Downtown Indianapolis is prepping for March Madness.
The city will host the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and officials have been working to make sure everything is ready for the teams and national spotlight.
Senior Vice-President of Marketing and Events Bob Schultz said the pandemic put downtown through many challenges, but he said the city is ready.
“Being able to host this entire tournament, to present our infrastructure and our hotels and restaurants, event facilities and our medical teams and partners all of that working in combination to be able to host thousands of individuals -- this is great news for Indianapolis,” Schultz said.
City officials expect around 20,000 thousand visitors downtown during the tournament, but seating capacities for the venues and ticket sales have not been announced.
The entire NCAA tournament will be in Indiana, with 55 of the 67 games taking place in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse and Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The Final Four is scheduled for April 3 and 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium.