Indianapolis trying to lure teams, tournaments to college basketball bubble set up downtown

Indianapolis Star

Players under the basket during an AAU girls basketball tournament at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Monday, July 6, 2020. When they're off the courts, players and fans are sent down opposite sides of aisles, plus hand sanitizer stations and cautionary signs are posted about the coronavirus.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis has built a college basketball bubble. Now the question is: Will anyone come?

IndyStar's Gregg Doyel obtained a copy of a 16-page memo sent by the Indiana Sports Corp. to colleges, conferences and tournament organizers for a single-site bubble in which games may be played on courts set up in the Indiana Convention Center.

Indianapolis is already scheduled to host the 2021 men’s Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Cost for each team in the bubble starts at $90,000, according to the document. For that money, each team receives:

>> Games in a safe and secure environment with no travel.

>> Officials for each game.

>> Twenty hotel rooms.

>> $30 - $50/person food service voucher.

>> Airport transportation.

>> COVID-19 testing.

>> Lounges for team activities and meetings.

Such bubbles would be set up for 38 days (Nov. 25-Jan. 1); nine days (Jan. 19-17); 10 days (Feb. 2-11), and 15 days (Feb. 12-26).

Organizers at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and KFC Yum! Center in Louisville are also trying to lure teams to college basketball bubbles.

Even in games played without fans, teams can accrue revenue through contracts with TV partners or, potentially, pay-per-view.

More:Big East needs basketball, and a bubble (maybe in Indianapolis) is not out of the question

The Indy plan was devised by the Indiana Sports Corp., Russ Potts Productions, Intersport and Indiana Convention Center. Hotels that have a collective 4,700 rooms would connect directly to the convention center via skywalk.

Eight courts will be assembled, plus practice courts.

The safety plan was approved by the Marion County Health Department, according to the document, and includes security throughout the convention center and teams’ travel paths. Players, coaches and others in the traveling party are to be tested daily. Masks will be required when traveling to and from the convention center and also inside.

There are to be media operations workers available to facilitate postgame news conferences via Zoom for national and local markets.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.