INDOT adds March Madness, Hoosier Hoops Highway signs go up on interstates
Games will be played throughout Indiana beginning Wednesday in Evansville, Indianapolis, Bloomington and West Lafayette.
The Rebound
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Jeffrey Patchen: Sports legends make Indiana the cradle of basketball
It is a national passion that has been churning away across the country and is now culminating in the heartland—in a place where legends have pounded the hardwood, beat the buzzer and lovingly watched the ball kiss the ropes as it sliced through the net.
Zachary Finn: Indianapolis can restore March Madness and reopen the world
Not everyone is willing to do the right thing against their own self-interest. Fewer still are courageous enough to be the first to make such a sacrifice. So it’s only fair that the NCAA tournament comes to our city, in its entirety, so we can lead the charge to open the world back up again.
Airport prepping for stream of NCAA teams, fans
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.
Photo gallery: The bracket goes up on the JW Marriott
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.
IBJ Podcast: Restaurants rejoice in looser limits for March Madness
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.
March Madness will help restaurants. But how much?
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.
Tournament’s economic impact will turn on number of fans who come
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.
NCAA reveals COVID-19 contingency plans for hoops tourneys
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.
Restaurant, bar capacity limits in Marion County to be eased March 1
More people will be allowed into Marion County restaurants, bars and gyms starting March 1, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Thursday morning, citing improving COVID-19 pandemic conditions.
NCAA tournament tests won’t be included in state’s public dashboard
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.
IBJ launches The Rebound site, email newsletter for NCAA coverage
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).
Small labs try to nab testing work at big sports events
A huge event that kicks off next month is hanging like a plum: the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Media exposure from 3-week NCAA tournament could pay off big
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.
An unusual season is leading to a trickier NCAA bracket
With the entire tournament taking place in or near Indianapolis, there is no reason for the four geographic regions that have been a part of past NCAA brackets. The NCAA doesn’t have to ensure the best teams play closer to home.
Fans to be allowed at NCAA men’s basketball tourney games
Most of the games will be played at a handful of venues in Indianapolis, while remaining games will be played in West Lafayette and Bloomington.
Virus curtails tournament’s festivities; organizers still engaging community
The pandemic that landed March Madness in Indianapolis is also the complication that will strip some of the tournament’s ambience, but local officials are organizing safe activities.
Mike Lopresti: This year’s bracket won’t be ordinary. It can’t be.
We have here the most recent Associated Press Top 25, and what it suggests is that Indianapolis won’t just host the most unorthodox tournament ever played by location, but also maybe with one of the most unusual fields in recent times.
County health department indicates fans could be a go for NCAA tournament
Dr. Virginia Caine, executive director of the health department, said she expects the NCAA to formalize a request regarding fans “within the next one to two weeks,” and indicated recent data related to positive tests and hospitalizations is promising.
IBJ Podcast: Spiffing up downtown Indy before March Madness arrives
Host Mason King talks with Downtown Indy Inc.’s Bob Schultz, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful’s Jeremy Kranowitz and the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ Julie Goodman about the projects and cleanups they have planned.