Under sharp criticism during its marquee March Madness tournaments, the Indianapolis-based NCAA said Thursday it is hiring a law firm to review potential gender equity issues related to how it conducts its men’s and women’s championship events.
With thousands of visitors in town for the NCAA basketball tournament and other athletic events, occupancy rates at downtown Indianapolis hotels were the highest in the nation for the past two weekends, breaking the pandemic tourism setback that settled in a year ago.
Arts and culture feel like an easy pathway to support people of color and contribute to our city’s newfound commitment to racial equity.
Lawmakers raised questions about the organization’s role in fueling inequity in college sports, a sign that scrutiny of the Indianapolis-based NCAA is likely to expand beyond this month’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Interest in tickets to Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Indianapolis is generally outpacing the demand for tickets to earlier rounds. Tickets for Hinkle Fieldhouse games are seeing the strongest demand.
The figures, obtained by IBJ on Wednesday, show an average attendance of 2,180 people per game across the seven basketball courts at six venues. All venues limited crowd sizes because of the pandemic.
The tournament is all but guaranteed to have a few more unexpected twists and turns. Here are the players and games to watch.
The exceptional circumstances and unique demands of an event this complex provide an invaluable proving ground.
Amid mounting pressure from players, coaches and administrators over differences between this month’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, NCAA President Mark Emmert on Tuesday wrote that he would be calling for “an independent review.”
The National Council on Problem Gambling on Tuesday issued a set of recommendations for such deals that aim to reduce the danger of students developing a gambling problem.
Thousands of people, many of them maskless, crowded into the district near Mass Ave on Saturday to watch NCAA men’s basketball games on huge television screens.
The seed numbers of the 16 remaining teams add up to 94, the highest total since the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament expanded in 1985. Here’s how that stacks up against some previous years.
While some other areas across the country might have been interested in hosting the NCAA tournament bubble, by the time they could have raised their hands, Indianapolis already had the playbook in the hands of the NCAA.
Some local museums and cultural institutions say they saw a bump in visitation over the weekend related to March Madness. Meanwhile, the attractions are playing up their basketball connections in a bid to attract visitors.
The move will allow fans and other visitors to use the Hyatt Regency, Westin and JW Marriott hotels for the first time in 10 days, after the three properties were fully booked by the NCAA for tournament needs.
The second round just wrapped with an even dozen upsets already in the books — a record for the opening 48 games and just one shy of the mark for the entire tournament — with all kinds of possibilities still out there.
Indianapolis is home to several must-do attractions, including special restaurants, the Speedway, several museums and more. Here’s a list of attractions the IBJ staff recommends checking out.
There are strategic elements in place today, including a 5G lab in downtown Indianapolis and the Indy Autonomous Challenge scheduled at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year.
Here’s a selection of photos from second round games on Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium.
The NCAA has run 8,015 tests through Sunday with only one confirmed positive at the women’s tournament using daily antigen testing. The men are using daily PCR tests, considered more accurate.
