Pacers Sports & Entertainment formally breaks ground on world-class, $78M Indiana Fever Sports Performance Center

Thu, Sep 4, 2025, 1:14 PM
Indiana Fever Sports Performance Center groundbreaking

INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 4, 2025) – Pacers Sports & Entertainment, alongside the Indiana Fever and local leaders, officially broke ground today on the landmark $78 million Indiana Fever Sports Performance Center, a world-class facility featuring state-of-the-art amenities designed exclusively for female athletes.

The 108,000-square-foot, three-story center, set to open ahead of the 2027 WNBA season, will be located in downtown Indianapolis, and connect to Gainbridge Fieldhouse via skybridge. Amenities will include premier spaces for performance and conditioning, recovery and rehabilitation, and mental health and wellness along with lifestyle support.

“We are excited to create a performance center specifically for our elite female players that gives them the resources to thrive on and off the court,” said Mel Raines, CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment. “We are also especially grateful to the city of Indianapolis for its partnership and leadership in helping bring this vision to life.”

The facility will have best-in-class amenities including two regulation-sized courts with natural light, strength and conditioning equipment, yoga and Pilates area, hydration station and full-service kitchen. To help players recover and recharge, the facility will offer a spa-like retreat with massage, infrared light therapy, sauna, steam, heat studios, and multiple hydrotherapy pools. The team will also have a private outdoor courtyard and mental performance spaces. The center will boast a hair and nail salon, childcare space, and podcast and content production studio.

“What we’re celebrating today is the beginning of something transformational, an exclusive facility built specifically to support our players at every level, both professionally and personally,” said Kelly Krauskopf, president of the Indiana Fever. “The Indiana Fever have always been proud to call Indianapolis home and as we break ground, we’re building upon our city and organization’s commitment to being a global leader in women’s sports.”

The center will offer exclusive fan experiences in the Hall of Excellence, which will honor the team’s history, and a Fever team store with exciting and unique merchandise opportunities.

“Today’s groundbreaking marks the transformation of a piece of prime, downtown real estate into a state-of-the-art facility that will bolster our thriving sports economy and support our talented Indiana Fever players,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett. “Developments like these are solidifying Indianapolis as a world-class sports city and a true destination for women’s sports.”

Currently, the team’s dedicated practice court and training area, which were renovated in 2020, are located within Gainbridge Fieldhouse and considered among the top facilities in the WNBA.An affiliate of PS&E is constructing the facility on the west half of the former Marion County Jail site, located at the corner of Delaware and Maryland streets. The city of Indianapolis made an intergovernmental land transfer to the Capitol Improvement Board of Marion County, which entered into an operating agreement with the PS&E affiliate. The facility will be donated to the CIB at the conclusion of the term of the operating agreement. The Indiana Pacers and Indianapolis Colts practice facilities are also located on land owned by the CIB.

Construction will be led by Shiel Sexton and the architect of record is Populous, a global design firm known for being at the forefront of innovation and leading the charge in women’s professional sports.