Mike Lopresti: There’s never been a time in Indianapolis like what’s coming
The entire March-Madness-speaking world is now focused on Indianapolis, with 68 teams flying and busing this way.
The entire March-Madness-speaking world is now focused on Indianapolis, with 68 teams flying and busing this way.
Over the past few weeks, Jennifer Pope Baker has spent pretty much every waking moment overseeing Indy’s effort to host this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
When you talk about that body of experience [for Indianapolis], it makes this doable. It gives you an experience base that you can tap into, to pull things together.
As fellow Hoosiers, we at the NCAA are so proud that the crowning achievement of college basketball will take place exclusively in a state with a rich and storied basketball tradition—a state we call home as NCAA employees.
It’s taken thousands of Hoosier residents willing to put community first in order to take Indy’s success to the next level.
It has been a year of uncertainty and pain. And while this basketball tournament brings a figurative new spring to Indiana, we also need to acknowledge the hard months that brought us here.
The Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are underway in Indianapolis in advance of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament starting here next week. The women’s NCAA tournament will be in San Antonio. On Thursday, the Michigan State defeated No. 9 Indiana University, ousting it from the tournament in a year when the Hoosiers had […]
The Blue Devils abruptly had to pull out of the tournament and end their season due to a positive COVID-19 test, ending their streak of 24 consecutive NCAA appearances that began in 1996.
In explaining a number of contingencies that could come into play if teams are exposed to COVID-19, NCAA senior VP of basketball Dan Gavitt said that as long as a team has five healthy players, it’s good to go.
We have been the beneficiaries of decades of visionary, courageous leaders, public and private, Democratic and Republican, who literally built Indianapolis into the premier event city in the country.
Indianapolis-based Sport Graphics is best known for its record-setting NCAA Final Four creations and the massive banners it creates to festoon the exteriors and interiors of everything from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Much of the movement heading into Selection Sunday will occur later in the week, but there are seven tournaments wrapping up Monday and Tuesday.
Like PopCon, the NCAA is in the business of “fun.” Fun will not be had if you are worried about yourself and the people in which you come into contact. It is just as important for the world to see that Indianapolis, and Indiana-at-large is taking this undertaking seriously.
IBJ spoke to Butler University President James Danko and Athletic Director Barry Collier about how this years tournament and the school’s back-to-back trips to the Final Four—intertwine.
The state is expected to benefit from more than $140 million in economic impact and national exposure from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament alone, which will bring 67 games to Indianapolis, Bloomington and West Lafayette starting March 18.
Other than a few facilities that will be COVID testing sites, team lounges or overflow areas, most event spaces that usually glean revenue from tournament gatherings could be left out in the cold.
Players will lose their NCAA eligibility but are promised a minimum salary of at least $100,000 per year, full health care insurance coverage, and aree guaranteed up to $100,000 for college tuition should they end their pursuit of a pro basketball career.
The State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships will be held at Hinkle Fieldhouse, along with a historic black colleges and universities all-star game.
Games will be played throughout Indiana beginning Wednesday in Evansville, Indianapolis, Bloomington and West Lafayette.
The airport will be ready for visitors in town for the tournament with new March Madness signage, NCAA-sanctioned pop-up retail shops and enhanced staffing.