Bankers Life Fieldhouse is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown
Indianapolis,
Indiana,
United States. Opened in November 1999 as Conseco Fieldhouse to replace Market Square Arena, it is home to the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League also plays select games each year at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The venue also hosts indoor concerts, college basketball games (including the annual Big Ten Conference tournaments) and many other events.
Its moniker is a result of the naming rights to the venue being sold to Conseco, a financial services organization based in nearby
Carmel, Indiana. In May 2010, that company renamed itself as CNO Financial Group, but the Conseco name was retained by the Fieldhouse. In December of 2011, CNO Financial Group changed the name of the Fieldhouse to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, based off one of their subsidiaries, Bankers Life and Casualty.
Events:
The first event held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was on November 6, 1999, when the Indiana Pacers played their regular-season home opener against the Boston Celtics. Later that same season, the Pacers made it to the 2000 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Three games of that championship series were held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but the Pacers ended up losing that season's title 4 games to 2. In 2009, Bankers Life Fieldhouse again was the site of a professional championship series, this time the 2009 WNBA Finals. The Indiana Fever took on the Phoenix Mercury for games three and four of that series in front of sold-out crowds of 18,165 basketball fans.
Awards and Recognitions:
In 2005, 2006, and 2007, Bankers Life Fieldhouse was ranked the No. 1 venue in the NBA according to the Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily Reader Survey. In 2006 The Ultimate Sports Road Trip reaffirmed Bankers Life Fieldhouse as the best venue in all 4 of the major sports leagues. "The Ultimate Sports Road Trip has recently concluded a re-scoring and re-evaluation of all 122 franchises in the four major sports, based on our personal visits to each of the teams in a journey that began in 1998. Based on our criteria, Bankers Life Fieldhouse has once again withstood scrutiny to be named the "best of the best" in the four major sports.
