Indians baseball contributes to downtown Indianapolis’ economic growth

Indianapolis, Indiana – Baseball returning to Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis may be the best sign of spring.

The Memphis Tigers will host the Indianapolis Indians this week, but they will return to the Circle City on Tuesday, April 25.

Consider the triple threat of sensory stimulation you experience while entering a stadium. You are bombarded by the sights, sounds, and smells faster than a four-seam fastball. Fans can have a lot of fun watching all that action, and there are also plenty of job opportunities.

At full capacity, Victory Field needs between 250 and 300 people to truly come alive on game day, according to Indiana brass. That’s a lot of labor, especially when you consider how many games are played at the park each season. The Indians’ attendance targets set for each season are arguably even more outstanding.

The more spectators who attend, according to Indianapolis Indians President & General Manager Randy Lewandowski, the better it is for the city center.

“Our goal is to do 550 or 600-thousand fans every year. And that’s really what we want to do is drive people downtown and make Victory Field the best community gathering place that we can,” Lewandowski said. “When you head downtown it helps stimulate the local economy. You’re likely going to grab dinner or drinks in the city after or before the game.

“Our job as the Indianapolis Indians is to provide that rite of passage for spring leading into summer. We got an early glimpse of that here with some great weather early in April, but really it’s our opportunity to bring the southwest part of downtown alive — to bring a lot of folks downtown from April, all the way through September.”

Since everyone has already adjusted to life after the pandemic, the Indians’ management announced that player signing sessions will resume in May. Speaking of May, an Indy 500 night will be held there on April 29 and a youth clinic featuring players will take place on May 31.

“Promotions is really what helps drive us and what separates us I think from a lot of the other teams in town. Because we need to build it around the experience and the memories of Victory Field. The baseball again is important, it’s why we’re here, but to build that memory and experience for kiddos and their families is really what helps drive us,” Lewandowski said. “What we try to do is try to generate excitement with promotions. The baseball’s important, but we also know it’s about Marvel nights, it’s about Friday-night fireworks, Tuesday dollar menu, it’s also those annual and daily and weekly promotions that we want to put out there for our fans.”

There are four upcoming half-price ticket nights, plus every Tuesday home game is dollar menu night, so if you’re trying to ball on a budget, take note.