Indy eyes strong weekend traffic from early-round NCAA games
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The first and second rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament might not be the most prominent of dozens of events on this year’s conventions and sports calendar in Indianapolis, but local leaders consider the event a staple in the city’s hosting diet.
The games, which tip off Friday afternoon, are expected to generate $14 million for the Indianapolis economy. This year’s games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse are expected to be of particular interest to local fans, as Purdue University is one of the eight teams making the trip.
First-round games in Indianapolis will be played in two sessions on Friday afternoon and Friday night, with two games in each session. Two second-round games will be played in a third session on Sunday.
Dan Gliot, senior director of marketing and communications for Indiana Sports Corp., said the “fantastic mix of teams” that also includes a high-ranked Marquette team, as well as Colorado, Florida and Texas Christian University, will elevate spectator interest in traveling to Indianapolis.
“It’s really nice to have some of these regional teams that are very easily drivable and can help fill out the crowd,” he said. “But, on the other side of that, it’s also exciting to have some of these new teams and new fans who may have never been to Indianapolis to experience these games and everything that Indianapolis has to offer. That’s what makes this event really cool for us.”
Tickets for this weekend’s basketball games in Indianapolis have been scooped up over the past several days. Tickets are sold for each session or for the entire tournament run in a city. In Indianapolis, tickets are only available through resale, either on Ticketmaster or on a site like StubHub, which is the nation’s top ticket reseller.
Session 2, which features No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 16 Grambling State, along with No. 8 seed Utah State and No. 9 Texas Christian University, has a get-in price on StubHub of $181 per ticket in the upper deck of the fieldhouse. That’s an increase from the $117 per ticket that IBJ reported Monday morning. Prices for the session reach $2,008 each for seats behind one of the baskets.
StubHub has seen a decline in prices for get-in tickets to the first session, to $31 from $72 each reported on Monday. Those games, which start at 2 p.m. Friday, will see the South Region’s No. 2 team, Marquette, play No. 15 Western Kentucky and No. 7. Florida face Colorado, which won its play-in game Wednesday.
All-session tickets now start at $358 each for seats available in pairs high in the upper deck to $1,041 each in a lower corner area, while Session 3 tickets alone have largely held steady at $162 to $1,952 per ticket.
This year’s NCAA tournament in Indianapolis will also offer a new fan zone on Bicentennial Unity Plaza, which will feature music, food and games of knock-out on the basketball court. The event is free and open to the public, and it’s expected to play a role in driving traffic downtown—particularly for local Purdue fans, whether or not they have tickets to the games. Gliot said it’s likely downtown restaurants and retailers will especially benefit from the Boilermakers coming to Indianapolis.
IUPUI and the Horizon League are the official hosts for the event, but Indiana Sports Corp. is deeply entrenched in helping organize the city’s NCAA events.
Gliot said NCAA basketball continues to play an important role in the sports tourism ecosystem. The city hosts the tournament’s Midwest Regional next year and the Final Four in 2026 and 2029, along with a Women’s Final Four in 2028.
This year’s games are placed in a jam-packed 2024 calendar that started with the NBA All-Star Game in February, which was predicted to bring more than $320 million to the local economy (a final number is pending), as well as the NFL Combine earlier this month.
The NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming Championships are set for later this month, followed by the National Invitational Tournament and Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament semifinals and championships at Hinkle Fieldhouse in early April, the Indianapolis 500 in May and the USA Olympic Swim Trials throughout June.
“This run that Indianapolis will have in 2024 is really unprecedented,” he said. “ We would put this schedule of events up against any other city. Everyone is going to be talking about Indianapolis, and already has been talking about Indianapolis. So we’re going to get more and more fans that come in and want to come back because they see all the things that Indianapolis can do.”