Organization behind Pacers aims to make the most of NBA Finals run

The 72 hours following the Indiana Pacers’ series-clinching victory over the New York Knicks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse were among the most frenzied and exciting Todd Taylor has ever experienced.

The president of business operations for Pacers Sports & Entertainment, Taylor has been around for plenty of big games in his 14 years with the group—but never an NBA Finals series.

“As you can imagine, it’s extremely busy, but certainly this opportunity doesn’t come along very often,” he told IBJ on Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours after finalizing ticketing plans for the Pacers’ home games in the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I think everybody’s extremely excited about it on our end. … There have been a lot of conversations, a lot of planning, a lot of moving parts” to take advantage of the unique marketing, advertising and branding possibilities the Finals bring, Taylor said. “It’s interesting: They’re just basketball games, but the stakes, and the stage, are pretty high.”

Most tickets for the contests at Gainbridge Fieldhouse—Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 6—have been spoken for by season-ticket holders, sponsors, the NBA and media. Taylor said many season-ticket holders chose to retain their seats through the playoffs.

But a small number of Pacers-controlled tickets were expected to go up for sale Thursday morning. Most are for seats in the upper bowl; few are for mid- and lower-level seats. Taylor said he expected all tickets to sell out quickly.

Because the team knows tickets for the Finals are scarce—and expensive—it will continue to host viewing parties at the arena for away games, so “people can still experience a little bit of the Finals run in Gainbridge Fieldhouse,” he said.

Pacers Sports & Entertainment will sell tickets to those parties for $5 each, with all revenue going to the Pacers Foundation. Tickets for earlier-round viewing parties were free, but that meant some fans who had tickets didn’t show up, Taylor said. Thousands attended watch parties at the Fieldhouse during away games of the Eastern Conference Finals.

First rodeo for many

The Pacers executive said tickets are just one of countless components PS&E, the operator of the Pacers and the Indiana Fever, has had to navigate since the Pacers’ May 31 win in Game 6.

Since this is the Pacers’ first return to the Finals in 25 years, most PS&E employees are experiencing the men’s championship series for the first time. The Indiana Fever reached the WNBA Finals in 2009 and 2015 and won the title in 2012.

“We certainly want to make sure that we maintain our good Hoosier nature” while in the national spotlight, Taylor said, “but we also want to take advantage of all opportunities that we have [coming] our way.”

Larry DeGaris is executive director of the Medill Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern University and a former sports marketing professor at the University of Indianapolis. He said while some casual basketball fans might tune out the Finals because both teams are from smaller markets, he still anticipates the games to be a solid draw for television and social media.

“You’re dealing with smaller fan-base sizes, so the ratings and ticket prices I expect are going to be lower,” he said, but the games will “definitely set a new standard” for Oklahoma City and Indianapolis.

“One of the things with having two small-market teams is that, for a lot of fans, it’s going to be refreshing to see the little guys get it done on the court,” DeGaris said. “They’re not going to be able to compete like this every year, so … let’s enjoy it while we have it.”

According to Forbes, the Thunder and the Pacers are middle-of-the-pack in their valuations. Oklahoma City, at No. 21 of 30 teams, is worth $3.65 billion and has several locally based owners through The Professional Basketball Club LLC. The Pacers, owned by the Simon family and businessman and film producer Steven Rales, are No. 22, with a valuation of $3.6 billion.

According to sports business news outlet Sportico, the NBA keeps about 25% of playoff ticket revenue, including the Finals. During the regular season, the NBA’s cut is 6%.

The Pacers have seen a big boost in online team store activity in recent weeks—a phenomenon that, when combined with increased interest in Fever merchandise, is keeping PS&E staffers busy. Taylor said the “tremendous” retail surge has the Pacers looking for employees to help package and label orders for shipment.

“It’s incredible, and it’s going to be a record,” he said. “Right now, there’s no better place to be—between the Pacers’ [regular season], the Fever and now this Finals run, we’re certainly busy. But it’s record-breaking at the same time.”

Sponsorship spike

Taylor said the championship series creates opportunities for existing sponsors, as well as for prospective partners.

PS&E expects to enlist major sponsors like Kroger, KeyBank, Gainbridge and Ascension Health, among many others, for promotions and other events throughout the series. Taylor said the NBA will also bring its own sponsors into the equation, whether through tickets and hospitality or community events.

But he added that the organization is “continually prospecting” more partnerships for future seasons—and being one of the final two teams standing helps garner attention.

“Certainly, when you get to this point, and you’re one of two teams left, a lot of those conversations you’ve been trying to have over the past couple [of] years—suddenly the phones are a little bit easier to be answered by the people we’re calling,” he said. “We want to make sure that we take full advantage of it but without deviating too much from what makes this franchise special.”

DeGaris, the sports marketing expert, said he expects that the buzz surrounding the Pacers, plus the Fever’s momentum, will create new ways for companies to find an audience and market themselves.

“There will be some bandwagon [sponsorships], but they’re going to be corporate partners who get a taste, get a sampling, of how sports can help their business,” he said. “Then they’ll be back, and they’ll stay. This really helps lift Indiana. Indianapolis is a sports city, and Indiana’s a basketball state. You can’t get more on brand: This is a real-life ‘Hoosiers.’”

As with all major events in the city, tourism and event attraction groups like Visit Indy and the Indiana Sports Corp. are set to welcome prospective and existing event rights-holders for home games in the series.

Each tourism group began during the Eastern Conference Finals to craft tentative invitation lists for the Finals, and earlier this week they began extending those invitations.

“To be able to have a handful of tickets to each home game will allow us to strategically invite people we are courting—people we are wanting to move the ball and continue the conversation with,” said Chris Gahl, executive vice president of Visit Indy. “It’s a very unique ticket to be able to offer to someone to get them on the ground, to stay in our hotels and see the city amidst the NBA Finals. It doesn’t matter who the Pacers are playing. It is all about the hype around the NBA Finals.”

Even so, Gahl said some meeting planners with connections to Oklahoma City—or a known affinity for its players—are being courted to attend games in Indianapolis.

He said the tourism agency also expects Pacers and Thunder fans to make their way downtown, with or without a game ticket, to be close to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse action. That could mean an increase in restaurant, bar and hotel activity, although Gahl said it’s “a little too early to tell” just how impactful the games will be.•