How to be prepared and buy tickets TODAY for NBA All-Star Saturday night in Indy
The event will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in 208 days on Feb. 17, 2024. July 24th is the day for locals to obtain tickets — the best chance to attend an event that weekend.
Today is a big day for basketball fans in Indianapolis. This upcoming NBA season, Indianapolis will host All-Star Weekend for just the second time — and for the first time since 1985.
Back then, the All-Star game was held at the Hoosier Dome. But come Feb. 18, 2024, the 73rd NBA All-Star game will be held inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers, for the game’s very best players.
Being at The Fieldhouse also means a significant reduction in seats available compared to ‘85. There will be less than half of the 43,000-plus who saw the Western Conference come out on top and Ralph Sampson voted All-Star MVP.
Although The Fieldhouse has a new sellout attendance number of 17,274 — a mark they hit seven times during the 2022-23 season — it will be fewer than that when factoring in one baseline designated for entertainment and introductions, plus a TV set for TNT and thousands of national and international media.
So why is Monday, July 24th so important for locals?
It’s when tickets to All-Star Saturday night, which will be held over at Lucas Oil Stadium on Feb. 17, become available for Indiana residents. Yes, 208 days out.
July 24th for NBA All-Star Saturday night 2024.
“This allows us to make this All-Star weekend accessible and community centric,” said Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO Rick Fuson. “We have promised this from the beginning that we want people from all over our state to be able to come here.”
What You Need To Know And How To Act
🕑 So … at 2:00 p.m. ET, tickets go on sale.
2 p.m. Got it?
🎟️ Ticketmaster is the primary option, but if you’re near downtown, I’d recommend going to the box office on the southeast corner of Lucas Oil Stadium. It will also help you save on those ridiculous Ticketmaster fees.
The first allotment of 10,500 tickets are for Indiana residents only — a maximum of 8 per order — who want to attend the festivities on Saturday night, which includes the skills challenge, 3-point and slam dunk contests. Considering the lack of competitiveness and hard play in recent All-Star games, Saturday night is likely to be more entertaining.
Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton says he’ll compete in the 3-point contest again if the NBA will have him and that means Buddy Hield, the uber competitor that he is, may possibly as well.
💵 Not only are tickets available for local Pacers and basketball fans alike, but they’re affordable: ranging from $24 to $49 and $79.
(Click here to learn more about Indy’s plan)
That is significant and noteworthy because Saturday night tickets this past February, in Salt Lake City, were only obtainable as part of a larger package and seemed to start at more than $1,000.
Already, the NBA is selling fan experiences for the entire weekend and you better be ready to spend BIG money. The cheapest I’m seeing is for $3,899, which includes a hotel room for three nights, going all the way up to $20,000.
Seriously.
Just another way Indy is different and setting a new standard for future hosts.
Take a look at the seating chart below:
They’re planning to host about 35,000 fans in all for Saturday night alone.
The host committee will be purchasing the first 2,400 tickets to be distributed to local non-profits and community organizations.
“We’re gonna make it the best All-Star Weekend ever,” said team co-owner Steve Simon, “But not only that, how can we make it as community impacting, as sustainable and invite the public to be with us? And so can we do it, can we make it affordable, can we make it some differentiated? I think we’re gonna wow you guys and show that we can do that.”
Indy was supposed to host this spectacular weekend, which will reach fans in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages on all media platforms, back in 2021. But then the pandemic happened so Indy’s weekend was postponed to 2024.
“I’m thrilled that we were able to reschedule that Covid All-Star Game to Indianapolis,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in February at the most recent All-Star game. “… And, as I love about our teams, seeing if they can up it yet another notch when we get to Indianapolis. So I’m already looking forward to it.”
Again, this first allotment goes on sale at 2 p.m. and is for residents statewide only.
It’s going to be a great time next February. I hope you can attend.
Great idea ruined by scalpers. Needed to be more limitations. Possibly even requiring in person purchase with Indiana ID
Good luck to whoever scored some. Got through and was able to order at 2:02. Only thing available was nose bleeds. Rather watch on TV than sit up there. Doesn’t seem right that was only available within 2 minutes.