#5 Indianapolis
▶ RÉSUMÉ: Annual events include the Indianapolis 500 (since 1911); NASCAR Brickyard 400 (1994); Big Ten Football Championship Game (2011); IndyCar GMR Grand Prix (2014); and multiple major youth events. Other recent events: 2017 USA Swimming Championships; 2018 and 2022 FINA Swimming World Cup; 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four; NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships, Division II Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships and Division II Women’s Lacrosse Final Four (all in 2023); 2022 and 2024 Citi Para Swimming World Series USA; 2023 USA Swimming Phillips 66 National Championships; and NBA All-Star Game in February.
▶ RECENT WINS: This week’s Division I Men’s Basketball first and second rounds; 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships; 2024 USA Swimming Olympic Team Trials; 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Regional; 2025 Division I Women’s Water Polo Championship; and Division I Men’s (2026 and 2029) and Women’s (2028) Basketball Final Fours.
▶ IMPACT: NBA All-Star festivities in February generated more than 28,000 room nights, according to Visit Indy, as the NBA partnered with 29 downtown properties. The city expects a worldrecord 30,000 fans to witness USA Swimming’s Olympic Team Trials in June inside Lucas Oil Stadium. (The largest crowd for an indoor swim meet was 25,000 at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, according to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.)
Just outside of town, the $170 million, 8,500-seat Fishers Event Center is on track for completion this fall. The arena will be home to the ECHL Indy Fuel, a new Indoor Football League team and the Pro Volleyball Federation Indy Ignite. Tournaments at the 10-year-old, 400-acre multisport Grand Park Events Center annually welcome 2.5 million youth sports athletes and their fans.
▶ FORWARD PROGRESS: The Indiana Convention Center is undergoing its seventh expansion, and an adjacent 800-room Signia by Hilton is underway that will be connected via skybridge to the venue. There are 1,300 new hotel rooms coming online by the end of 2026, including the InterContinental Hotel and Aloft by Marriott, scheduled to open this spring.
▶ STAY AND PLAY: The Class AAA Indianapolis Indians have played continuously since 1902. A few blocks from their Victory Field (and Lucas Oil Stadium) is The Slippery Noodle Inn, a large blues bar and restaurant that is the oldest continuously operating bar in Indiana, having opened in 1850 as the Tremont House.