Tournament’s economic impact will turn on number of fans who come
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.
NCAA
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March Madness will help restaurants. But how much?
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.
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Media exposure from 3-week NCAA tournament could pay off big
Coverage from Selection Sunday on March 14 to the championship April 5 should bring an enormous payoff to Indiana, which will host all 67 games, and to Indianapolis specifically, which will host 55 of them.
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IBJ Podcast: Spiffing up downtown Indy before March Madness arrives
Host Mason King talks with Downtown Indy Inc.’s Bob Schultz, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful’s Jeremy Kranowitz and the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ Julie Goodman about the projects and cleanups they have planned.
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IMPD ‘excited’ about role in March Madness
Deputy Chief Joshua Barker says the challenge requires lots of planning and coordination—with the NCAA, the Indiana Sports Corp., local businesses, and even other police departments throughout the region.
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Articles
NCAA reveals COVID-19 contingency plans for hoops tourneys
Under a contingency plan released Thursday, the top four teams left out of March Madness will serve as potential replacements for any teams that are unable to participate due to COVID-19 issues.
NCAA tournament tests won’t be included in state’s public dashboard
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.
Study finds college sports still trail pro in diversity hiring
Wednesday’s report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport looked at racial hiring and gender hiring for the 2019-20 season across college sports, including leadership at the Indianapolis-based NCAA headquarters.
IBJ launches The Rebound site, email newsletter for NCAA coverage
You can also pre-register for IBJ’s NCAA bracket contest, where you can try to out-pick a number of local celebrities we’ll unveil in the coming weeks (including IBJ’s own “celebrities”—think Eight@8’s Mason King and CEO Nate Feltman).
An unusual season is leading to a trickier NCAA bracket
With the entire tournament taking place in or near Indianapolis, there is no reason for the four geographic regions that have been a part of past NCAA brackets. The NCAA doesn’t have to ensure the best teams play closer to home.
Fans to be allowed at NCAA men’s basketball tourney games
Most of the games will be played at a handful of venues in Indianapolis, while remaining games will be played in West Lafayette and Bloomington.
Virus curtails tournament’s festivities; organizers still engaging community
The pandemic that landed March Madness in Indianapolis is also the complication that will strip some of the tournament’s ambience, but local officials are organizing safe activities.
County health department indicates fans could be a go for NCAA tournament
Dr. Virginia Caine, executive director of the health department, said she expects the NCAA to formalize a request regarding fans “within the next one to two weeks,” and indicated recent data related to positive tests and hospitalizations is promising.
San Antonio area gets entire NCAA women’s basketball tourney
The move Friday was made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and matches that of the men’s tournament, which the NCAA said last month will be played in the Indianapolis area.
City, groups launch beautification effort to prepare for March Madness
Local officials are scheduling neighborhood cleanups, public art initiatives and a slew of other efforts to help the city put its best foot forward when March Madness takes over downtown next month.
Latest bill would bar NCAA limits on athlete image rights
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-New York) introduced a bill Thursday that would guarantee college athletes the right to earn money from endorsements and sponsorship deals while barring the NCAA, schools and conferences from imposing restrictions.
Big Ten moving men’s basketball tournament to Indianapolis, sources say
The tournament will be played March 10-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium, sources say, because the women’s basketball tournament is already planned for Bankers Life Fieldhouse on overlapping dates.
EA revives college football game as courts mull NCAA stance on amateurism
EA Sports announced Tuesday that it is bringing back its college football video game series, a beloved franchise that was discontinued in 2013 after EA and the Indianapolis-based NCAA were taken to court over the unpaid use of player likenesses.
Slammed by pandemic losses, NCAA revenue shrinks by $600 million
The Indianapolis-based National Collegiate Athletic Association saw revenue fall by more than 50% in its latest fiscal year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but was able to minimize the damage thanks to its financial contingency plan, the organization said.
Downtown properties scramble to ramp up for NCAA influx
Five of the city’s most prominent hotels, accounting for more than 2,800 rooms, will house the 68 teams in the three-week NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament that tips off March 18.
NCAA announces tighter schedule for March Madness
The much-anticipated opening Thursday of March Madness this year will belong to the play-in teams, part of a scrambled and modestly condensed schedule for the 2021 tournament released Tuesday.
Emmert: NCAA still expecting to get pay issue done in 2021
NCAA President Mark Emmert’s remarks came during his state of college athletics address at the NCAA’s annual convention, which is being held virtually this week because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
IBJ Podcast: What must Indy do to be ready to host all of March Madness?
The logistics needed to pull off the entire NCAA tournament are incredible. But Indianapolis officials tell IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey they are up to the task. So podcast host Mason King talks with Shuey about what he’s learned and what’s left to figure out.
NCAA tournament could give city ‘moment’ on par with Pan Am Games, Super Bowl
Hosting the entire 68-team NCAA men’s basketball tournament is likely to be a landmark event for Indianapolis and another boon for the city’s hospitality efforts, industry observers say.