Big Ten Tourney Leaves Indy For Washington, D.C.

Indianapolis has hosted the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament nine times, more than any other city. Chicago has been the only other host since the event started in 1998.

But, Tuesday the conference announced the tournament will be played in Washington, D.C. in 2017.

With the expansion of the Big Ten, including adding Rutgers and Maryland, the conference decided to move the tournament to the nation’s capital to accommodate a growing fan base.

John Dedman with the Indiana Sports Corp says the news was expected and Indianapolis now must be creative in recruiting the tournament back in the future.

"We can't take anything for granted. We've got to continue to think in new and innovative ways about how we can not only take care of the event from an operational standpoint and make sure that the contest is played on a great stage," said Dedman. "We also need to think about ways to engage more fans and really make that fan experience, which I think here in Indianapolis is already second to none, we still need to find ways to make it better."

The Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments have a combined economic impact of about $15 million.

Dedman says Indianapolis hopes to host again, and believes it offers a unique experience.

"When you talk about Indianapolis for Big Ten events, NCAA events, a Super Bowl, the thing that Indianapolis can do that a lot of other cities cannot is that event can take over the city," said Dedman.  "You will feel the energy of it.  You will be in the heart of it if you are downtown."

The tournament is slated for Chicago next year, and back to Indy in 2016 before going to Washington, D.C.

Indianapolis will host the men’s Final Four next year.

"Much of our brand is built on hosting these big events and we are excited to do that, not only for the ones that are already committed to us, but in this next wave of things we are looking at as we look at 2017 all the way through 2020, 2021, 2022," said Dedman.