Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Gainbridge Fieldhouse is an indoor arena located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It opened in November 1999 to replace Market Square Arena. The arena 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.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2012 (then named Bankers Life Fieldhouse) | |
Gainbridge Fieldhouse Location in Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse Location in Indiana Gainbridge Fieldhouse Location in the United States | |
| Former names | Conseco Fieldhouse (1999–2011) Bankers Life Fieldhouse (2011–2021) |
|---|---|
| Address | 125 South Pennsylvania Street |
| Location | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Coordinates | 39°45′50″N 86°9′20″W |
| Owner | Capital Improvement Board, City of Indianapolis |
| Operator | Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County, Indiana |
| Capacity | Basketball: 17,274 Concerts: 19,000 Ice hockey: 11,651 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | July 22, 1997 |
| Opened | November 6, 1999 |
| Renovated | 2020–2022 |
| Expanded | 2022 |
| Years active | 1999 - present |
| Construction cost | US$183 million (US$335 million in 2023 dollars) |
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket Blackburn Architects |
| Project manager | John Klipsch Consulting, LLC |
| Structural engineer | Fink Roberts & Petrie Inc. |
| Services engineer | Moore Engineers, P.C. |
| General contractor | Hunt/Smoot |
| Tenants | |
| Indiana Pacers (NBA) (1999–present) Indianapolis Ice (CHL) (1999–2004) Indiana Fever (WNBA) (2000–2019, 2021–present) Indiana Firebirds (AFL) (2001–2004) Indiana Mad Ants (NBAGL) (2023–2024) | |
| Website | |
| gainbridgefieldhouse | |
The arena was originally named Conseco Fieldhouse, as the naming rights to the venue were sold to Conseco, a financial services organization based in nearby Carmel. In May 2010, the company renamed itself CNO Financial Group, but the fieldhouse retained the Conseco name. 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. CNO decided not to renew its naming sponsorship after it expired on June 30, 2019. On September 27, 2021, the fieldhouse announced that Indianapolis-based financial platform Gainbridge would be the new naming partner for the fieldhouse in a multi-year partnership.
In April 2019, the Marion County Capital Improvement Board approved a major renovation project for the fieldhouse. The $360 million project will include a new outdoor entry plaza, new indoor gathering areas, and various interior enhancements. The Pacers committed to remaining in Indianapolis for at least 25 more years as part of the renovation agreement. Construction will take place in two phases, with the fieldhouse having planned to host the 2021 NBA All-Star Game in between the phases, which was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all of the construction work took place during the Pacers offseasons. The project displaced the Fever for all of the 2020 and 2021 WNBA seasons, as well as part of the 2022 season; for 2022, the Fever played the first section of the schedule at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, but after the NBA season ended, the Fever played games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
The arena was built to evoke an Indiana high school and college field house. As such, unlike most other North American sports arenas, it was designed primarily for basketball. The arena can accommodate an NHL-sized rink, but the ice hockey seating capacity is reduced to 12,300 in an asymmetrical configuration.