INDIANAPOLIS, IN — INDIANAPOLIS — Saturday is game day for the Big Ten Championship and people from across America crowded Downtown Indianapolis.
The sold out game at Lucas Oil Stadium and the cheers of the crowd reflect the impact the city will feel economically today and for years to come.
According to the Indiana Sports Corp, 70,000 people are here visiting for the Big Ten championship and it will bring in around $20 million worth of economic impact for the city.
Of course, more visitors means more money.
“Indianapolis is thriving when it comes to sporting events,” said Brett Kramer, who works as the Director of Public Relations with the Indiana Sports Corp. “Our goal is to always to have the restaurants full, to have the hotels full, to have downtown booming with civic pride.”
It’s a sense of pride that the non-profit helps facilitate through sporting events in Indy because it’s walkable, with hotels and restaurants all around.
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“We think that’s a huge reason why sporting events keep coming to Indianapolis, but also once again [it] comes down to the people," Kramer said.
We’re talking about more than 500 volunteers for events like the Big 10 Championships, who go spend their free time to help all of the guests.
“[I love] the environment, to be out here interacting with people with the same hobby as I have, football,” said Penn State fan Rich Hayes.
“They’re from all over. They just love coming to this game. In fact, we got our tickets from a guy from Iowa,” said University of Michigan fan Rich Bliss.
All of our guests give back to the city through their business.
“We are going to the Slippery Noodle. We were there last year, so we’re going to be heading over there pretty soon,” said Michigan fan Reggie Dalton.
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“We’re in the hundreds of millions of economic impacts from here until 2030," Kramer said. “We have the NBA All-star Game in 2024, followed by the Olympic Swimming Trials which will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium. We’ve been awarded the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2026, and most recently in 2029. Not to mention the 2028 Women’s Final Four. So, we have a lot of sports to look forward to in Indianapolis.”
The economic impact goes directly back into the city to help Indy thrive.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of work that we have pride in because at the end of the day it’s making our city shine," Kramer said.
