Big Ten Title Game Expected To Rebound

Indianapolis will host the Big Ten Championship football game for the third year in a row.

The conference title game saw a big drop in attendance from the first to second year, but officials think the event is poised for a comeback. Nearly 65,000 fans packed Lucas Oil Stadium for the inaugural championship game in 2011.  Last year it was down to about 41,000.

"In 2012, it was a very unique year in the Big Ten," said John Dedman of Indiana Sports Corp.  "Neither Ohio State nor Penn State who finished first and second on that Leaders Division side were eligible to play in the game."

He says most individual tickets are already sold for Saturday’s contest between Michigan State and Ohio State - which are both ranked in the top 10.

"The attendance being in excess of 60,000 is up on par with all those other major conferences and in some cases is probably well ahead of those," said Dedman.  

And he says more fans means big business for the city.

"It is a huge economic winner for Central Indiana when you just talk about the number of visitors and what they are spending here in town," he said.  "The event will - for a Friday and Saturday event - bring in about $15 million of direct visitor spending."

Saturday’s title game kicks off around 8:15 p.m. There are also events, like the Big Ten Fan Fest and a tailgate party on Georgia Street, scheduled for Friday and Saturday.