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.
From the moment fans land in Indianapolis, there’s no denying the tournament’s excitement—with prominent March Madness signage placed throughout the terminal, pop-up retail shops with apparel and memorabilia, local artwork and live musicians. It’s genuinely a pre-game to the experience in downtown Indy and throughout the host sites.
All those delays for COVID-19 cases that 27 of the 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament went through during the season could end up benefitting them now that they’ve arrived in Indianapolis.
Waiting in Indianapolis for the tournament to start, some college basketball stars on Wednesday tweeted #NotNCAAProperty as a reference to the ongoing fight to earn money for things like sponsorship deals, online endorsement and personal appearances.
This is life at a basketball tournament being played in a pandemic. The unspoken message: If players came to Indianapolis hoping for fun and games, they are not in the right place—at least not until tip-off.
NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt responded to athletes’ renewed demands for compensation Thursday by saying he supports and encourages their right to free speech within the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s rules.
Strict limits on crowd sizes in Mackey Arena at Purdue University for the NCAA tourney will dampen the tourism impact, but the games are still the biggest events to hit the West Lafayette area since the pandemic started.
The NCAA announced the cancellation—officially declaring a “no contest”—about three hours before Virginia Commonwealth University was scheduled to tip off against Oregon in the West Region.
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.
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 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 Westfield Redevelopment Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to table a petition that would retroactively formalize the city’s informal agreement with Westfield-based Bullpen Tournaments and approve another that expands its operations.
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.
Casino giant Caesars Entertainment Inc., which operates multiple properties in Indiana, is suing a long list of insurance carriers it accuses of balking at paying its business interruption costs.
March Madness is taking on a whole new meaning for athletes, coaches and support staff, who are largely cooped up for the duration of the tournament, which ends with the championship game April 5.
Early on, the hotels and convention center bustled with several hundred players. Now only 16 teams remain on the giant bracket that hangs from the J.W. Marriott next to the convention center, and every program wants to extend its stay.
Basketball games in Visit Indy’s suite have a strong influence on convention planners because they accentuate a potential client’s experience in the city.
