Indy Ready For Economic Impact Of Big Ten Championship Game

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INDIANAPOLIS — Thousands of fans from Oregon and Penn State will be descending on Indianapolis this weekend for the Big Ten Championship Game.

The game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium with 70,000 fans expected to attend, but many more are planning to take the event in at other local establishments in and around the stadium. It’s all expected to generate a huge economic impact for Indianapolis.

“They’re spending money at restaurants and bars around the city,” said Sam Reel with the Indiana Sports Corp on WISH-TV. “That’s kind of the cumulative total of all of these people coming into the city.”

They will also be buying beer, merchandise, and other things both at the game and in the hours leading up to it. The Indiana Sports Corp. has also planned out some fun activities leading up to kickoff.

The Big Ten Fan Fest will kick off at 4 p.m. Friday and run until 9 p.m. The fest will include interactive games, guest appearances, food, drink, and live entertainment at the Indiana Convention Center.

The Slippery Noodle Inn, located near Lucas Oil Stadium, is planning for a bug rush of fans both before and after the game.

“Typically on a Colts Sunday, we’ll run about 1,500 people through the door here,” said co-owner Sean Lothridge. “So it will probably be around that level, so we expect this to be like a really busy Colts game.”

Reel said they have gotten an assist from the Indianapolis Airport Authority as well which has facilitated more direct flights from Oregon and Pennsylvania so fans can easily get to the Circle City for the game.

Altogether the economic impact is expected to be around $20 million.

The Big Ten Championship Game is due to stay in Indianapolis until at least 2028.