INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time since the pandemic began, paid fans will be sitting at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Wednesday night for an event.
Disney on Ice will be in town from Wednesday to Monday performing.
“It’s been a constant learning experience because we’ve had to be fluid—all of us,” Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications at Pacers Sports and Entertainment, Danny Lopez said.
A flexible and fluid learning process is how Lopez describes the past few months of planning to get fans safely back in the stands.
“We’ve been working for months and months and months with obviously the league but also the county health department and the city and the mayor and the governor,” Lopez said.
During a typical year, Bankers Life Fieldhouse hosts 550 events and sees several million come through its doors, but 2020 and 2021 are anything but typical. Lopez said Disney on Ice will not see more than 3,000 spectators a night.
Lopez said his team walked through every step of a fan’s experience while attending an event at the fieldhouse. The team even collaborated with other teams around the league to trade best practices.
These are some of the many changes fans will see:
- Mobile tickets
- Required masks
- Cashless only options
- Constant cleaning
- Upgraded air filtration systems
- Low contact security and screening
Lopez added safety is a top priority for all involved from staff to players and performers to guests.
“It’s the Fieldhouse experience that people have come to expect, just lower contact,” Lopez said.
Next Tuesday, tickets to Pacers games go on sale.
Pacers games played on Jan. 24 and 25 will see around 1,000 fans and as the season goes on, attendance will gradually ramp up.
