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We’re almost always bragging about economic impact and ticket sales when we host global events here in Indianapolis—and for good reason. Indianapolis’ one-of-a-kind sports strategy has become one of our major economic engines, delivering $5 billion to central Indiana since the Indiana Sports Corp.’s inception in 1979.
Last year in February, the NBA All-Star Game brought more than 81,000 visitors, including 43,000 from outside Indianapolis, and generated more than $400 million for the city. The AT&T WNBA All-Star Game delivered a similar economic boost, especially because of the popularity of Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.
We could go on, reciting the impact of the multiple March Madness games and U.S. Olympic Trials we host and the always-celebrated 2012 Super Bowl.
We’re shining the spotlight on a different kind of tremendously impactful event. TEDSports Indianapolis, which will be held Sept. 9-11 at Old National Centre, won’t fill our stadiums this year. But the ideas generated here in Indianapolis will impact the global sports industry and simultaneously put a worldwide spotlight on Indy in a way nothing else has before. TEDSports Indianapolis is also going to help us shape the future of our statewide 25-year sports strategy, becoming a major piece in the puzzle to reach our audacious goal of turning Indianapolis into the global epicenter of sports by 2050.
We’re expecting 800—that’s right, 800—for TEDSports Indianapolis, including more than 25 of the world’s greatest game changers who will speak to a local and global audience of entrepreneurs, thinkers and believers in big ideas and bigger results.
The centerpiece of the conference will, of course, be the famed TED Talks, watched by millions worldwide. So far, we’ve announced several speakers, including Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s chief content officer and 14-time World Champion; Troy Vincent Sr., executive vice president of football operations for the NFL; Kate Johnson, global marketing director of sports and entertainment for Google; Antony Scanlon, executive director of the International Golf Federation; our own basketball legend Tamika Catchings and filmmaking legend Angelo Pizzo; and NCAA President Charlie Baker. More speaker announcements are coming.
But TEDSports Indianapolis will be much more than TED Talks.
The conference is an immersive experience designed to use the world’s best minds to spark big ideas, ignite transformational conversations and build lasting connections. There will also be engaging panels, interactive workshops, fireside chats, discovery sessions and TED’s signature dine-arounds, which will create deep discussions amid Indy’s excellent culinary scene. From kicking field goals with Super-Bowl-winning kicker Steve Hauschka to participating in a pit stop challenge with Arrow McLaren to participating in a workshop with the famed Colts mascot, Blue, these are the kinds of experiences you can get only at TED and only in Indy.
We know TEDSports Indianapolis is not just an opportunity to showcase our city and its successes. It is definitely that. But the bigger dream is to move beyond best practices to establish next practices and open our community and our minds to global sports and the TED community. We want to build relationships, exchange ideas that can have a transformational impact and see how we can collectively help turn the Indiana Sports Corp.’s 2050 Vision into a reality.
So as we prepare for this epic conference, we’re again asking for help from you—a community that has delivered for us time and time again.
We hope you will provide your signature Hoosier Hospitality to the conference’s local, national and international visitors. Maybe your business is near Old National Centre, and there’s something special you can think of to welcome TEDSports Indianapolis. Or maybe you or someone you know with big ideas should attend TEDSports Indianapolis. Go to tedsports-indianapolis.ted.com and click apply. We’ll also need volunteers, and you can sign up at indianasportscorp.org.
You can also help support TEDSports Indianapolis by sharing the cutting-edge ideas that will emerge from our conference with your network and considering how you might get involved. You can follow all the news on the TEDSports website and on social media.
No matter how you choose to engage with TEDSports Indianapolis, we hope you do. Because while this global Indianapolis event doesn’t have the same kind of physical footprint we’re used to in Indy, make no mistake: The learnings that come out of TEDSports Indianapolis will impact our lives (and those of people worldwide) and help to grow our Indy sports ecosystem decades into the future.•
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Bhatt is CEO of Next Practice Partners. Talty is president of Indiana Sports Corp. They co-chair TEDSports Indianapolis.
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