for the WM Open. The fields' winter calendar is built around two events.
- Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale, Jan. 23–31, 2027. Barrett-Jackson's 2027 Scottsdale page lists those dates. The auction offers free public parking and shuttles, and it sends rideshare drop-off and pick-up to a lot west of Thompson Peak Parkway on McDowell Mountain Ranch Road.
- WM Phoenix Open, Feb. 8–14, 2027. The tournament's official site lists these dates for the event at TPC Scottsdale.
WestWorld's parking guidance says parking changes by event, can use its nearly 20 lots and multipurpose fields, and is directed by signs on event days.
Put together, the year has three phases. Tournament weekends run from August through mid-December. A lacrosse weekend opens January. Then, from late January to mid-February, the two biggest events of the year lean on the same land the youth teams play on.
If the corridor between Bell Road and McDowell Mountain Ranch Road matters to how you plan your year, Matheson Real Estate Team is glad to talk through how it fits your routine. Request a Private Consultation.
