Step Inside: Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Home of the Indiana Pacers

Home of the Indiana Pacers

Gainbridge Fieldhouse is home to the Indiana Pacers of the NBA and the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. Located at 125 South Pennsylvania Street in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, the arena was designed to evoke the field houses of Indiana’s many high schools and colleges.

While primarily used for basketball, the Fieldhouse has also been home to numerous other athletic teams during its use, including the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League (1999-2004), the Arena Football League’s Indiana Firebirds (2001-2004) and the Indiana Mad Ants of the NBA G League.

Below, take a step into Gainbridge Fieldhouse, including the stadium’s history, parking and admission, and capacity and seating options, as well as food and beverage options inside the arena.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse History

Gainbridge Fieldhouse opened in November 1999, and was originally named Conseco Fieldhouse. The Indiana Pacers played their first game at the Fieldhouse on November 6, 1999 against the Boston Celtics.

During their inaugural season at the stadium, the Pacers made the 2000 NBA Finals, playing Games 3, 4 and 5 of the championship at the Fieldhouse against the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2000, the Indiana Fever of the WNBA also started using the stadium as their home court. The Fever have played the WNBA Finals in the Fieldhouse twice — in 2009 against Phoenix Mercury and again in 2012, coming out victorious against the Minnesota Lynx.

In 2011, the stadium was rechristened Bankers Life Fieldhouse after the Chicago-based insurance company Bankers Life and Casualty, who held the naming rights until 2021. During that time, the Fieldhouse hosted the Crossroads Classic, the annual college basketball tournament between the Butler Bulldogs, Indiana Hoosiers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Purdue Boilermakers.

The Pacers announced that the Fieldhouse — now named after the financial platform Gainbridge — would host the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. However, that plan was pushed back to 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical challenges around the 2021 NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball tournament, which was also being held in Indianapolis at the time.

Other major events that have been hosted at the Fieldhouse over the course of its history include the 2000 Ray Miron President’s Cup finals, the 2002 FIBA World Championship, the Big Ten Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, the 2011 NCAA Women’s Final Four, multiple WWE events including WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown, the 2015 Indy Invitational and multiple years of the men’s NCAA Division I basketball tournament.

The Fieldhouse regularly draws major artists to Indianapolis on tour, including the likes of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Janet Jackson, Green Day, Justin Bieber, The Eagles, Jonas Brothers, Imagine Dragons, Celine Dion and more. In March 2019, Metallica set an attendance record of 18,274 at the venue.

Parking and Admission at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

The Virginia Avenue parking garage offers covered parking on game days or for other events at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and is directly connected to the stadium via a third-floor sky bridge. In addition to street parking located throughout downtown Indianapolis, the Fieldhouse has partnered with ParkWhiz to make individual parking passes available for purchase in advance of arriving at the venue via their official website.

The Virginia Avenue parking garage also offers accessible parking, with all seating in the stadium accessible via the pedestrian bridge. For more information on accessibility at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, visit the stadium’s ADA/Accessibility page.

Prohibited items inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse include alcohol, drugs, illegal substances or any paraphernalia associated with drug use; audio/video recorders, professional cameras, tripods; backpacks; bags larger than 6” x 9” x 1.5”; beach balls or any projectiles or missiles; cans, bottles coolers or other similar containers; clothing or signage that displays obscene/offensive language and/or images (as determined by Fieldhouse management; drones; fireworks; hard-sided bags; laser pens/pointers or any type; military or tactical-style clothing/gear (active duty military uniforms are allowed); masks or full facial coverings; noisemakers (such as air horns); objects that obstruct another guest’s view of the playing/performance surface; outside food or drinks; pepper spray/mace; poles or sticks; signs, flags or banners larger than 11” x 17” (or affixed to any pole); skateboards or roller blades; tripods, mono pods or selfie sticks; weapons of any kind, including chains, knives, firearms and spiked jewelry; and any other item deemed unacceptable by event/building management.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse Capacity & Seating Options

The stadium seats a total capacity of 17,274 for basketball games split between balcony level, courtside club seating, loge boxes, mezzanine level, sideline club seating, terrace seats and premium luxury suites.

For concerts, floor seating is added, bringing the total capacity to roughly 19,000. Meanwhile, total capacity for hockey games is 11,651 in an asymmetrical configuration.

Food & Beverage Options at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Gainbridge Fieldhouse offers a wide variety of food and beverage options across every floor of the stadium. Food vendors include Fieldhouse Favorites, Three Point Taqueria, Ben’s Pretzels, Please & Thank You Cookies, Chick-fil-A, Shake Bar by Steak ‘n Shake, Crossroads Eats, Walking Taco Cart, Warehouse District BBQ, The Kitchen, Circle City Chicken, Delaware St. Pizzeria, Boom Baby! Burgers, Cookie Dough-ver-Load, 317 Eats, Slam Dunk Snacks and more.

Cocktails and other alcoholic beverages are available for purchase at Sailor Jerry Bar, Orange Leaf, Yuengling Flight Deck, Moon Drops Distillery Bar, La Crema Wine Bar, Kendall-Jackson Wine Bar, Upland Brewing Co. Bar, Sire Spirits Balcony Bar and elsewhere throughout the stadium.