That feel, if we would've won that game, I wouldn't want to be any place else. But the people that love the team as much as I do, just like the lore of Indiana basketball, you get to write like this current chapter of basketball and the Hoosier State, it's all over the board, right? So you have people that are gonna grab a mic and get a crowd all fired up, and then you have people behind the scenes that are gonna great work that that largely goes unknowable.
I do wanna know about the name. Mm-hmm. Where did we land on Noblesville Boom. And how did we land on the Noblesville Boom. From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between. This is Get IN, the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation.
Every child deserves to wake up and feel the magic of Christmas morning. With your help can ensure that every family in the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program doesn't have to worry about providing gifts to their kids. It's super easy. Go on the Salvation Army's website. Look at the Angel Tree Program.
You can filter it by age, gender, what the kids are looking for. For right around a hundred dollars, you can provide Christmas. For a local child in our community, the team at Get Indiana is sponsoring two kids. We're buying a bike for one of them. We're buying an RC car for another. We're gonna spend just over a hundred dollars on each of these kids, and we're gonna help make an impact in our local community.
These families in our local community need our help. You go on the Salvation Army website, look for the Angel Tree program for around a hundred dollars, you can help make sure that children in Indiana have the magic of Christmas underneath their tree. Today I'm joined by Todd Taylor, the President and Chief commercial Officer of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, where he oversees all revenue marketing and brand strategy for the Indiana Pacers, the Fever, the Boom, and Gainbridge.
Fieldhouse. Since joining the Pacers in 2011, he's helped upscale the fan experience. Todd is known for blending innovation with Indiana tradition to keep basketball at the heart of the state. I'm super excited to talk through the process of what it takes to move a G League team, what it takes to name a G League team, and of course for everyone, if you stick around till the end of the episode, we're gonna be talking all things.
Uh, Pacers this previous playoff run the NBA Finals. All the fun thought we're gonna talk about flying the entire staff out to Oklahoma City. I saw some pictures of that and it looked really cool too. Todd, welcome to Get IN. Thank you, Nate. I really appreciate it. And, and you should be my PR guy. I tell you, it makes it seem like I've done everything with the organization, which is certainly, uh, not true.
And we have a, a huge staff, you know, 350 plus people that have really helped with everything you just mentioned. So, uh, I've played a small part in it, but I'm certainly proud to be part of it. Well, I mean, you've been doing it since 2011, so 14 years going on almost 15 years with Pacers. Were you in sports pre.
2011. I was, I'll give you a quick, uh, rundown to that brought me here. I I came to the Pacers, uh, from the Texas Rangers, spent a little bit of time there. Uh, spent five seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, uh, two years in Portland with the Trail Blazers. Uh, and I actually started my career in Columbus, Ohio with the Blue Jackets as an expansion, uh, hockey team.
So, uh, I actually went to school at Ohio State, worked fulltime through college, sold corrugated packaging for two years, uh, once I got outta college. And, um, just always dreamed of being in sports. So Cor was, it was great. Yeah. How about that? Huh? I love, one of my best friends works for Welch Packaging. Oh yeah.
Yeah. He slings boxes. He always, I've learned more about not cardboard. No, no corrugated, exactly. Corrugated package. That's first lesson. Well, that's also a big transfer. You know, a big life change from working MLB. Mm-hmm. Where there's a ton of home games. Sure. Like a ton. A ton. A ton too. Like, I mean, there's still a lot, but there's half.
Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. Like something in the eighties for baseball. Yep. And, and there's 42. Mm-hmm. Yep. For basketball. Yeah. Which is still a grind. Sure. It's like, I feel like then you talk about like Colts games, it's like they have what, eight, nine home games? Something like that. That's, that's the dream right there.
Roger and his staff over at the Colts. I'm a little bit envious for sure. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, envious there, but then you also, you get to go make the NBA Finals run, so, I mean, you can't, you can't really put a price on that, right? No, you can't. Can't. But what we wanna start talking about is, uh, I think a lot of people in Indiana knew that there was a G League affiliate of the Pacers that used to reside up in Fort Wayne.
They were called the Mad Ants. I don't know where that name come came from, but that's pretty, pretty unique. Mm-hmm. Were they always connected to Pacers Sports & Entertainment? How did that work? What was that? No, no. Actually in the very beginning, um, it was a completely different ownership group. I think.
Um, you know, it used to be the, the D-League, the Development League of the NBA, and there were teams all over. And it was really, uh, more of a, a, a professional semi-pro sort of league. And then as it's developed over the past, uh, you know, 20 plus years, it's really become more of what you would consider a triple A for a major league baseball.
So it's the second highest level of professional basketball. And what's really happened over the past couple years and where the Pacers came in to own this was, uh, every NBA team wanted to have an affiliate minor league team, um, or a development team. So, uh, really the previous ownership group was, was housed in Fort Wayne.
Uh, the name, um, the Fort Wayne, Matt ANZ came from General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Um, so it, I know. Wait, say that again. Yeah. General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, uh, he's a famous, uh, folk hero up in, uh, Fort Wayne. So it was a perfect name. And that's actually, um, we'll, we'll transition into why we became the Boom. But, um, it was a perfect name for Fort Wayne, so we really didn't feel like it, it, uh, it transferred off.
So it's, it, the Mad Ants. It's obviously an angry. Yeah. You know, small little insect. Mm-hmm. But it came from "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Correct. And "Mad" Anthony Wayne is, yeah. That's like a, that's lore up in Fort Wayne, correct? Absolutely. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And actually it used to, the colors were, um, were more maroon and gold, uh, when we bought the team.
And then, uh, basically when it became an affiliate of the Pacers, we switched to our blue and gold, so it matched the color palette. The name, like I said, was perfect for Fort Wayne. So, yeah. Um, certainly we were, uh, proud of that. Okay. So then, uh, when did you guys purchase the team? 15 or 16. Okay. So you operated them up in Fort, was that hard to run, like have a, a satellite organization up there while you all are down here in Indy?
You know, there, there were some challenges, obviously, uh, we loved Fort Wayne, second largest city in Indiana, so it made a lot of sense for us to be there. Um, but I think, you know, as the, as the relationship between the G League teams and the NBA teams have developed, you see a lot more players moving from the G League into the NBA.
So obviously proximity. Um, even though Fort Wayne is only two and a half hours away from us here at our, our city center, um, it may as well have been halfway around the world. Right. When you're, you're taking players up there and, and back, uh, if we want to get a guy like, um, Johnny Furphy a, a little bit of playing time, you know, two and a half hours is a lot different than, you know, 40 minutes to, to Noblesville or 35 minutes to Noblesville.
So, so where was it first circulated? Like what was the meeting where someone said, Hey, I think we need to bring. The Mad Ants down to, to Indianapolis. Yeah, I know A lot of it was really COVID. Um, you know, so if you look at the G League, and a lot of people, again, don't know tons about the G League, um, it is still an evolving league, right?
So the, the buildings that the teams play in are widely different where they're located, uh, the Miami, uh, heat, their G League affiliate is in the Dakotas. So, you know, again, it's not like it's close proximity, some how, like you do a two-way on that. Exactly right. Not easy to get to. So that's where we have a huge benefit.
But what really what happened during COVID is, you know, everything sort of condensed and when you had so many controls in place with the health, health and security of players and fans. Uh, we really realize the benefit of having our G League team close to our NBA team. And the reason I say that is, uh, right now our G League team, the Boom, they practice in the same facility that our NBA team practices in.
So if you think about, um, preparing players to make that leap into the NBA, if they're playing in front of the, the same Coaches Tavern, GMs strength training, nutritionists. Um, you already have guys in your system, so you don't really have to worry about, um, you know, what they're doing on a daily basis, how they're getting better, are they learning the offense or not?
It's all done together and, and we really realized that benefit during COVID when we had to bring 'em back from Fort Wayne. So that was when that idea first hatched. Um, you know, certainly do we stay in Fort Wayne or do we look to bring our, our basketball operations closer. Okay. And then how did you guys land on Noblesville?
It, it's no secret that, you know, Hamilton County is a great, uh, a great place for sports. You know, there's a lot of development up there. So as we looked at it, we weren't really necessarily set on any one community, but we wanted to be inside sort of that I-465. Was there like a bidding war where like, you know, Fishers and Carmel and Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville are all up there like, Hey.
You know, like, this is what we're bringing to the table. No, I think that's more movie, uh, movie like. Yeah, absolutely. No. So, you know, we, we had a lot of different, uh, options. Um, you know, we have a, a, we actually have our name on the building, um, in Westfield, uh, Grand Park area, Pacers Athletic Center. So we have a relationship with Card & Associates.
They do a lot of, um, you know, facilities. So at one point we looked at, you know, do we just partner with them and, and create a, a facility for our, uh, G League team? And then really it just came down to what was a good fit and what community might be interested in, in having a relationship with Pacers Sports & Entertainment with our G League team.
Yeah. And so you ended up on Noblesville. Where were, when was that decision made? Uh, that was actually right when we were, were moving. So there was, um, uh, Rick Fuson, our previous CEO, uh, really worked with Mayor Jensen on that in Noblesville just to sort of create the relationship. And it was right after COVID that we started to have those conversations.
So how, okay, so this is like 20, 21, 22 timeline somewhere in there. And then how long from, okay, we're doing this until like. I mean, there's a huge, yeah, there's a lot of real estate that needs to be developed and, you know, uh, T's to cross and I's to dot and all the things there. How long did that process take?
Yeah, so we actually, the past two years, uh, the Mad Ants, um, you know, we just changed the name, but the Mad Ants played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. So, um, you know, we, we really made the decision about three years ago to move. We played one year in Fort Wayne and then moved the team down to, uh, Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
So they played the PA past two years, uh, at Gainbridge in front of, you know, limited crowds. Right. It's a, a big building. Is that hard? Um, yeah. I, I think again, if you're, there's a couple ways to look at it. I think it's hard to build a business, right? Because you're playing basketball in the same building that the NBA team plays in.
It's obviously built for NBA, uh, the G League is much more intimate. But if you're a player, if you think about it, you're coming outta college and you wanna try and break into the NBA, I mean, you want to play in front of Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan. Um, you want to be noticed by those guys. So if you're playing in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and those guys can walk outta their office and watch you every day.
Then you're pretty happy about that? Yeah. I feel like it's like, it's like a double-edged sword there. Yeah. Where, you know, it's cool. You're playing like, right. You're, you're like kinda setting the stage, but you're also playing in front of, I don't, I don't know. What's the average attendance for A G League?
Maybe there's probably about, well, in Gainbridge it was around a thousand people. The building in Noblesville will be 3,500, which is about the, which is a, which is a perfect number. Unbelievable. And it's on the north side of Indianapolis. Mm-hmm. You like, like up there where people will go like, just like they've done with the Fuel at the Fishers Event Center.
Uh, I think that's like, you could start to pack out, like what's the, what's the most attended G League team? Uh, well, Dallas has a really good G League team. Um, you know, they, they, they do a great job with that. So I, I think the attendance really ranges and that's probably 6,000. You know why? 'cause they Dallas has ties to Indiana right.
Through Mark. Oh yeah. Right. So yeah. Mark cu right? Yeah. Exactly. He must be it because Indiana, they're Indiana adjacent. That's why they do a really good job down there. Makes sense. Yeah. Okay. So you guys decide to move mm-hmm. To. to Noblesville. Mm-hmm. You have to go through the idea of, of of building this.
Great. It's, it's a, what, what'd you call it? Like an event center? It's like a, yeah, they're using it more as an event center. It's, it's really, it's an arena. It was built, with us in mind, but it's gonna be multipurpose. Yeah. They build it. I, I think they've done a great job of making it very flexible.
Obviously they want it to be the center of their development with Innovation Mile. They plan to host conventions. Um, there's gonna be obviously community gatherings there, but you can also have concerts. Uh, they built the floor big enough to have gymnastics, for example. Um, I don't think that they will, but I think you could have some bull riding and those types of things in there, so, hey.
Yeah, exactly. So they, they wanted to make it, um, obviously multipurpose. They've invested a lot in there. It's a beautiful building and, and we're very proud to play there. Heck yeah. So when did things kick off? Well, so, uh, once we, we made the deal with the city, obviously. Um, you know, they, they took the lead in terms of designing the arena.
It's their arena. Uh, we helped consult on some of the spaces for basketball. So the city owns the arena, correct? Yep. Okay. And then you're just like a core tenant of Yeah, we we're a tenant and we have a, obviously have a, a great relationship with them. We'll help them, for example, on their naming rights.
Um, you know, the things that we sort of do well, um, sponsorships, partnerships. Yeah. What is the, what is it called? Well, right now it's The Arena at Innovation Mile. So we're out there, uh, talking to people actively right now. So if you're interested, we could probably, you know, the get Indiana arena. Yeah, I think it could be.
Perfect. Get IN, come on. That would be pretty fun. There you go. So, all right. Hey, so all we need is a small monetary donation from all the listeners out there, and we could make this thing happen. Mm-hmm. Um, that'll be cool. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'm excited. 'cause I do think that having even, like, there's nothing wrong with the Fisher's event center mm-hmm.
But like, calling it the Fishers Event Center is not maybe as cool as like going to White River or going to Everwise Sure. Or going to gain bridge. Mm-hmm. You know, like there's just like a Lucas Oil. Mm-hmm. Like there, like if it was just called like. Foot Indianapolis football stadium. Right? Like, I don't know if that has the same ring to it.
Yeah, you know, it, it really just depends. I mean, you know, there's a, a wide range of thoughts and ideas behind that. You know, some places, certainly if you're a city and, and you've developed it and you own it, uh, sometimes it's the branding of the city. So Fishers Event Center, certainly if you're gonna play at the Fishers Event Center, then obviously that draws attention to Fishers.
I think, you know, with Noblesville especially because they're really part of innovation and they look at this arena as, as sort of the, the linchpin of that innovation. Um, you know, it's gonna be the The Arena at Innovation Mile in Noblesville, Indiana. So I can see the branding. Could we Get IN? Yeah.
Innovation. Boom. There we go. Come on. If you gimme too many good ideas, the price tag is gonna keep climbing. Hey, there we go. Mayor Jensen, I know you're avid, you're an avid listener, man. Let's make this happen. What can fans, how long is the G League team or the G League season? Like, what does it look like?
How, where are we getting these players? What's our roster look like? Like give us a, a little bit of a preview into this Noblesville Boom season. Sure, absolutely. So the G League season is a little bit shorter than the NBA season. Um. You know, the NBA season will really, uh, tip off, uh, the end of October, October 25th, around that area.
Um, the G League regular season starts, uh, November 7th and eighth. So it's a, it's about two weeks later. Uh, and really what that allows is the training camp to start right after the, uh, NBA training camp. And again, the, the roster makeup, and it can, it continues to evolve. But there are some players on our roster that are two-way players, which means they'll play both for the pacers and the Boom.
Um, and then there are other guys that are actually signed that are on the roster, and they're hoping to be noticed by other teams. So, uh, when you think of it this way, there's a handful of players that we control the rights to. The other players obviously are a little bit more, um, and not the right term.
I'm the business guy, not the basketball guy, but more. Free agent and have the opportunity to sort of, uh, showcase their skills that other teams might pick 'em up. Yeah. So who are our players on two A? Uh, well, I, I don't know, uh, specifically because they're named sort of each year, so more Oh yeah. So we're still working on getting our finalized roster.
Exactly. Yeah. Oh, okay. That makes sense. Mm-hmm. Okay. I know that, um, one of my buddies. Uh, well, okay. Not actually buddy, but, uh, oh my gosh. Uh, Kyle Mangas mm-hmm. Was on last year. He's like an Indiana guy, Warsaw, absolutely great shooter at Indiana Wesleyan. Mm-hmm. And then was down there and he ended up getting traded somewhere maybe to Dallas or something like that.
And I was like, really looking. I was like, man, I just wanna see him like, make it in a Pacers game. That'd be so sick. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But it's like his journey continues and you keep growing. Like you gotta go get, he ended up getting noticed by another organization and that happens. Well, and, and that's, that's really, I mean, if you look at it, uh, and I'm gonna get the percentages wrong, but it's, it's some upward of 60% of the players in the NBA have some G League experience.
So it really has become a, a train training ground and proving ground for players to, to bust in there. And I think that's why you have all these NBA teams that have a G League affiliate because you can really develop that talent and plug them in, um, when they're able to play. It's, I've always thought it was crazy that baseball has so many, the farm system mm-hmm.
Is so expansive. Mm-hmm. And then. Football, basketball, like even only having one G League team and that's say, let's say they roster 15 players. Mm-hmm. I don't even know. Yeah. 15. 15. It's like. That's not that many. Think about how many ba there's like 20 person baseball teams at single A or high, a low A two, like double a, triple A.
Like, there's just so many teams. Well, interestingly, my, uh, oldest son plays for the Evansville Otters. He's an independent baseball, uh, player. So if you think about even the baseball world, not only do you have the affiliates with the, uh, major League baseball, and you have aa, you know, aa you also have an independent league that, that feeds into those.
So if you think about the, the talent in baseball or the number of players, it's vast. The NBA, if you look at the, uh, the draft, it's only two rounds. So you, you think about how hard it is to get into the NBA, obviously it makes a lot of sense for the G League because it allows people to, to really go out there and prove their ability.
Well, and then you bring in things like TBT and like all these other basketball adjacent, or like basketball options, you know, where people can forgo college and go join. Like, it's crazy. And I, I can definitely see, um. I could see a world, you know, a decade, two decades down the road where there is like a high G and a low G or whatever, you know?
Well, well for sure. Especially as the game becomes even more global, because you know, the NBA for a long time was, was mostly the United States, right? And then as it's expanded and the game has grown across the globe, you're having more and more players. So if you think about more players, better talent, uh, eventually the NBA will be even more talented than it has right now, which is hard to imagine, given the great athletes in it.
But to your point, if the NBA becomes even more talented, it becomes more difficult to Get IN the NBA there. The game is more global. You're gonna have to have probably, you know, a G League team and then to your point, maybe another team that feeds into a G League team. Yeah. And it's always, I always love seeing, like sometimes you'll get like the highlights of players that maybe aren't.
They aren't good enough to still have like a high level like Jim Fette, right? Like yeah. Not like great to be a, like a star. NBA player too good for the G league goes to China and is like all, like, all time. Great. Yeah. In overseas, making millions of dollars. And you know, and it, it's interesting 'cause I've worked in sports, you know, my, my entire career and, um, it, it's, it's amazing.
I have three kids and they've played sports and I'll talk to parents and we we're always all overvalue our kids and their ability, right? So I, I talk to a lot of parents and they'll be like, you know, I, I don't know why my kid couldn't play X sport. And I'm like, well, you should come and, you know, watch our players, right?
So when they're warming up, they don't miss, like, you know, if you can hit 98 out of 103 pointers, then your kid is probably good enough to, to potentially play. I don't think, you know, when, when you see the talent level and it's all equal. You don't appreciate how amazing they are. Uh, batting practice. When I worked in, uh, baseball for example, I worked in Milwaukee with the Brewers and the Green Bay Packers.
Players would come down and take batting practice and they're huge, strong guys, right? They play football, they played baseball in high school 'cause they were great athletes. They'd have a hard time hitting a ball out of the park, right? But a, a second baseman, that's um, um, you know, five, ten, a hundred ninety pounds.
They're launching baseball's out of the park. It's just a different skill set, different ability. Um, it's not necessarily based on, on size and all those types of things, but the margin to get to that highest level is so tight. So a Jim for Dead, who's an amazing player, you know, it, it's even hard to to bust into a roster.
Yeah, it is. And then ends up, you know, overseas and, you know, has a very illustrious career. Unbelievable. Pretty crazy. Mm-hmm. Okay. So the season is a little bit shorter. Mm-hmm. The players are, there's a set amount that will be gone two way. So you might see them mm-hmm. You know, on the bench for the pacers, and then they're playing for Correct the Boom.
I do wanna know about the name. Mm-hmm. Where did we land on Noblesville Boom and how did we land on the Noblesville Boom? Well, it was a, a pretty ex uh, exhaustive, uh, process. It's interesting, you know, when you get into sports, um, you dream of designing uniforms and creating, you know, team names and identity, and then when you go through it, you realize how big of a challenge that is, right?
You try and, uh, land on a name that's not gonna be, uh, able to be manipulated or twisted. Um, you know, is it gonna be offensive? Especially in sort of today's landscape, there's a lot of opinions on, on how things get identified. Uh, so we went through it. It really always starts with us with research. Um, obviously we, we looked at it and wanted to try and tie the name, uh, to our own equity in terms of our larger brand.
With the Pacers, we wanted people to know that they are connected. So if you look at the, the Boom logo, uh, which I'm wearing here, you can see the, the Pacers Ball is in there. Mm-hmm. So immediately when you look at it, you know, they're affiliated. And we also want to keep the sort of the color palette. Um, so as you go down and look at the G League, there's really three different paths that teams have taken.
So there's one, um, school of thought that you name your G League affiliate identical to your NBA team. So, um, if you look at, uh, baseball, for example, you have the Iowa Cubs and you have the Chicago Cubs. For us, given the proximity of where Noblesville was, we didn't wanna create the confusion. I could just imagine a fan showing up, you know, at gain bridge field house with a boom ticket and I have to turn 'em away, right?
Yeah. You're only 45 minutes away. Exactly. It's a quick John of I 69, no doubt. Right. So, uh, the other one is when it, we would call it a sort of. Uh, brand adjacent. And that would be the Camshafts? Yeah, exactly. Or, or Milwaukee. Right? It is, it's the bucks and the herd. So you can see that, that their, their G League affiliate is the herd.
Um, so there's another school of thought there. So we were trying to look at some things that, that match that. And then the third, uh, bucket is. It really has nothing to do with your parent club, uh, which was the Mad Ants for us, right? If you looked at that, there was no connection. Mad Ants and pacers.
There's like, it's a, it's an insect and you know, then you've got the Pacers brand. So for us, we decided that we wanted to be in that middle kind of category. So as we started to explore, uh, and, and I should say when we, we were doing the early research, we kept all three of those open. We immediately kind of crossed out the Noblesville Pacers.
We wanted Noblesville Noblesville to be in the team name. So you knew that we were playing in Noblesville. Um, and then if I showed you the deck, there were about 400 names that we considered. We, we looked at research and Noblesville, what is the Native Animals plants? Um, what's the history of Noblesville?
The, uh, the Noblesville Peonies. Yeah, exactly. Right. And, and we went through all of that. Uh, Josh Schuck on our team, he's our, uh, he's our lead marketer on the. That would be overwhelming. Like someone presents you 400 potential names. Yeah. And like how do you test those? Like what do you, what do you have to do to like see what public sentiment is?
Well, some of 'em are pretty terrible, right? If you have 400, right? So, uh, some of, we just list them all out there because sometimes it just sparks an idea. Uh, but part of that research, Josh actually went up to Noblesville. There's a museum in Noblesville and there's a historian in Noblesville. So he sat, uh, several times to learn more about the city, how it was formed, what, what the early part of Nobles, what did it look like, you know, from that we, we listed 'em out in different buckets and, and we got even, um, just.
Any idea. If you look at minor league baseball, they have some really great team names that have nothing to do with their major league affiliates. So we had like zombie dogs, right? And all sorts of stuff. And, and you just create a, a team name after a logo. Uh, we decided not to do that. So the, the 400 that we looked at, you could cross some of 'em off, right?
They're, they're compound names of animals or if it's the, you know, White River Otters, you know, type of thing. Um, you could decide whether you really wanted to do that. Can you build a team or for us also you wanted to represent the sport, right? So, um, you know, if it is too far off and you have no idea what it is.
Uh, then it's really hard to market that. It's hard to really build a, a, a brand and establish a connection with your fans. So when we decided to, to pick, um, what we would consider a brand adjacent, we started to do research. Really, where do you connect Noblesville to the Pacers brand? And boom. Uh, interesting enough, if you, uh, if you're a historian with the Pacers, uh, slick Leonard, boom baby, um, obviously that was something that he shouted out mostly when Reggie was hitting all those threes.
Um, so boom was something that we sort of gravitated to. And then if you go back and look at the history of Noblesville, they were actually, uh, really created in a natural gas boom. So that's why Noblesville, no way. They're one of those. Yes. So, and if you look also, uh, Noblesville right now is booming.
Their economy's booming and their growth is booming. So for us, we really wanted to try and have something not necessarily tied to. Uh, any preconceived notions, right? So if it's an otter, then you know what an otter is, you know what it looks like. Um, the Otter has its own brand. Something like boom, you can actually create.
So if you look at our game experience and, uh, the event experience, you know, you've got an action, sort of an action word, it's a sound. It can be a lot of different things. So it gives us a lot of leeway in terms of our game operation. Wow. There is a lot of ties to boom. Like Boomer. Yeah, right, exactly. You have, you have, wait, what is the mascot?
Is there a different mascot for the Boom? Well, we are just, uh, yes, there is, and we're close to being able to announce it. It'll, it'll be in the Cat family. So Boomer, yes. Boom, boom. It'll be, it'll be related to Boomer there. So there'll be some tie, actually. Little baby boom, come on, let's go. Okay. Yeah, that actually makes sense.
Yeah. And it's interesting that little corridor of the state from Gas City was like this natural gas boom happened. Oh man. Early nine, maybe late 18 hundreds, early 19 hundreds, somewhere in there. Yeah. And yeah, that, that's really wild. Yeah. So you have a gas boom. Yep. You have the booming, you have boom baby.
You have all these I do have to ask. Yep. When it got down to the final, the final like votes, were there any other finalists that were close where you had to go in there and be like, oh, we were between boom and between this? Yeah. You, you know, I think that some of the finalists, um, they, they were good, but I think when we put it in front of everyone, so, and to share that process with you, you know, our marketing team and our brand team, they, they create this entire deck and then they narrow it down and, and usually provide anywhere between three and 10 suggestions.
And, and they build it out. Like when I say that, I mean, they'll put the graphics around it, they'll do the color swatches, they'll do an inspiration board. Um, so when they do that, it gives you a pretty good feel. What's, that's a pretty like, fun year project. Oh, I don't know how long it take. Uh, it, it was, it was almost two years in the making.
Oh my gosh. That's a pretty fun little side quest to be working on, like developing an entire brand for a team. It, it, it is. And, and like I said, it's hard though, right? Because if you think about anything in life, um, if you and I are both looking at the same, you know, cup here, we're gonna describe the blue differently, right?
Yeah. And we're, and you might not like blue and I love blue, right? So I think it's hard to really get a name or an identity that most people are gonna generally like, right. Especially now with, with social media and a lot of people can weigh in. And I, and I feel like it's really easy too to create a brand.
That everyone doesn't hate. Yeah. And it's like, is that really, like, you want a brand that people like really love? Mm-hmm. And like some people won't like it. Mm-hmm. And that's okay. But I feel like a lot of things, it's like people will end up like somewhere in the middle where it's like, oh yeah, no one's gonna be upset about this.
And I find something where you weave in the threads of boom. And, and there will be people that just love that. Mm-hmm. They love the ties to Boomer, they love the ties to Boom Baby. Like they're, they're gonna just like grab that. Well, and, and we still have people that, you know, uh, wish that we would've kept the mad aunt's name.
Right. Because it's a really cool logo. And, and they just liked it because they remember it. So there's a, a whole group of people that, you know, when you leave a, a community, which was a really difficult decision for us, you, you still want those fans to be involved. Yeah. What was the Fort Wayne sentiment there?
Well, I think certainly disappointed. You know, we, uh, mayor Henry, um, when we were working with him at Fort Wayne at the time, you know, certainly he, he was a big supporter of the Mad Ants. Um, you know, the biggest thing was really, you know, how does it impact our business? So it was less about leaving Fort Wayne and was really more about how we improve the basketball, uh, performance of our, our main club and, you know, how do we, uh, end up really trying to provide a, a championship caliber team.
I mean, it seems to be, seems to be working, uh, you know, like, I mean, not, it's not going poorly. Uh, no, it's going pretty well, you know, for a guy that, uh, gets smarter with every win. Um, I'm pretty much a sports marketing genius after this pastor. There we go. Uh, I love that. I absolutely love it. Okay, so you get there and the final, like, is there like a final meeting where they're like, absolutely.
Alright team, we've got the Boom. Yep. And we've got. Yeah, whatever. So we, we do a lot of internal focus groups. Uh, fortunately for us, we have a nice wide range of, uh, employees from, you know, tenure and age, um, all sorts of backgrounds. So we try and get a, a small group of people together and we test it internally first, right?
Because we're all sports fans, and if we really hate a name, then there's a good chance that, um, our fans might hate a name. Same thing if we love it. So when we narrow it all the way down, uh, it goes all the way to the highest level. So Herb Simon, uh, the Simon family, Steven Rales, um, they all weighed in on it.
So we talked through the logic behind it, um, you know, the rationale and, and what we were looking at and why I'd love to be a fly on the wall, like whoever's presenting mm-hmm. To Herb Simon saying like, this is why we should be the Boom. Mm-hmm. And someone else comes in and like, this is why we should be the zombie dogs.
Exactly. Right. That would be why. Well, well, fortunately we don't, uh, usually by the time it gets to Herb, there's a, a good final recommendation. And Herb always, uh, herb Herb's an amazing, uh, owner. Very involved. Um, you know, certainly I, I've worked at several teams and I'd put 'em up there with, uh, among the best, uh, organizations and ownership groups for sure.
Um, but the good thing about Herb is, you know, if you've done your research, your homework and, and you've presented in logical manner, uh, there haven't been too many times that he, uh, he really, uh, vetoes, uh, a suggestion. You know, he asks really good questions and you have to have, um, everything buttoned up.
But in general, he really trust people to, to make those recommendations. And, you know, again, he, he loves the franchise. He's, he's been here a a long time and you know, if, if you love it as much as he does and you're making those recommendations, then usually have his blessing. There you go. I mean, I, when I saw him on TV after the Eastern Conference Finals, like just out there.
Yeah. The dude, I don't know if I've ever seen a happier guy. Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know, I think the, obviously the, the finals, and I know we'll touch on that in a minute. Um, you know, they were heartbreaking in terms of how they ended, but I think most people were more heartbroken for Herb. You know, he is owned the team a long time and I think if you were to ask our entire organization, um, we would all love to, to win a championship, but I think mostly it was because of, you know, herb and being able to, to deliver a championship to him.
He is the longest tenured owner in the NBA. Is he really? Yeah. Yeah. He's, he's owned the team, you know, since the eighties. I think 83 is what it was, uh, somewhere in there. Ah. So, you know, again, from that standpoint, um, you know, everybody was really pulling for him. So to see him happy after these from conference finals be back in the finals, you know, it was, it was 25 years from the, the previous appearance.
So, um, you know, certainly we were excited about it and, and, um, he was disappointed, but very proud of, of how we finished. Yeah, absolutely. Um, rounding out what we're talking through, through Noblesville, boom, you guys land on. The name, the Boom. Yep. Uh, you announced that like how have, how have kind of like the preseason.
Uh, just everything building up some hype around this year. How's that been going? It, it's been going great. You know, we unveiled the court, um, you know, earlier before the building was done. The building is at completion right around, uh, uh, June. It was, uh, I'm sure the mayor would want me to say this on time and below budget or on budget, yes.
Uh, so yes, exactly. So I, you need to do my part there. Uh, and, and really joking aside, um, Noblesville was amazing to work with. The mayor and his team have been incredible. Um, you know, it's a world class building. It's, uh. I, I mean when people walk through it, it really looks like a, a smaller version of, of gain bridge, field, house, the locker room's incredible.
Uh, so we unveiled the court and we did a, a big, uh, campaign to introduce the team. Uh, we've accepted deposits, so right now that's very strong for the season tickets. We'll be going through the seating process here very, very shortly. Oh, yeah. So, uh, that'll be our, our season ticket base. Um, so if you want to be courtside at every Noblesville Boom game, hit 'em up.
Yes, yes, exactly. noblesvilleboom.com. There you go. Mm-hmm. Come on. Exactly. That's awesome. And we can expect to see the first game, first home game. Yeah. November 8th will be the first official game. I'm sure we'll have some, um, some preseason or some fan opportunities to come out and, and see the team up there.
Obviously, our team wants to, to get familiar with the building, so it's a home court advantage, and we certainly want to use it as an opportunity to try and sell some tickets and sponsorships to people. So, yeah. Uh, I would imagine in, in, uh, October, mid-October here, which is right around the corner, um, there'll be a lot more opportunities for open houses and those types of things to see the, the court.
Yeah, I love it. I think it's, I think it's awesome. I think it's great for the north side of Indianapolis especially. 'cause I, I do feel like that Hamilton County area is just booming. There you go. See? Look at that. Look at that tie. Come on. There we go. It's just booming and having more options of things to do.
I mean, whether you're like, I'm, I'm an, I'm an inside of I-465 guy. Yeah. I live, you know, I'm here in router bull area, but I know a lot of people get like. Oh, I don't know if I wanna drive all the way downtown. I don't know if I wanna do that, like, mm-hmm. So having some stuff up there. You have the Fishers Event Center.
You can go see Anole boom game. There's gonna be tons of concerts and cool things happening up there. That's awesome. This episode of Get IN is brought to you by our friends at Indie Grills and Outdoor Living, a local business here in central Indiana. They specialize in custom patios, fireplaces, and outdoor kitchens that are designed around how you actually want to use your space.
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Check them out@indiegrills.com. Yeah, I mean, obviously we're, we're biased. We love, uh, the heart of our heart of the city. Um, you know, that's obviously where we've built a lot of our, um, our equity and certainly the building and all the re the real estate around it. Uh, the practice facility, you know, the Fever broke ground yesterday, I'm sorry, not yesterday, last week on, um, on their, uh, fever specific training facility, which is incredible.
Uh, so there's a lot of great things going on downtown, but to your point, I mean, for us, uh, to be able to extend our footprint into Hamilton County, um, I, I actually live in Westfield. When we moved here from Wisconsin, our kids were, were young. Now they're. Uh, one's outta college, one's in college, and one's a senior in high school.
So, uh, we, we picked Westfield because it was a little bit more spaced around there. Might've, there might've still been fields around then. Actually there, there were Grand Park hadn't even been, uh, thought of yet. I think, uh, 31 and 32, that interchange had a, uh, shell, a Taco Bell, and maybe a McDonald's and nothing else.
So, uh, it's completely different, but you look at the development up there, uh, we still want people to travel down and watch the Pacers and Fever, but, you know, also, um, it would be hard to ignore, um, the development in the Hamilton County and the 69 corridor. So, uh, that, that makes a lot of sense for us, and there's a lot of of demand up there.
Um, so we, we, we think it's a really great place from a basketball standpoint. Absolutely. I feel like you'll have no, no trouble selling out, you know, 3000 tickets or whatever for games. I mean, how many home games are there? Uh, 24. 2024. Yeah. I hope so too. Yeah. Let's so right here. Let's go. Come on. Get up.
Well, with your name on the building and drawing people in there. Yeah. Come to me. I think we could, we could actually put a, a, a podcast booth in the facility. I mean, I know you would have to, to commute from Broad Ripple, but Oh, I could probably make that happen. If, if there's a, there's a booth up there.
We're talking all things Indiana. That'd be pretty fun. Uh, I do want to shift gears a little bit. Mm-hmm. Sure. I wanna talk about this past season with the Pacers, and obviously I will say every sports person at the beginning of every season, if you're a good sports person and you like, could do your job, like you expect to go in and win, like you have that mentality.
But it does seem like it was a, to the mass public, a kind of, a bit of a surprising run to the finals there for those people that maybe not be in the building and see that. I, I think you're right. I think it's surprising, um, for, for all of us too. I mean, we expected to have a good team. We had gone to the Eastern Conference Finals the year before.
Um, and the team largely came back. I think, you know, the key to our success, um, and again, I'm on the business side, not basketball from a, a, a close, uh, observer. Our, our guys like playing together. I mean, they're, they're a good team. They're good guys. I mean, they're, they're likable, but they play hard.
They're competitive, they fit together, and it's like obviously tyres. Is so, so great. Mm-hmm. Like so clutch and, but there's not like a, like I was at the, I mean, I went to a game in almost every series, and like, there's not a y like Giannis is Giannis, you know, like there's a lot of, there's other teams that have bigger superstars like these.
But what I loved about it was everyone just like, did their, did their job well. And, and, and I think, you know, from a fan standpoint, that's some of that excitement, right? You go there and you just never know who might, um, take over a game. Right? I mean, it's, it's, you're right. We have the guys that, that are used to having the ball in their hand, but you've also got a lot of guys that make big shots.
Uh, dude, unexpected. I feel like when, uh, there was a game, I can't remember which one, but like Obie top and just like went crazy off the bat. Absolute. And I'm like, dude, let's go. Go. Well, and, and I think that's the beauty of it again, you know, it, it's a, it's a deep team, but they all root for each other, you know?
Yeah. They're in, in sports it's difficult to, to find that, right? Because you've got a bunch of alpha people, um, that are used to being the best player on their team. Yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely. Like. That's the crazy part. Like every single one of those players at some point from from Pascal to like all the way down was once the star of their team.
Well, and and it goes back to your point about Jim or Fette, right? Like. I mean, we're, we're talking about the absolute best of the best and, and people that have done amazing things. And then that, that funnel narrows, and then you're on a team and, and there is, uh, still a hierarchy or, uh, you know, who pays what position and you gotta be ready to step in there.
Yeah. And then you get, like TJ McConnell coming in and he's like, goes crazy for, uh, whatever minutes he gets. He just goes nuts. Well, you, you've always been a starter and now your role is to come off the bench and when you do, um, you provide a huge spark and win games like so. You know, so I, I do think that, again, you have to have a, a good ego to be a professional athlete and be successful, but you also have to be able to put it off to the side for a teammate for, for you, obviously you're in the business side, not the basketball side.
Mm-hmm. But, but where was the moment throughout this last season where you, it clicked that this team was special? Looked at it. At one point we were all kind of talking. It's like, I don't know, we might just be a team of destiny. Like this just might be one of those years. We had so many big moments and shots and games that you didn't expect to win.
That somehow, you know, we won, I think when we got to the playoffs, uh, you know, and we were a four seed, um, you know, or a, yeah, we, we played Milwaukee in the, the first round. Mm-hmm. And you look at that and go, man, Milwaukee's a really good team and we've played them and it's been, uh, really difficult. You know, you hit some big shots, win some games, I think.
If you go back into the regular season, you know, uh, Tyrese hitting a three pointer and getting fouled with no time and, and, um, basically hitting that and tying the game and, uh, you know, just all these magical wins that we've had, uh, really gave this team a lot of confidence, I think. And then from a fan standpoint, it was almost just the next game became more unbelievable than the previous game.
If you look at, you know, New York and the shot that Tyrese hit hits off the, the back of the iron and goes straight up, I don't know how many feet in the air and goes straight through the, the basket thinking we had won, only to tie the game and then to win it in overtime. So I, I mean, I think there were so many moments that we looked at and we're like, this, you have to be good, but you also have to be lucky and you have to have, you know, fortune on your side.
And I think we had all that. Yeah, it was that. I feel like that, oh my, those, all those series, like go back and it's just crazy. Like, I, I remember, uh, what was it? Game. Six. Did we just route OKC in game six of the finals? Yes. Like it was like pedal to the metal. Yeah. Like I feel like it was right after half, like a halftime hit and I had never, like people are sprinting through the halls of Gainbridge field.
It's like we're up like 20 something points. At half. And it was just like, there was just, just. An insane energy. Like I felt like Indy really showed out all through the playoffs. Oh, well, absolutely. I mean, you know, and, and this is one of these where, um, you know, they're really good ideas until you start to execute 'em.
But we did a, a, a giveaway, um, you know, gold swag. And we basically shut down the traffic on, uh, Pennsylvania Street. So there were a lot of, uh, commuters that weren't too happy during rush hour. Um, but, you know, we, we had no idea of what demand to expect. You know, we, we had viewing parties for the away games that, uh, were, you know, selling out the building, right.
So if you think about that, you just had everybody that wanted to be a part of it. And I think that's what makes sports special. You know, it's the communal nature of it, right? Yeah. Like, you and I could be from different parts of, of the state, completely different backgrounds, but our love of basketball brings us together.
And suddenly, you know, we're sitting next to each other in a building, high fiving and hugging each each other. It's like, yeah, abso like, uh, oh my gosh, Ben Shepherd nails a three, and I'm gonna have to like, kiss the dude next to me because I'm just so bummed. Exactly. And so, and I, I think you look at that, it's, it's really special.
Obviously we're, we're super excited about that because we get to be a part of it. But I think when you look at a community and something that happened like that finals run, it just, it got bigger and bigger. And, and even if you look at the, the Fever side of things, um, from the past couple years, like.
Every day has been a, a new sort of high. Right? It's like every time we think it can't get better or more demand or more excitement around it, it does. And that that's what's been really special. I have a question for you. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Who does the shirts? Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's a good question. So when I talk about Herb Simon being involved, uh, herb gets final decision on the shirts our creative team does, um, designs, uh, and typically we have multiple designs for each round, and then we'll send 'em to him.
Uh, our, our marching orders from Herb is he never wants to be disrespectful to the other team. Um, and he wants it to be something that the fans would, would really love. Yeah. So, uh, those are the only two requirements. Then our team looks at it and, and says, okay, who are we playing in the, the matchup? Um, you know, if it's gonna be around racing, for example, around the 500, is a game gonna fall on there?
Do we design a t-shirt around racing? Yeah. I love it. But we never win. I the Pacers, we do not have good luck with the Pacers and Racers game. But I'm saying like, like who? Let's think. Mm-hmm. How many games. During the month of like, may, like that timeframe, right? Yeah. That timeframe from playoffs, Eastern Conference Finals.
Mm-hmm. You know, all the way to the finals. Yeah. There had to be, how many shirts do you need? I think it was, uh, 10 different designs. Uh, typically what we had done, our, our general rule of thumb is we do a gold out on the first game of the series. Mm-hmm. That our first home game. And then if it's a closeout or a clinch game, or a must win game.
So again, if you're at a game six and uh, you have to win to play a game seven, we're obviously gonna, uh, create a gold out and make sure it's, it's pretty crazy. Okay. Well, I felt like it was every, every game had a shirt in. It pretty much did, because the way that the series fell, a lot of 'em were games at home.
Yeah. So, you know, we were, we had a chance to either extend the series or win the series at home, so. Um, you know, when we got to the end, it was like every game. Who was making this? Like who physically what business in Indianapolis? Like p pumps out these shirts. Uh, well, there's, we source 'em to a lot. So it's, it's, it's funny you asked that question.
It used to be Maingate. That was our, our primary, uh, Dave Nik had a company that he started. Um, so we, we, it becomes very, very hard to get gold shirts. So if you can imagine, um, how difficult it is, it's not a, well, what do you need each run? Well, so we usually have about 20,000 shirts that we bring in every time.
Yeah. So 10 runs, that's 200,000 gold shirts. Well, and if you think about, um, you know, if Golden State is in the playoffs, they're typically using gold. If you have the NHL, um, and you've got Nashville, they're using gold. So when you think about the colors of shirts that are just sort of on the racks, you know, it's blue, red, white, black.
It's typically not your gold. So when we're, we're at the end of that long run, or if somebody else is, you know, if it's Golden State and the Pacers, um, we're, we're end up having to sort of race to acquire gold shirts. It's like, um, it's like real gold, you know? You're stockpiling it, the, the gold shirt rush.
Exactly. This, this was something, I was sitting there at one of the games and I was looking around and I was like, let's think about the economic impact in the shirt, in the screen printing business around central Indiana. Mm-hmm. Because I feel like you guys probably use a, like a local vendor or someone to like print the actual shirts.
Yeah, we do it through a procurement. We have, we have a, a bunch of different ones that we would tap into. It's like, imagine, you know, like. This year versus last year? Like, I think of all, I wanna talk actually through that, like Yeah. Obscure economic impacts. Yeah. That the Pacers run had like screen printing, like mm-hmm.
Somewhere around like if it had, the Pacers not made the run, that's 200,000 shirts that would not have been printed locally. Correct. 200,000. Like that's not nothing. Correct. Yeah, absolutely. Right. Think about like bars, you know, like I like, you know, an extra. Five, no. An extra 10 game home games. Yeah. Or whatever it was.
Sure. Yeah. Well, and, and 10 home games that are all, uh, like we're playing in the Lakers, you know? So if you think about that from a, from a excitement standpoint, you know, it's, um, in a, in a regular season, even with the Colts or, you know, NFL, like there's, there's still big games and there's games that Yeah, I'm gonna watch it.
Um, when you get to the playoffs, uh, no matter the sport, every one of those games is like the, the biggest, best opponent you're playing of the year. So if you think about the local bars or Yeah. You know, even, and if you're having a watch party, it's like game three watch party. Yeah. It's like you have to, versus if it's just like, you know, regular season.
Correct. Game 26, like no one, no one's like that hyped up about, right. Yeah. Yeah. Every game was like, come to our watch party, come to our buy tickets, to the, I was literally doing everything going to the stadium for to watch inside the, to watch on screen Exactly. And buy, no offense. Yeah. Bye. $10 beers were effort to be in the stadium.
Like, because it was just like an experience. Well, it certainly was, and that's why I said it's that communal nature of it. Right? It's, it's so much more fun to watch it with other people that are sort of excited about it. Uh, you, you mentioned, um, in our, our pre-work on this about our, our organization flying to the Away games and, and Herb Simon and Steven Rales and the Simon family, uh, they were kind enough to, to charter planes and send us there so we could watch the away games.
But I will tell you, I watched Game seven Gainbridge Fieldhouse, you know, and I could have gone to Oklahoma City to watch that game. Um, but I wanted to be with our fans. It was so much more exciting to be someplace where if you win that game, you're celebrating. Right. If you win that game in Oklahoma City and I'm there watching it, I'm celebrating with, you know, 25 people that went with us.
Yeah. But, but could you imagine, um, that feel, if we would've won that game and I would, I wouldn't want to be any place else, but. The people that love the team as much as I do. Oh man. Yeah, that one, it stinks. I mean, I'm sure everyone in the works, like mm-hmm. That one was, it was, it was heartbreaking on so many different facets.
Yeah. And I mentioned Herb Simon earlier and, and everybody being, uh, disappointed for him, obviously, you know, Ty, he, he, he, um, he gave it his all right. And, and I think, uh, I don't know. I mean, right. I'm, I'm a homer, but I don't know how we don't win that game. The way he started off. I mean, it was, uh, that was, that was, uh, if you remember the All-Star Game that, that Ty started in.
I think he had, you know, four, three pointers, uh, in a row, and he was in that same type of zone, I think. Yeah. You know, the, the, the whole team feeding off that. And when you lose a player of that caliber, I think our guys did a great job of fighting. It's just hard when Oklahoma City's so talented, dude. You wanna know what makes it worse.
So we were watching down at the dugout. Great establishment. I love the dugout. Me too. Actually, for, for the NBA Finals. We were there and the sound went out and so there's no sound, like the whole mm-hmm. Everything happens with Ty Tyrese. He's down, they keep replaying it, and there's no sound, no music, no sound, no nothing.
And everyone, it's like crickets. You could hear a pin drop and I'm just like, dude, this is this bad. Like, like we were so high and literally like, I think it was 20 seconds. I dunno, somewhere around everything with, with Tyrese, the sound goes out, our best player gets injured, like this whole thing and it's just like this thing got off the rail so quickly.
I know morale was not high. No, no. Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking man. Okay. Were there other obscure epi economic impacts that happened around central Indiana or just Indiana in general from the Pacers playoff run? Yeah, well I, I think, you know, I think anybody that was supplying any sort of merchandise, um, you know, it was interesting, um, one of the, the favorite stories that we've told is the demand on our, our merchandise team, our retail team was so high when we were in the height of the Fever, um, the start of the season plus the NBA Finals.
We actually recruited, uh, front office staff to go work in in retail. And what I mean by that is we actually physically, myself included open boxes. Um, unfolded all the shirts, tagged the shirts, refold 'em, put 'em in boxes so they could go stock the store. So every other day the, the team was switching from, uh, NBA Finals to fever merchandise and back.
And every day when I came in, when the team store was opening, there was already a line, um, basically to the, the corner of Maryland Street. So, um, it, it was unbelievable. So I think the, the real economic impact and you, you hit on most of 'em, right? It's, um, anything that we had around the game. So, uh, you know, shirts, um, we did a lot of the light up bracelets Yeah.
Which isn't local, but. Still created a great atmosphere. Um, and then you have all of the ancillary, like the people that sort of benefit from the ecosystem around it. So, uh, you mentioned the dugout. The dugout is one of my favorite establishments. Great pizza. Um, they've done an amazing job, you know, uh, so, and a lot of our staff goes there, but you, you, um, you look at, you know, commission row, prime 47 and, and all of those places, uh, right around us.
There's obviously a huge boost and, um, when you get that many people downtown, even for the non-game and the watch parties, you know, people are having a, a beer before they come to the game. So that was a huge economic impact. Yeah. Can We talk about how Pat McAfee ended up hosting his show at Unity Plaza and the whole thing there, like, how'd that come about?
Yeah, actually, he, he's been a great supporter of the Pacers obviously, and he loves, uh, he loves Indianapolis. I, and obviously we're, we're fortunate that he hosts his show here, so it was just a natural, um, sort of tie in to be able to go over there and, uh, you know, we provided some food for him to sample and, um, you know, we, we love Pat and his team, so Yeah.
Can we talk about, when gets the mic in stadium, it's electric. I'm, I'm on the pro pat McAfee side. I thought it's, I think it's electric. Uh, one of my big, just spiels about the state of Indiana mm-hmm. Uh, is Hoosiers tend to be. Very, very humble. Yeah. That's obvious thing. If I said that's a really nice shirt, you'd say, oh I, thanks, I got it at Goodwill.
Right. It was like $0 and zero. They actually paid me to take this thing. Right. Uh, and one thing is like there are so many great things in the state of Indiana. Mm-hmm. So much to be proud of. But when we talk about it and say it's not too bad, like it's okay. Like, 'cause we don't wanna be braggadocious. And that's why I love the energy that Pat brings.
'cause it's like being very proud. Borderline. Like, we don't wanna be braggadocious in your faces about it, but we wanna be proud of what we have in the Hoosier State. You know, we, we talk a lot about that. I mean, and, you know, I think our organization, um, whether it's the community or whether it's sort of business operations, basketball, um, I think we do a lot, um, very well.
But I think to your point by nature, Hoosiers and sort of Midwesterners really downplay that. So I think a lot of times we don't get the credit that we deserve because we don't, uh, go out and seek the credit. Right. We're, we're very much of the, um, let our work, um, yeah. Determine our success. And in the social media era, like, I'm not saying that every founder player, anything needs to get on the internet and be like, we're so great.
But like, that's why, that's why what we do works. Yeah. 'cause like, where I'm like in here and I get to hype up all the cool stuff that you're doing. Yeah. Because everyone, like, there's so much cool stuff going on, but like, herb Simon's not gonna get on. Twitter and started talking about how great Indiana is, right?
No, in fact, uh, I think, um, uh, Mel Raines, who's our current CEO, had to force Herb to go to the, uh, the Hall of Fame enshrinement, right? Like Herb is so, so humble, and that's where it all starts. Our organization, he is like, ah, you know, I shouldn't be in the hall and I shouldn't be giving this speech. And I'm like, well, no one deserves it.
Probably more than you, herb. So I I, I think we get it honest, certainly from the ownership group. And then I think, um, and, and that's why it's been such a great fit for here in the Hoosier State. But to your point, you know, guys, like, uh, it was funny if you go all the way back to Lance Stephenson, right?
Like, I think people liked Lance a lot because, you know, he had a little edge, right? And, and, you know, and he was, um, you know, he definitely fit this market very, very well. But, but he was, you know, he challenged LeBron, right? And that's not typical Hoosier behavior. I think normally it's like we're gonna beat LeBron because we.
We play really hard and, and, uh, do a good job and, you know, we're gonna let the scoreboard Yeah. Reflect it. So that's not typically in our DNA, so I think when it happens with a Pat McAfee or somebody else, it really explodes. All I knew is when they hand, he was down court side, they handed the mic to him, it was electric.
I was like a, I was somewhere higher up. And I was like, and I was like, oh man, this is about to be lit. Yeah. Well, and, and he can get away with it. Right. 'cause that's, that's his brand, that's his personality. Uh, certainly it doesn't necessarily, it wouldn't, it wouldn't be our, probably our core DNA. But that's, that's why you have friends and supporters of the team.
Yeah. Ex and that's it. Totally. It totally works. Like if it was your own employee coming in there and like trying to be like, he just can't do, but he has this brand. Mm-hmm. Just like, you know, a lot of these. Media personalities can like go into wherever and talk about it in their style. And that's what you want.
You want it to be in their voice. Like, you guys don't want to give Pat McAfee a script and say, Hey, read no. Like, you could, you can give the the pep talk, but you have to read this. Well, I can only imagine handing him a script and what he would do with that. You know, like that might be crumpled and thrown on the floor pretty quick.
Certainly. Oh my gosh. Yeah, he's definitely, uh, uh, you know, he, he would definitely do it in his own voice for sure. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, you mentioned it earlier, right? It's like, um. No matter what the brand is, it's not gonna appeal to every person, but the people it appeals to are certainly gonna really embrace it.
Yeah. And I think that's where we're lucky, because if you look at, um, the number of people that sort of support the, the Pacers franchise, um, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, it's all over the board, right? So you have people that are gonna grab a mic and get a crowd all fired up, and then you have people behind the scenes that are gonna do great work, that that largely goes unnoticed.
Yeah, absolutely. And you gotta have it all, it, all it all, you gotta have the whole city together, do it. Uh, I love it. This has been such a great conversation. We've come towards the end of the show where we do some rapid fire, lightning round questions, uh, and we have some sponsored segments. So this one is brought to you by our friends at J.C. Hart.
They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at homeisjchart.com. My question for you, you've been a little bit of everywhere from Texas up to Wisconsin and around, and now you're here in Indiana, been here for the last 14 years, Todd.
Why do you call Indiana home? Well, I'm originally from Ohio, um, and it's great proximity to where I grew up, but, you know, I'm a Midwest guy, uh, you know, and, and I think, uh, it felt right away like home. It was interesting when I was being recruited to come from Texas, you know, uh, Rick Fuson and Jim Morris, um, you know, invited me to here to, to see the city.
I'm like, I, I've been to Indianapolis tons of times, right. I, I've been here to see sporting events and I, I've always loved, it's been a great place to raise a family. So I, I've always felt right at home. I love that. Okay. We have some Rapid fire Pacers and adjacent Indiana. Questions for you. What was the first Pacers game you attended as an employee?
Interestingly enough, I started in 2011 and we immediately went, uh, on a lockout. Uh, so I didn't actually, uh, see any basketball games, I think until January, and I'm not exactly sure, but I do remember that's when we acquired George Hill and the, uh, the draft acquired Kawhi Leonard is who we drafted and traded for, uh, George Hill.
So that's probably my, my first major Pacers memory. Uh, you know, hometown, hometown guy. Right? I love 'em right here, you know? Yeah. There we go. Uh, what's your favorite new feature? Favorite feature within Gainbridge Fieldhouse? Uh, our verandas, so, uh, they're, they're kind of a hidden space. They're on the KeyBank, uh, level.
Um, so if you walk on there, they used to be the old, uh, accounting offices. We blew 'em out. That's basically four person tables, uh, counters that you sit at, and it's a private space. There's eight, eight, uh, four person tables in there. It's the most exclusive sort of space in there, but it's also still communal.
If I had to pick a, uh, a space within the building that anybody could get to, I would say, uh, it's the Flight Deck, the end, uh, of the building that has the sort of sports bar feel to it, right across from Chick-fil-A and, um, and Steak 'n Shake, milkshake bar. Um, dude, they're like fancy milkshake thing. I, they're, they're, they're like meals.
Yeah. I guess meals, if you're gonna eat dessert, that, that's, they do some damage there? Yes, they do. Where's your favorite, if you were going to a game as a, as a patron, where would you go before the game? A, a couple Prime 47. Uh, obviously, I'd have to say Commission Row. It's our restaurant, uh, for sure.
But, uh, prime 47 is a great one. And then, you know, when people are coming here, I don't, I don't think you can. Not send them to 1933. Um, you know, I, I love the Elmo Cola, so it's a great place to, to get a drink. Mm-hmm. But I also, um, you know, Coaches Tavern is awesome. I mean, Tin Roof, a few, there's so many places to go.
It just depends. If I'm with my college buddies, we're probably, uh, we're, we're down a level or two. If I'm bringing my wife, we're probably up a level or two. Uh, so it all depends on who you bring, what's, what's the order you get inside the Fieldhouse. You need your snacks, you need your drinks, you need your, where are you visiting as you go across Gainbridge Fieldhouse?
Well, and I'll probably use my wife Ben's Soft Pretzels. You have to stop there first. We, uh, we come in the same way everybody else does. We go right the steps and, uh, we have to Get IN that line. It's, it's like, uh, being at King's Island or something, you know, it's the longest line in the building. Uh, I gotta get Ben's Soft Pretzels.
And then, uh, typically, depending on where I sit. Um, you know, we have a lot of great, uh, Indiana beers and, uh, so I, I typically will grab, um, a, a beer of some kind. Um, usually, uh, an IPA, um, if I'm more as a fan, if I'm at a game, it really just kind of depends, uh, if I'm working so we'll, we'll go see some people and, uh, kind of entertain.
The Courtside Club is an amazing place for. Yeah. I love that. Uh, what's one tradition in Indiana basketball that you love the most? I, I think it's our legacy video, uh, in the beginning. You know, I think that's something that we do a really great job of. I look forward to that every year. Dean Haviland and his team do a great job.
Not necessarily a tradition from, um, a jump around like they do in Wisconsin for football, but, um, you know, I think it's definitely the legacy of, of basketball specific to the Pacers. I mean, I just interviewed Angelo Pizzo. Yeah. He is the screenwriter of Hoosiers and Rudy, and he just talks about like once, like everyone knew about the Milan Indians right.
In 1954 and just like the lore of Indiana basketball. Mm-hmm. And it's pretty cool that you get to write like this current chapter of basketball and the Hoosier State. Yeah. It, it's amazing. I mean, that's the fun part about these teams we're really just stewards of, of the brand and the game. You know, I, I've been here, uh, 15 years and it's really 20% of the franchise, you know, time.
Right. It's, I haven't even, I've been here a blip on the history. So to be a small part of it is, is pretty amazing. Most underrated. Player on the Pacers Nembhard Nembhard Ah, that's a, he's a dog. He, he's incredible. And I mean, I don't even know if he's underrated. I think I maybe underappreciated, but again, I'm, I'm a business guy, not basketball, so I look at it differently.
Yeah. Dream halftime performer for a Pacers game. Boy. Now we're getting into some good ones. Um, you know, I, I grew up, uh, I grew up in that, uh, nineties, uh, rap era. Um, right. So when I was in college, if you look at halftime performers, it's either gonna be the grunge era with your Pearl Jam or you know, this is probably Eminem, Snoop Dogg.
If you wanted to really wanna get the crowd going, wow, that would be pretty sweet. Well, the Beastie Boys would be the best, but it's gonna be hard to get 'em back together, basically. Yeah. They got a lot, a lot of work ahead of you there. Yeah, exactly. Uh, that's like. Man, I, uh, I always love when Red Panda out.
Oh yeah. She's spectacular. Amazing. So good. Um, alright. That was, that was fun. Those are, those are enjoyable. I love it. We come to our final three questions that we ask everyone. Who sits in the chair? Everyone Who comes on the show. Again? You've been around, you've, you've been from Ohio to what? Wisconsin, Texas.
All around Portland. Yeah. Portland. Mm-hmm. So you've talked to a lot of people from all across the country and beyond. Uh, obviously people are always coming through the door. New teams, new players, new this, new that, like, you know, you have their, the opposing teams coming in. What's something that the world needs to know about Indiana?
Because we've been so humble? I think, um, you know, people need to know that this is, is really a, a great place to raise a family. It's a great place if you're young to come here. There's. A lot more, uh, tech and development than you expect. So I, I think if, if I were doing the Chamber of Commerce sort of pitch, I would say that, you know, if you're gonna start your career, uh, this is a great place to do it.
I think, um, it's a place that if you break in, um, it's very, uh, community oriented and relationship. So, um, you're only about a phone call away from someone that you want to meet. Yeah. Um, and I think it's a great place to really start your career. Heck yeah. I love that. Next question, this is your opportunity to enlighten us about one of your favorite things across Hoosier State.
What is a hidden gem in Indiana Triple-A baseball? So, you know, the Indianapolis Indians, I think Randy Lewandowski and his staff do a great, great job. I think, you know, when you look at, uh, boom and what we talked about here, there's a lot of commonalities, right? It's, you're, you're not there for the players necessarily, uh, because they come and go.
You're really there for the experience. So, yeah. Um, you know, when I, when I want to go do something that's, um, something that I would enjoy that, that would be a place I would go. Yeah. And it's so interesting, like fan experience. Matters everywhere. Yeah. But especially in like the AAA or the developmental, like all these things.
'cause you're almost like, like for Pacers, like you're, you're not really, like, you might be kind of, it's not even the same season as the Colts like mm-hmm. That's not really the competition. The competition for like the Indians is like, are you going to the Children's Museum or you come to our baseball game?
Yeah. Are you going to a fuel game or are you coming to our like, and so it's more of like, how do you create this? Like, I, I would love actually to stand at the door of, of an Indians game and say, what's their record? Mm-hmm. Coming in. Most people would have no clue, no. They're there for the, they're there for $2 Tuesday or whatever and hanging out and having fun.
Now I will say, if you're coming up to my neck of the woods, uh, and traveling a little bit north, I would say Crafters Pizza & Drafthouse in, uh, Carmel if you've ever been there. So I know Dugout is great, but Crafters Pizza & Drafthouse is, crafters is phenomenal during, what is it, June? They do, when it's the Tenderloin Trail in Hamilton County, they do their tenderloin pizza.
Mm-hmm. Dude. Mm-hmm. Yep. It's unreal. So that's my hidden gem for, uh, my neighborhood. Oh, it's spectacular. And they have the little Do you have one of the cards? Yeah. Do you have a VIB card? Oh yeah. They gave me a v. You get free, you get chips and dip when you go in there. It's great. I love crafters. Okay.
Final question. Yep. This is where we source different guests and just help people learn more about the, the movers and shakers within the Hoosier State. Who's the Hoosier we need to keep on our radar is someone who's doing big things. You know, I, I think Matt Mindrum, probably the Chamber is a name that's been on your, your, uh, radar, Chris Gahl from, uh, visit Indy.
You know, I think that those, those two are really committed to getting people downtown, you know, in, in sort of the, the sports world. I guess on our staff, we've got a couple people, you know, uh, Shayna Sangster, who's our. Uh, lead marketer on the, uh, the Fever side of things. Um, you know, she's done an amazing job there.
They're crushing. Yeah, absolutely. So I think there's a lot of interesting stories there. Um, you know, and again, I'm, I'm really biased to my staff, so I think anybody on there, uh, probably would be a really great guest and could get very specific if you had a topic. But I, I think there's, there's a lot of great things going on.
Um. You know, and, and I think I'm, I'm very proud to, to play a small part in it, but, uh, it's, it's been amazing. Heck yeah. I love it. Todd, thank you so much for coming on and being a spectacular guest, telling us about the development and everything that, that brought The Noblesville Boom to Noblesville created their name.
Uh, the upcoming season that tips off in November, whatever dates November 8th is our first home game. Where can people buy tickets? Uh, noblesvilleboom.com. Mm-hmm. And you're looking for sponsors, you're looking for season ticket holders? Yeah. We're looking for people that just wanna get involved in the north side.
Yeah. They, there's a 3,500 person arena that we need to start selling out people. That's right. And when naming rights are already covered by you. Yeah. That we'll, we're, go ahead and we'll accept on the rest. Yeah. Just invoice that net 200 and We're good. We're good. It was awesome to learn more about Yeah.
The G League affiliate up in Noblesville and to learn about this phenomenal Pacers run. Like, it's just, it was so fun to be a fan, the city. I just felt like we were constantly in the spotlight. Yeah. And it was ama and we just show up in the spotlight. You talk about. Indy 500. Talk about, you know, obviously the Pacers playoff run, the Fever are kicking off like all of the, it just felt like for that moment in time, like, I don't know, month six weeks.
Yeah. Like Indy was just hot. Well, and we had the WNBA All-Star Game right after that. Yeah. So, I mean, yes, you're right. I think we were the, the epicenter of, of sports and I think that's when's known for and we do, uh, big events really, really well. So I thank you Nate for, uh, having me on and certainly, um, we appreciate that you're a fan of ours.
Heck yeah. Alright. Appreciate all the hard work. Good luck to the Boom. Good luck to the Pacers. Good luck to the Fever. Good luck to our guys. Freddy and Boomer, obviously, you know, they gotta Oh, and, and we stay tuned. Go check out Noblesville Boom, uh, on social media because there's gonna be a mascot reveal soon.
Correct. Yeah, you're not gonna wanna miss that. It's in the Feline family, but we're not sure what the name is yet. Alright. Appreciate you and we'll talk soon. Thanks. Thank you for listening to this episode of Get IN. If you'd like what you heard, make sure you leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Make sure you follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being part of what makes the Hoosier State great. We'll see you next time here on Get IN.
