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. 3 years later they hosted the 2012 WNBA Finals for games 3 & 4, took on & beat the defending champion Minnesota Lynx.
Bankers Life Fieldhouse is a host venue for many different events besides home games for the Pacers and Fever. From 2002 to 2007, the venue served as the site of the Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in even numbered years while the tournament was held at the United Center in Chicago in odd numbered years. In 2008, the tournament was moved to Bankers Life Fieldhouse exclusively for five years, through 2012. The arena is also a frequent site of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament. 2012 will mark the 12th time in 13 years that the tournament has been held at the Fieldhouse. On June 5, 2011, the Big Ten Conference announced that beginning in 2013 the location of both of the conference basketball tournaments for the following four years would be alternated between the Chicago area and Indianapolis. Bankers Life Fieldhouse will once again be the site for both men's and women's events in 2014 and 2016. The 2011 NCAA Women's Final Four was also held at the Fieldhouse on April 3 and April 5 of 2011.
The Professional Bull Riders brought its Built Ford Tough Series bull riding tour to the Fieldhouse for the first time in January 2011. It was their second visit to Indianapolis; they first visited Indianapolis during the 2004 season when they held a BFTS event at the RCA Dome. The Fieldhouse was also the site of the WWE pay-per-view events The Great American Bash 2006 and SummerSlam 2008. It has also hosted various episodes of WWE Raw and SmackDown, including the October 8, 2001 episode of Raw in which Steve Austin won the WWE Championship for the sixth and final time. It hosted one of the most anticipated shows of the year, Survivor Series on November 18, 2012.
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Famous quotes containing the word events:
“Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child’s loss of a doll and a king’s loss of a crown are events of the same size.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)