Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Former names	Conseco Fieldhouse (1999–2011)
Location	125 South Pennsylvania Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Coordinates	39°45′50″N 86°9′20″W / 39.76389°N 86.15556°WCoordinates: 39°45′50″N 86°9′20″W / 39.76389°N 86.15556°W
Owner	Capital Improvement Board, City of Indianapolis
Operator	Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County, Indiana
Capacity	Basketball: 18,165 Ice hockey: 12,300 Concert: 19,000
Construction
Broke ground	July 22, 1997
Opened	November 6, 1999
Construction cost	$183 million ($260 million in 2016 dollars[1])
Architect	Ellerbe Becket Blackburn Architects[2]
Project manager	John Klipsch Consulting, LLC[3]
Structural engineer	Fink Roberts & Petrie Inc.[4]
Services engineer	Moore Engineers, P.C.[5]
General contractor	Hunt/Smoot[6]
Tenants
Indiana Pacers (NBA) (1999–present) Indiana Fever (WNBA) (2000–present) Indiana Firebirds (AFL) (2001–2004) Indiana Ice (USHL) (2012–2014)

Bankers Life Fieldhouse is an indoor arena located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It is the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Fieldhouse also hosts college basketball games (including the annual Big Ten Conference tournaments), indoor concerts, and ice hockey.

The arena opened in November 1999 as Conseco Fieldhouse to replace Market Square Arena. The naming rights to the venue were sold to Conseco, a financial services organization based in nearby Carmel, Indiana. In May 2010, the company renamed itself as CNO Financial Group, but the Conseco name was retained by the Fieldhouse. In December 2011, CNO Financial Group changed the name of the Fieldhouse to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, after one of its subsidiaries, Bankers Life and Casualty.^[7]

Unlike other multipurpose arenas, the arena was designed primarily for basketball. Nevertheless, the arena can accommodate an NHL-sized rink, but the seating capacity would be reduced to 12,300 for ice hockey, as the seating arrangement is asymmetrical. Many of the seats on one end of the arena have obstructed views, which results in poor sightlines for ice hockey.

Events

The first NBA game held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was on November 6, 1999 when the Indiana Pacers played their regular-season home opener against the Boston Celtics. Later that same season, the Pacers made it to the 2000 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Games 3, 4, and 5 of that championship series were held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but the Pacers ended up losing that season's title 4 games to 2.

In 2009, Bankers Life Fieldhouse was the site for the 2009 WNBA Finals. The Indiana Fever took on the Phoenix Mercury for games three and four of that series, but ended up losing the series. Three years later, the Fever hosted the 2012 WNBA Finals for games 3 & 4 and beat the Minnesota Lynx.

Bankers Life Fieldhouse is a host venue for many different events besides home games for the Pacers and Fever. From 2002 to 2007, the venue served as the site of the Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in even numbered years while the tournament was held at the United Center in Chicago in odd numbered years. In 2008, the tournament was moved to Bankers Life Fieldhouse exclusively for five years, through 2012. The arena is also a frequent site of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament. 2012 will mark the 12th time in 13 years that the tournament has been held at the Fieldhouse. On June 5, 2011, the Big Ten Conference announced that beginning in 2013 the location of both of the conference basketball tournaments for the following four years would be alternated between the Chicago area and Indianapolis. Bankers Life Fieldhouse will again be the site for both men's and women's events in 2014 and 2016.^[8] The 2011 NCAA Women's Final Four was also held at the Fieldhouse on April 3 and April 5 of 2011. For basketball, the venue seats 18,165 (18,345 from 1999 to 2006).

Additionally, the Indiana Firebirds of the Arena Football League played at the Fieldhouse from 2001 to 2004. The venue also hosted select games for the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League.

The Professional Bull Riders brought its Built Ford Tough Series bull riding tour to the Fieldhouse for the first time in January 2011.^[9] It was their second visit to Indianapolis; they first visited Indianapolis during the 2004 season when they held a BFTS event at the RCA Dome.

On September 14, 2011, Katy Perry performed at the arena as a part of her California Dreams Tour.

On July 14, 2013, Paul McCartney, of The Beatles, played a sold-out show as part of his Out There! Tour.

On July 22, 2016 Janet Jackson will play her Unbreakable World Tour.

Wrestling

WWE has hosted many shows such as Raw and Smackdown.

WCW has hosted the PPV event Sin (2001).

It also hosted many PPV events such as The Great American Bash (2006), SummerSlam (2008), Survivor Series (2012), and the upcoming Night of Champions (2016).

Auto racing

In 2015, the Fieldhouse hosted the Indy Invitational, with midget car racing and outlaw kart racing held on a dirt track erected on the arena floor.^[10]

Awards and recognitions

In 2005, 2006, and 2007, Bankers Life Fieldhouse was ranked the No. 1 venue in the NBA according to the Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily Reader Survey. In 2006 The Ultimate Sports Road Trip reaffirmed Bankers Life Fieldhouse as the best venue in all 4 of the major sports leagues. "The Ultimate Sports Road Trip has recently concluded a re-scoring and re-evaluation of all 122 franchises in the four major sports, based on our personal visits to each of the teams in a journey that began in 1998. Based on our criteria, Bankers Life Fieldhouse has again withstood scrutiny to be named the "best of the best" in the four major sports. Everything about Bankers Life Fieldhouse is top notch, a sparkling venue in a sparkling city," said Farrell and Kulyk.

In October 2004, the Fieldhouse hosted the 2004 FINA Short Course World Swimming Championships. A 25 meter 300,000 gallon competition pool and 174,000 gallon warm-up pool were temporarily installed. A total of 71,659 tickets were sold for the four day event. The crowd on the evening of Saturday, October 11, 2004 set a record for the largest attendance at a U.S. Swimming event outside of the Olympics with 11,488 people.

Scoreboard

In 2012, a giant state-of-the-art scoreboard was added to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The scoreboard features twin 1080p high definition (HD) video screens, each measuring 50 feet long – extending nearly foul line to foul line – by 21 feet high. In addition to the HD screens running the length of the court, the innovative rectangular scoreboard design is capped by a 25’ by 14’ full 1080p HD video screen facing each baseline. The result of the design is a greatly improved visual experience from nearly every seat in the building. Additionally, a new sound system was installed.^[11]

Gallery

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  Bankers Life Fieldhouse during a Pacers' preseason game (showing the original scoreboard)

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  Satellite view of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, showing the former Conseco Fieldhouse name

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  Lobby of Bankers Life Fieldhouse

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  Balcony View of the 2013 Crossroads Classic.

References

1. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
2. "Conseco Fieldhouse". Blackburn Architects. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
3. "Conseco Fieldhouse". John Klipsch Consulting, LLC. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
4. "Conseco Fieldhouse" (PDF). Fink Roberts and Petrie, Inc. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
5. Nieto, Mike (December 19, 2011). "Where Are They Now?: John Wilczynski". The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster). Retrieved June 4, 2012.
6. "Bankers Life Fieldhouse". Ballparks.com. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
7. Ritchie, Carrie (December 22, 2011). "Bankers Life Knocks Conseco Off Fieldhouse Title". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
8. "Big Ten Announces Future Sites for Football Championship Games and Basketball Tournaments - BIG TEN CONFERENCE Official Athletic Site". Bigten.org. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
9. "Indianapolis hosts BPR Jack Daniels Invitational". The Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
10. Adams, Jeff (October 8, 2015). "Midgets, Outlaws will race indoors". Peoria Journal-Star (Peoria, IL). Retrieved 2015-10-08.
11. "Best Arena Scoreboard Coming to Bankers Life Fieldhouse".

External links

• Official website
• The Ultimate Sports Road Trip profile
• Bankers Life Fieldhouse Seating Charts