The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on central cities and downtown areas around the globe.

It’s no different in Indianapolis, but local tourism officials see reason for hope. They already have evidence that the city’s once-booming sports and convention business will bounce back in the coming years

The city lost 306 conventions and events in 2020 and 2021 between March 17 and Aug. 19, according to Visit Indy, the sales and marketing arm for the city of Indianapolis. That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good: Officials said decades of relationship-building have allowed them to re-book critical revenue-driving conventions as early as 2022. 

“Indianapolis’ brand as a sports-minded city, which has hosted so many major sporting events, gives everyone the confidence, peace of mind and flexibility to think outside the bubble, if you will,” said Chris Gahl, senior vice president of marketing and communications at Visit Indy.

‘That felt normal’

Such an example occurred over the past 40 days or so.

Indianapolis hosted 18 conventions or events, bringing in 40,000 visitors. Most of those were for five hastily arranged youth basketball tournaments at the Indiana Convention Center, Gahl said.

Those tournaments were supposed to be at Chicago’s McCormick Place. When Illinois reopening rules made that impossible, organizers asked Indianapolis on short notice if it could accommodate them.

“We said, ‘Absolutely,’” Gahl said.

When the Marion County Public Health Department granted approval, teams in the five tourneys were spread out on courts set up in the convention center. Masks were required of the 250 spectators allowed for each game, and there was basketball downtown again.

“That felt good. That felt normal,” Gahl said.

And it’s not just the sports teams. 

GenCon, North America’s largest tabletop gaming convention, was supposed to convene each summer in Indianapolis through 2025. As part of the agreement to cancel this year’s event, GenCon organizers agreed to stay in Indianapolis for an additional year — through 2026. 

And the FFA National Convention & Expo, which draws as many as 70,000 to the Circle City area, agreed to hold its convention in Indianapolis through 2033 after canceling this year. Its original contract had been through 2031.

Lost economic impact

The loss of convention and sporting business has a significant negative economic impact on the city. Visitors stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, shop in stores and spend money during the entire duration of their visit.

Visit Indy estimates nearly $542 million in economic impact lost because of the event cancellations directly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And that translates to real hardships for a lot of people.

About 83,000 local workers depend on tourism for income, and 40,000 are unemployed, according to Visit Indy. Downtown hotel occupancy rates have dwindled, from 76.3% in March of 2019 to 28.5% for the same period this year, according to research and data company STR.

“There’s also a deflated feeling with not having visitors in our downtown and in our venues, kind of making us feel that this pandemic is winning,” Gahl said.

Funds for downtown improvements

As downtown Indianapolis’ streets remain empty, local businesses have grown frustrated.

The city last week announced $750,000 for safety efforts pulled from the downtown tax increment finance district, which is comprised of existing property tax revenues from the downtown area.

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The efforts include the installation of two security cameras at up to 150 properties. The cameras, known as b-link cameras, are linked to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s monitoring system. Another two mobile camera units will be deployed in crime hot spots.

More than 25 businesses inquired about the initiative in just a week, according to Downtown Indy.

Looking ahead: Rescheduled events and 2021

In basketball alone, canceled events include the men’s Big Ten tournament, a NCAA men’s regional, plus high school championship games.

In aquatic sports, the lineup was to have included men’s NCAA swimming, a water polo Intercontinental Cup, a pro swim meet, diving’s U.S. Olympic Trials, and the USA Swimming Invitational (combining former U.S. Open and junior nationals).

And questions remain about the biggest basketball games that are supposed to be in Indianapolis in 2021: the NBA All-Star Game and the NCAA Final Four.

The All-Star Game, scheduled for Feb. 14, is unlikely to go on as originally scheduled, according to Indiana Pacers president Rick Fuson.

The NBA shut down the season March 11, then reconvened July 30 at the Disney World complex in Florida for regular season and playoffs.

Next season was already going to be pushed back to December, and now it might start even later.

The economic impact of the All-Star game was to be about $100 million.

As for the 2021 NCAA tournament, colleges are proceeding as if it will happen. Final Four dates are slated for April 3-5 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Ryan Vaughn, president of the Indiana Sports Corp., said in a statement that the NCAA’s planning “continues as scheduled” and that there have been monthly meetings with the local organizing committee since June.

What this Final Four will look like, though, has not yet been determined. Even if there is one, attendance could be limited and fan events eliminated, Pierce said.

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, and NCAA president Mark Emmert have floated the idea of holding the tournament in an NBA-style bubble, including setting up COVID-19 testing protocols.

So it is plausible that all of the Sweet 16 could be dispatched to Indianapolis rather than to four regional sites.

Gahl said the city’s relationship with the NCAA has created confidence that it can adjust to any eventuality. He said Visit Indy has prioritized keeping residents and visitors safe.

“Plans evolve so quickly, and nearly daily,” Gahl said. “It is truly group by group, event by event.”

He said negative economic impact cited through August does not include the Big Ten football championship that won’t be played in December because the conference called off the fall season.

That is another eight-figure loss and absence of 100,000 visitors, Gahl said.

The Big Ten intends to play a spring schedule, and Lucas Oil is among domed stadiums proposed for eight regular-season games that could start in January.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Friday reported there is another proposal for a Big Ten season beginning in Thanksgiving week.

The Olympic diving trials have already been rescheduled for June 6-13 at the Natatorium at IUPUI.

After the 2021 season, the College Football Championship is set for Jan. 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil. And Indianapolis is bidding for the 2024 Olympic swimming trials held in temporary pools inside Lucas Oil.

Bottom line: Indianapolis is banking on its reputation to remain a sports destination after all this ends.

That legacy, Gahl said, has “gone a long way to making us healthier than other major cities in this pandemic.”

IndyStar staff writer Amelia Pak-Harvey contributed to this report.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.