Business View Magazine March 2023

198 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 PNG Championships, lots of Pacer games, and first and second rounds and other basketball events. It’s a really special place, and it’s the best place to watch a basketball game.” Elaborating on the history of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Mel Raines, Pacers President and COO shares, “It opened in November of 1999, and it was modeled after Camden Yards in Baltimore, in a retro feel. The entry pavilion looked like a train station, and everything in the building was a very retro fieldhouse. Unlike most arenas, we have windows with curtains that can be opened with views of downtown. So, it’s a very different feel than a lot of other arenas in the NBA.” In 2019 the Pacers renegotiated their lease with the city, adding another 25 years, and funding for a $360 million renovation. “The building had great bones and we wanted to extend its life and modernize it a little bit,” she conveys. This renovation included a new outdoor plaza, new and reconfigured suites, modern amenities such as nursing mothers’ areas and sensory rooms, and the addition of bars and gathering spaces on every level. Grab and Go concession stands were added, eliminating line ups, and cutting transactions down to 45 seconds, and the introduction of a cashless and mobile ticket model meant the massive box office could be reduced to a much smaller size. With some of these initiatives expedited as a result of COVID, Raines quips, “I think we advanced our business eight years in about eight months during the pandemic.” In terms of the partnership with the city she maintains, “I think it’s the ultimate partnership. There’s a city agency called the Capital Improvement Board of Marion County that owns Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and the team operates it on their behalf. It is a community asset, and we manage it like a community asset.” Part of this effort means offering as many community events as possible, everything from Disney on Ice, to concerts, and of course, Pacers games. “We do a wide variety of events for our community, and then also charitable