Capacity was limited to no more than 25% and bands and cheerleaders were noticeably absent. Still, most of the elements that make the NCAA Tournament America’s most beloved sporting event were on display Friday in the games played around central Indiana.
Even with most of the seats empty, the roar of fans could be heard outside Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday afternoon as Virginia Tech hit a three-pointer in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.
Wondering what other sports-related activities you can do here? The answer is plenty.
If you picture hotdogs and popcorn when you think about stadium food, meet Chef Shimelis Adem, who’s using local ingredients to create an Indiana-focused menu for NCAA games. On the list: Midwestern Madness Pork Chop Sandwich, Indiana Whiskey Sour Pork Wings and a Half-Pound Bracket Burger.
Along with a morale boost, the NCAA Tournament will serve as a major economic boost for our downtown businesses and outlying areas.
In a statement on Gen Con’s website, event organizers said they believe the calendar change is the “best approach both to meet the many challenges of the moment and to explore possibilities for the future.”
The 68-team men’s tournament, which starts Thursday, is usually staged in 14 cities across the country. Here’s how Indianapolis plans to pull off the whole thing all by itself.
Experts say attending events like the NCAA basketball tourney is relatively safe because of how big arenas with high ceilings work to move and mix air—as long as capacity limits allow for physical distancing and masks are still worn properly.
The weather is starting to warm up, meaning patio dining is much more comfortable than it was a few months ago.
Over the past few weeks, Jennifer Pope Baker has spent pretty much every waking moment overseeing Indy’s effort to host this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
It’s taken thousands of Hoosier residents willing to put community first in order to take Indy’s success to the next level.
More than 600 artists, musicians, dancers and other creative types are expected to take part in Swish, an arts and cultural festival that will take over sidewalks and outdoor cultural spaces in downtown Indianapolis starting Saturday.
A typical PRI Show brings upwards of 67,000 people to Indianapolis and generates an economic impact of $65 million, making it one of the city’s largest annual events.
To take advantage the national attention on Indiana as it hosts the entire NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the state has enlisted some famous Hoosiers and some up-and-coming residents for a campaign to show why Indiana is a great place to live, work, study and play.
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.
Former JW Marriott employee Lisette Woloszyk watched things go from bad to worse in March, as cancellations for the city’s hotels racked up alongside COVID-19 cases.
A limited number of spectators will be allowed to attend the Big Ten Conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Indianapolis this month, the conference announced Thursday morning.
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.
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.
