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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe National Basketball Association could explore bringing more events to Indianapolis in coming years following what the league considers to have been a successful All-Star Weekend that drew more than 190,000 people downtown, according to estimates shared by the Indiana Pacers on Friday.
Joey Graziano, NBA senior vice president and head of global events, told IBJ there are several future events for which Indianapolis could be considered as a host in coming years. He said he’s hopeful the Feb. 16-18 All-Star events could serve as a springboard for an expanded relationship between the league and the city.
“I’m incredibly bullish on Indianapolis and incredibly excited for the future of NBA All-Star as one of our events [here],” he said. “But across our event portfolio, there are going to be opportunities for us to continue to work together with the great city of Indianapolis.”
Graziano declined to say what other NBA-owned events the city could pursue, but it could theoretically include the annual NBA Draft and NBA Draft Combine (which were held in Chicago in 2023) or NBA Con, a three-day convention intended to attract basketball fans from across the globe. The first NBA Con, held in Las Vegas last summer, drew 50,000 attendees, but the league hopes to eventually draw more than 100,000 people to the event.
The event executive said he was impressed by the city’s ability to capitalize on the event to draw throngs of spectators and visitors downtown.
The total estimated figure of more than 190,000 was the largest seen for All-Star Weekend festivities in 14 year, the Pacers said. It included an event-record 85,237 people attending the NBA Crossover fan event at the Indiana Convention Center and the second-highest attendance ever for State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, with 35,599 fans attending events at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Among the other metrics the NBA shared in recent days, viewership for the Indianapolis All-Star Game was up 20% over 2023, with 11.6 million viewers across all platforms, with an average of 5.5 million. The All-Star Celebrity Game was the most watched in six years, with an average audience of 1.565 million viewers, up 12% from last year. It was also the most viewed All-Star event ever across the NBA’s social and digital platforms, with 2.4 billion video views.
Ahead of All-Star Weekend, the Indianapolis host committee said a study conducted in partnership with Temple University projected an economic impact of $320 million for the city from the event. An official figure won’t be finalized for several months.
“Given all of the success we had [during All-Star Weekend], and particularly the leadership of the Pacers, I don’t see how we wouldn’t be interested in in finding more opportunities to work with the likes of (Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO) Rick Fuson, (PS&E President) Mel Raines and (Visit Indy CEO) Leonard Hoops, and the civic and community leaders of Indianapolis,” Graziano said. “I think Indianapolis is one of the best major event cities in the world, and I feel that even stronger on the back end of this event than I did going into it.”
It’s not clear when the NBA could bring the All-Star Game itself back to Indianapolis in the future. In fact, since awarding Indianapolis the hosting gig in 2017, the league has added new minimum criteria for cities to be considered, including:
— 7,250 hotel rooms and at least three hotels with five-star ratings;
— a convention center with no less than 650,000 square feet of space;
— an airport that offers at least 75 domestic nonstop flights and 20 international flights.
While Indianapolis meets the first two criteria, it does not meet the third. The city offers about 45 nonstop domestic flights and only two international flights (Toronto and Cancun).
But Graziano said the league has seven other requirements, which he declined to share because they are considered confidential, that the NBA asks of would-be host cities. He said the league asks that cities considering going after the All-Star Game are required to meet at least 80% of the requirements.
“It’s a conversation that we’re having, recognizing that the event has grown,” he said. “And because of that growth, there are eligibility aspects that we need to see … in order for the city to be well-positioned to host an event.”
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What are the three 5-star hotels in Indy? I’m guessing the Conrad is one, but drawing a blank on Nos. 2 and 3.
Maybe the new Bottleworks hotel is another??
It used to be that Indy had no 5-star hotels, and that was even with the Conrad. So it seems like a couple of older hotels have received an extra star.
Le Meridian is a premium property, but I don’t believe that have a pool facility like the Conrad. I would guess the JW Mariott would be the only other contender in 5 star accommodations. The Westin is also a great property, but I don’t believe most Westin properties are 5 stars. To garner a 5 start rating, they usually have to have extensive facilities like pools, spas, room service and restaurants.
Too bad the weather was crummy on Friday night because there were little to no fans outside when I walked around downtown that night even though they were setup for it with DJ’s, Hoops, etc. Don’t know if that improved on Saturday. Maybe Mass Ave. and The Garage area had a better crowd.
Nice airport. Many empty gates. Significant unused capacity. Few large jets.
Few non-stops. Many small jets. Inconvenient connections. No international flights to Europe and only one to Canada (Toronto) and one to Mexico. This is not great. No decent rail service.
Perhaps Indy is a poor travel market from the standpoint of major airlines. Many search leisure flights and bargain prices and the business travel market from Indy apparently does not support a more robust roster of flights.
What’s the plan — is the airport board doing anything to improve this unfortunate situation. With all the extra space, maybe propose Indy as an alt to O’Hare for intl connections (reality is few intl customers would be destined to Indy) . . . . but that would only work if a high-speed rail connection (meaning real/european high speed of up to 200mph) direct to the airport and linking to Chicago downtown and better yet, to both Chicago airports.
They are getting Everything together going forward! Calm down ,the City is transforming from a Great American City and is stepping onto an international Stage for sure! And they will respond correctly!! Watch the Future. Gonna be Great!!!
I remember similar hype after Indy hosted the Super Bowl. The NFL was going to look at doing more here. No Indy is doing everything it can to hold onto the combine and there are no other NFL properties here. In short, don’t hold your breath.