Indianapolis-based Sport Graphics is best known for its record-setting NCAA Final Four creations and the massive banners it creates to festoon the exteriors and interiors of everything from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Much of the movement heading into Selection Sunday will occur later in the week, but there are seven tournaments wrapping up Monday and Tuesday.
Like PopCon, the NCAA is in the business of “fun.” Fun will not be had if you are worried about yourself and the people in which you come into contact. It is just as important for the world to see that Indianapolis, and Indiana-at-large is taking this undertaking seriously.
IBJ spoke to Butler University President James Danko and Athletic Director Barry Collier about how this years tournament and the school’s back-to-back trips to the Final Four—intertwine.
The state is expected to benefit from more than $140 million in economic impact and national exposure from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament alone, which will bring 67 games to Indianapolis, Bloomington and West Lafayette starting March 18.
Other than a few facilities that will be COVID testing sites, team lounges or overflow areas, most event spaces that usually glean revenue from tournament gatherings could be left out in the cold.
Players will lose their NCAA eligibility but are promised a minimum salary of at least $100,000 per year, full health care insurance coverage, and aree guaranteed up to $100,000 for college tuition should they end their pursuit of a pro basketball career.
The State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships will be held at Hinkle Fieldhouse, along with a historic black colleges and universities all-star game.
Games will be played throughout Indiana beginning Wednesday in Evansville, Indianapolis, Bloomington and West Lafayette.
The airport will be ready for visitors in town for the tournament with new March Madness signage, NCAA-sanctioned pop-up retail shops and enhanced staffing.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the school went public last week with its decision not to be included in EA Sports’ new college football video game to call attention to a major issue that has not been thoroughly addressed.
The tradition started in 2012, when what was essentially a giant decal of the Lombardi Trophy—the prize for winning the Super Bowl—went up on the front or eastern face of the 33-story hotel.
Host Mason King talked with Mike Cranfill, co-owner of The District Tap, and Mike Cunningham, founder and CEO of Cunningham Restaurant Group, which owns 35 restaurants with plans to open several more soon, about what the NCAA tournament will mean for them.
The city will host an unprecedented number of games with the entire tournament being played in Indiana. But the pandemic will limit capacity at both games and restaurants.
Even after the NCAA said Feb. 19 that some spectators will be allowed at the games, local tourism officials and economists are still tempering their financial expectations.
Under a contingency plan released Thursday, the top four teams left out of March Madness will serve as potential replacements for any teams that are unable to participate due to COVID-19 issues.
The Indiana Department of Health told IBJ that the state’s COVID-19 testing data, which has been updated daily since the pandemic began almost a year ago, is limited to information on Indiana residents.
Wednesday’s report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport looked at racial hiring and gender hiring for the 2019-20 season across college sports, including leadership at the Indianapolis-based NCAA headquarters.
You can also pre-register for IBJ’s NCAA bracket contest, where you can try to out-pick a number of local celebrities we’ll unveil in the coming weeks (including IBJ’s own “celebrities”—think Eight@8’s Mason King and CEO Nate Feltman).
Coverage from Selection Sunday on March 14 to the championship April 5 should bring an enormous payoff to Indiana, which will host all 67 games, and to Indianapolis specifically, which will host 55 of them.
