Indy Tapped To Host 14 More Big Ten Championships

Indianapolis will remain the home for the Big Ten’s football championship game for the next seven years. The conference announced the game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium through 2021.

The city also will host men’s and women’s basketball championships over the next decade.

The Big Ten is tapping Indianapolis to host a total of 14 championship events over the next eight years.

Besides the football title game, the city will host the conference’s women’s basketball tournament from 2017 to 2022. It also will split hosting duties for the men’s basketball tournament with Chicago. 

The event will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in 2020 and 2022. Indy hosted the tournament this past March and was already scheduled to host it again in 2016.

Indiana Sports Corp Chairman Scott Dorsey says combined, the events will generate $150 million of economic impact.

"This is the biggest award and really the biggest announcement in Big Ten athletic history and certainly in the history of Indianapolis," he said.  "Once again, it cements Indianapolis as the best sports city in America and just provides a wonderful opportunity for us to bring so many visitors to Indianapolis from all around the country in addition to having a national media audience shine their bright lights on Indianapolis."

And with the conference expanding this year to include Rutgers and Maryland, Dorsey believes there are new opportunities to draw new visitors from the east coast to Indianapolis.

"I also think it speaks to the increasing competitiveness of hosting Big Ten championships," said Dorsey.  "To be awarded this many events at one time for this many years in the future, is just a huge compliment to our city."

So what is it about Indianapolis that makes it so attractive to the Big Ten compared to other cities? 

Chris Gahl with tourism group Visit Indy says it’s a combination of the city’s sports history and the ability for visitors to easily navigate around Indianapolis when they come.

"I think it's the connectivity.  It's the fact that even during cold weather months, or even in the spring when weather can be inclement, that we have hotels that are connected via climate controlled skywalk to the stadium," said Gahl.   "It's that fact that we have this fan festive environment downtown that is conducive for fan bases to activate, alumni bases to activate.  So, it's this walkable downtown that continues to allure major sporting events and other major conventions and events."

And Lucas Oil Stadium Director Mike Fox says the continuity between the city’s teams, facilities and staff also adds to Indy’s attractiveness.

"Our great wealth of volunteers, Indiana Sports Corp, Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers we all work together and that is probably our biggest asset," he said.  "Trust me, in a lot of cities around the country, people to work together like we do in Indiananapolis."

News of the Big Ten events comes on the heels of Indianapolis missing out on a pair of others.

The city lost its bid to host the Super Bowl in 2018 to Minneapolis, and recently ended a contract to host a cricket tournament for the next three years.

Dorsey says securing the conference championships helps soften the blow of the losses.

"This is really big.  We are going to compete for a lot of events.  We are going to win some.  We are going to lose some. But, to be awarded 14 events all at one time shows the enormous pledge of confidence that the Big Ten has in Indianapolis and really fills up our calendar in a really terrific way," said Dorsey.  "This is a huge win for us across the board and just further cements our leadership position in the sports community."

Last year’s Big Ten championship football game attracted more than 66,000 to Lucas Oil Stadium, the men’s basketball tournament brought in 111,000 fans, and the women’s basketball tournament attracted an average of more than 30,000.