‘This is what we live for’: PS&E CEO Mel Raines shares excitement, impact of NBA Finals
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder are bouncing into Gainbridge Fieldhouse this week for games 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals.
Watch parties and excitement surrounding the team’s first Finals appearance since 2000 are providing a slam dunk for local restaurants and bars.
“For our staff and our team, this is what we live for. There’s no better time to be a basketball fan in Indiana than right now,” Pacers Sports and Entertainment CEO Mel Raines said during an interview with Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick. “A lot of our staff weren’t born the last time this happened in the year 2000, and so I’m hoping everybody takes a minute to reflect on how important this is. We’re growing a new generation of fans and we’re reinvigorating our fan base.”
Todd Taylor, PS&E’s president of business operations, told the Indianapolis Business Journal a “tremendous” retail surge has the Pacers looking for employees to help package and label orders for shipment.
Raines says while she hopes another championship run is in the team’s future, the organization is seizing this moment as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Since this is the Pacers’ first return to the Finals in 25 years, most PS&E employees are experiencing the men’s championship series for the first time. The Indiana Fever reached the WNBA Finals in 2009 and 2015 and won the title in 2012.
The team’s success is also generating national exposure for the Circle City.
“I certainly think when I turn on the news right now, the words Indiana Pacers [and] Indianapolis is being said, hundreds, thousands of times a day,” Raines said. “Ninety percent of America lives in a city smaller than Indianapolis or Oklahoma City. We’re big cities to most Americans, and I think people are excited to see these two teams who play great basketball face each other.”
“We certainly want to make sure that we maintain our good Hoosier nature” while in the national spotlight,” Taylor said, “but we also want to take advantage of all opportunities that we have [coming] our way.”
Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday and Game 4 is scheduled for Friday, with both games starting at 8:30 p.m. EST.
The excitement over the Pacers is being complemented by the Indiana Fever season, despite a recent injury to star player Caitlin Clark.
Indianapolis will host the WNBA All-Star Game July 17-19. There will be a three-day fan festival at the Indiana Convention Center, the skills challenge and 3-point contest on July 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and the game on July 19. A concert billed as “Fever Fest” at Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park is also scheduled for July 19.
IBJ reporters Dave Lindquist and Mickey Shuey contributed to this story.