Exhibits Sports & Identity in Indianapolis
Mention Indianapolis to non-Hoosiers and their first thought is often the Indianapolis 500. The most famous yard of bricks serves as the start and finish line to a sporting event that routinely thrusts the city into international headlines. But many other sporting legends and stories have also shaped Indianapolis's identity. Explore the people, places, and moments that have defined Indianapolis sports history over the second half of the twentieth century. See the superstars and their venues, as well as the parks, courts, rinks, and streets where the people of Indianapolis play.
Exhibits Sports & Identity in Indianapolis
Indianapolis 500
A month of activities and celebrations culminates in race day on Memorial Day weekend. First run in 1911, the Indianapolis 500 has earned recognition as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” one of the most prestigious motorsports events in the world. Every year approximately 300,000 people attend the race itself, crowding the grandstands and infield, and drawing the eyes of the world to the race's namesake city. This photo was taken on race day in 1973.
L. Keith Bulen and Barry Goldwater at the Indianapolis 500, 1973
Indiana politicians and promoters have long used the Indianapolis 500 as a potent tool for attracting publicity and rewarding supporters, often with access to VIP events before or after the race. In this photo from 1973, Republican leader L. Keith Bulen schmoozes with Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater in the Republican Party tent at the racetrack. Bulen wears a checkered suit to match the checkered flag traditionally waved to signal the first car crossing the finish line.
Mayor Lugar Celebrates With the Pacers, 1975
Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, city officials, business leaders, philanthropists, and community activists in Indianapolis latched on to the power of sport to shape the city’s popular identity and economy. Bruised by taunts of “India-no-place,” leaders in the Midwestern metropolis realized that the Indianapolis 500 served as a model for leveraging greater visibility for the city. Beginning in the 1970s, municipal leaders focused on sports as a tool for attracting economic development to Indianapolis, particularly to its downtown, and for elevating the city's popular image from flyover territory to a national sports capital. Mayor Lugar took a critical early step by supporting the construction of Market Square Arena just blocks from the city's center-- a stark contrast from the contemporary trend of locating sports facilities in suburban areas. Opened in 1974, the arena's first tenants included the Indiana Pacers, then members of the professional American Basketball Association (ABA). The Pacers' team name acknowledges the city's most famous race, referring to the Indianapolis 500 pace car. At the beginning of the 1975 season, Mayor Lugar congratulated Pacers players and coaches for winning the ABA's Western Division title the previous season. The following year, the Pacers joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) as part of an ABA-NBA merger. Pictured here, Lugar shakes hands with Len Elmore, who played for the Pacers from 1974 to 1979.
Mayor Hudnut at a Racers' Game, 1977
In addition to the Pacers, other professional sports teams called Market Square Arena home. The Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association skated the ice during the mid-1970s. Like the Pacers, the Racers' team name refers to the Indianapolis 500. During the 1976-1977 season, the team led the WHA in attendance and swept the Cincinnati Stingers in the playoffs before losing to the Quebec Nordiques. Two years later, in the 1978-1979 season, the Racers served as the first major league home for future superstars Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. Mayor Hudnut, wearing a personalized jersey, attends a Racers game at Market Square Arena in 1977.
Mayor's Celebrity Tennis Day, 1977
Indianapolis benefited from a string of city leaders with a passion for sports. Mayor Richard Lugar was a runner who participated in the annual run at Arsenal Tech High School. L. Keith Bulen was an avid horseman and racing enthusiast. Mayor Stephen Goldsmith successfully campaigned to bring NCAA headquarters to the city and led efforts to construct a new arena (Conseco Fieldhouse, now Bankers Life Fieldhouse) and keep the beloved Pacers in downtown Indianapolis. But the city found perhaps its greatest sports advocate in Mayor Bill Hudnut, an accomplished athlete himself. Mayor Hudnut dove into the city's sporting life wherever he could. Whether attending Racers hockey games, playing catch with Little League players, throwing out the first pitch of the season at an Indians' game, opening the Indianapolis Tennis Center, campaigning for an NFL franchise, hosting guests and cheering the Colts in the city's Hoosier Dome skybox, posing for photos in a Pacers uniform, joining a wheelchair basketball game, or participating in his annual Mayor's Tennis Tournament (seen here in 1977), Mayor Hudnut served as a tireless spokesperson for Indianapolis as "Sports Capital."
Indianapolis-Scarborough Peace Games, 1980
In 1973, the cities of Indianapolis and Scarborough, Ontario began an annual amateur sports competition. The Indianapolis-Scarborough Peace Games (named in honor of the Vietnam Peace Treaty signed in 1973) were held every August, alternating locations between the two cities. While the ostensible purpose of the event was to promote friendship and cultural understanding, Indianapolis civic and business leaders saw further benefit in drawing attention to the city's athletic facilities and capabilities for hosting international events. In this photo, young participants walk on the field during opening ceremonies in August 1980.
Construction of the Hoosier Dome, c.1982
Even after the opening of Market Square Arena in 1974, city leaders realized that a robust sports-friendly infrastructure would require a stadium, especially if they were to attract an NFL franchise. Construction of the Hoosier Dome began in downtown Indianapolis in April 1982. The project was propelled by the Indiana Sports Corporation (ISC), a private entity driven by a coalition of government and business. One of the first such organizations in the nation, the ISC promoted Indianapolis by contributing to and then marketing a robust sports infrastructure of facilities and organizations. In addition to supporting construction projects like the Hoosier Dome, the ISC campaigned to bring major sporting events to the city. When the Hoosier Dome opened in 1984, total costs rang in at approximately $80 million, financed through a combination of public funds, private investments, and donations from the Lilly Endowment and Krannert Charitable Trust. Supporters of the Hoosier Dome project believed that sports facilities would attract economic investment, particularly in downtown Indianapolis, as well as positive national media attention. The city's higher profile, it was hoped, would not only feed local pride, but also attract further investment in the city.
Robert Irsay to Colts' Season Ticket Holders, 1984
As construction continued on the Hoosier Dome, a committee of city officials, business leaders, and engaged citizens pushed forward in their effort to bring an NFL franchise to Indianapolis. In March 1984, a deal was finalized and the Colts arrived on the city's doorstep. Residents of Indianapolis and central Indiana embraced their new team and demand for season tickets far exceeded supply. In a letter, team owner Robert Irsay congratulates those who succeeded in capturing an elusive season ticket. The archive also includes letters from Irsay to those who were less fortunate, as well as to select fans for whom season tickets had been set aside. (The team’s move to Indy is described in more detail in the feature, Bringing the Colts to Indianapolis.)
All-Star Basketball in the Hoosier Capitol, 1984
In 1984, Indianapolis native and NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson returned to his hometown to participate in Mayor Hudnut's announcement that the city would host the 35th National Basketball Association's All-Star Game, to be held on February 10, 1985 in the Hoosier Dome. As part of their ongoing efforts to bring high-profile sporting events to Indianapolis, city leaders and representatives from the Indiana Sports Corporation had lobbied heavily to convince the NBA to hold the game in the new Dome.
Letter to the Editors of Time, 1985
Even with a new professional football franchise, provincial biases continued to affect national media depictions of the Midwestern metropolis. A few months into the Colts' first season in Indianapolis, Mayor Hudnut and Indianapolis City-County Council President Beurt SerVaas responded to Time Magazine editors' denigrating depictions of Indianapolis residents. In this letter, they vigorously defend city residents' enthusiastic embrace of the former Baltimore Colts.
Pan American Games Merchandise Catalog, 1987
Pointing to Indianapolis's new and expanded sports facilities, city leaders continued to solicit sports-based investment and activity in the city. In 1987, this campaigning (led by the Indiana Sports Corporation) paid off as Indianapolis hosted the Pan American Games, an international competition involving thousands of athletes from nations of North, South, and Central America. Events were held at twenty-three venues throughout the metropolitan area, including the Hoosier Dome, Market Square Arena, Velodrome, Speedway, and various university facilities. As civic leaders and private investors proudly noted, the Games brought multiple economic opportunities to Indianapolis.
Garfield Park Little League Football, 1987
Mayor Hudnut poses as part of team photos in Garfield Park. Sports in Indianapolis wasn't only about major international spectacles, but also state, city, and neighborhood events. The city's residents competed and cheered in events ranging from Little League games to the annual inner-state football rivalry between Notre Dame University and Purdue University.
Champagne Celebration of Indians' Championship, 1988
Professional baseball has been played every season in Indianapolis since 1887, with the Indianapolis Indians as the main attraction since the franchise was founded in 1902. The Indians have been the Triple-A affiliate for several major league teams, including the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Montreal Expos, and Pittsburgh Pirates. The team has won seven Triple-A class championships, including the 1988 title, celebrated with the pictured bottle of champagne. Even amidst the Indians' success, city leaders could not successfully woo a major league baseball team to the city. The Indians remain Indianapolis's most popular baseball team, drawing record-setting crowds, particularly after their 1996 move to a new downtown ballpark, Victory Field.
Bringing the Super Bowl to Indianapolis, 1989
In 1989, Mayor Hudnut and Indianapolis civic leaders lobbied the NFL to hold Super Bowl XXVI in the Hoosier Dome. The city's bid failed and the game was played instead in Minneapolis's Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Over twenty years later, in 2012, the city finally got its wish and Super Bowl XLVI was held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Accommodating Professional and Amateur Baseball, 1990
Even as the minor league triple-A Indians continued to win championships, Mayor Hudnut and others campaigned for a major league baseball franchise. Throughout the 1980s, civic leaders pointed to the Hoosier Dome as an ideal facility for baseball, comparing it to the Metrodome, home of the Minneapolis Twins. By 1990, however, national trends increasingly moved in the direction of open-air facilities for baseball. As Mayor Hudnut explains in this letter, the lack of a major league team did not diminish the benefit of impressive outdoor baseball facilities for the city's amateur and professional minor league teams.
Major Taylor Velodrome Hosts Cycling Championships, 1993
Located outside of downtown Indianapolis, the Major Taylor Velodrome (opened 1982) was part of the city's efforts to expand its sports infrastructure and further its identity as a sports capital. With construction funded by the Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation and a donation from the Lilly Endowment, the facility serves as an international destination for professional and amateur cyclists. In addition to the Pan American Games and National Sports Festival, the Velodrome has hosted the Grand Prix of Cycling (1988) and EDS Cycling Championships (1993, 1994). According to promotional materials for the 1993 EDS race, forty percent of the U.S. Cycling Team claimed Indianapolis as their hometown. Several of these local cyclists had moved to the city specifically to pursue their racing careers.
The NCAA in Indy, 1993
Indianapolis crystallized its reputation as a center for amateur and collegiate sports in 1999, when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) moved its national headquarters to the city. Previously, the NCAA had hosted its Division I Men's Basketball Championship tournament (known popularly as the Final Four) in Indianapolis in 1980, 1991, and 1997. In a press release from 1993, the Indianapolis Project (a public relations campaign focused on the city) announced that the 2000 Final Four would be held in Indianapolis, with a projected economic impact of more than $60 million. The quotations on the final page of the press release demonstrate that city leaders believed that the event held more than just financial benefits. The nationally televised culmination of the increasingly popular "March Madness" tournament would show off Indianapolis as a premier host of high-profile sporting events.
Remaking Bush Stadium
Opened in 1931 as Perry Stadium, renamed Victory Field in 1941, and renamed again in honor of Indianapolis Indians' owner Owen Bush in 1967, Bush Stadium was Indianapolis's prime baseball destination. The park was home to the Indianapolis Indians and, from 1946 to 1954, the Negro American League's Indianapolis Clowns, whose star players included Hank Aaron. The park also briefly served as home field for two short-lived minor league football teams. The stadium's iconic design and Art Deco features made it a choice location for filming of the 1988 movie Eight Men Out about the 1919 Chicago White Sox. Then, in 1992, Major League Baseball inspected the park and determined that it did not meet league standards. As the Indians prepared to move to Victory Field in 1996, Bush Stadium's future was uncertain. In this 1995 photo, Mayor Goldsmith described plans to use the city-owned facility as a race track and for vehicle storage; the dirt track is visible in the background. The stadium was shuttered for years, but in 2013 the grandstand reopened as the Stadium Lofts apartment complex, with marketing that highlighted the park's status as a key locale in Indianapolis sports history.
A New Home for the Pacers, 1990s
During the mid-1990s, Indiana Pacers' management began lobbying for a new basketball facility to replace Market Square Arena. The twenty-year old arena did not have space for private suites or extensive merchandising and concession areas--amenities that had become standard in more modern arenas. The Pacers insisted that the team needed the revenue provided by a modern arena in order to be profitable; otherwise, the team could not remain in Indianapolis. In this chart, the Pacers highlight the increased revenues that would be generated by a new arena. Negotiations between the city and the team resulted in Conseco Fieldhouse, another public-private venture in Indianapolis sports facilities. Indianapolis tax-payers were asked to foot a portion of the bill for a new arena, which would serve as home to the Pacers as well as the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, the Indianapolis Ice minor-league professional hockey team, college basketball games and tournaments, and concerts.
Conseco Fieldhouse, 1999
When it opened in 1999 and for years thereafter, Conseco Fieldhouse earned accolades as a sports facility and architectural asset in downtown Indianapolis. The brick and glass facade proved so popular, the style was adopted again by Lucas Oil Stadium, which replaced the RCA (Hoosier) Dome in 2008.