The 2026 National Beep Baseball Association World Series is set to take place Monday, Aug. 3, through Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Stuart Sports Complex at 39W585 Jericho Road in Aurora, city officials said.
The event is being hosted by the National Beep Baseball Association, in partnership with the DuPage Sports Commission, Aurora Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the city of Aurora, a press release from the city said.
The championship is expected to bring more than 600 visually-impaired athletes representing 21 teams from across the United States, as well as family members, fans, volunteers and supporters, to the Stuart Sports Complex, organizers said.
Founded in Chicago in 1976, the National Beep Baseball Association was established when advocates from Minnesota, Kansas, Texas and Arizona gathered with a vision of ensuring that people who are blind or visually impaired could experience the competition, teamwork and camaraderie of baseball, the release said.
“Sports have a unique ability to unite people and strengthen communities,” said DuPage Sports Commission Director of Sports Igor Bakovic in the release. “Supporting the NBBA World Series reflects the type of impact we strive to create through sports – bringing people together in service of something larger than the game itself.”
Beep baseball traces its origins to engineer Charlie Fairbanks, who in 1964 modified a softball by inserting an electronic beeping device so that blind children could play the game, the release said.
Over the decades, the equipment evolved into today’s version of the sport, featuring a beeping softball and four-foot-tall buzzing foam bases that guide players through sound. Athletes hit a pitched ball and sprint toward an audible base while defenders race to field the ball and record an out, all without relying on sight, event organizers said.
The NBBA World Series has been held annually since 1976 in communities across the United States and internationally, including Taipei, Taiwan, in 2000, the release said. Illinois previously hosted the World Series in 1990 in Chicago and 2002 in Glenview.
The 2026 World Series tournament will feature more than 100 games throughout the week. Opening ceremonies are set to take place at 4 p.m. on Monday, with the first game occurring afterwards at 5:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled to take place at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, according to the release.
For more information on the NBBA World Series, including the full schedule, go to www.nbba.org/2026ws/.
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