NCAA Final Four in Atlanta

This year, as every Gator is well aware, the NCAA 2007 Final Four will be hosted in Atlanta, GA. After getting a chance to speak with the president of Indiana Sports Corporation this weekend, I learned that about 20 staff members of ISC will head to Atlanta for the games. ISC hosted the Final Four last year in Indianapolis when the Florida Gators won the National Championship. This year, ISC's representatives will interact with current and potential corporate sponsors at the Final Four tournament to get money to host Big Ten Men's Championships next year. The 2008 Big Ten Men's Championships will be held in Indianapolis from March 13-16. More information about Final Four news, tickets, the Georgia Dome and the NCAA can be found at the Final Four 2007 Web site.

The bracket is officially set for the 2007 Big Ten Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis March 1-5. The tournament will be presented by XBOX 300 at Conseco Fieldhouse. This year, Ohio State will enter the tournament as the number one seed for the record-breaking third straight year in a row. The number two seed will be Purdue, number three will be Michigan State and the fourth seed will be Illinois. The rest of line up is as follows:

5th seed: Penn State, 6th seed: Minnesota, 7th seed: Wisconsin, 8th seed: Iowa, 9th seed: Indiana, 10th seed: Michigan and 11th seed: Northwestern

The 2006 tournament's attendance of more than 38,000 was record-breaking last year. Tickets for the tournament can be found at http://www.ticketmaster.com/, and a complete line up of the bracket includeing a list of teams, times, dates and television stations can be found at the ISC Web site, http://www.indianasportscorp.com/.

Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament events in March 2007

In a press release posted on the Indiana Sports Corporation Web site, the Big Ten Conference announced it will hold its second annual "Talk of the Town" on the off day of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, March 3. The event is co-hosted by ISC, and was popular last year with more than 300 people in attendance, including several media outlets.

"Talk of the Town" will be held downtown in the Indianapolis Artsgarden, and it is an afternoon gathering of selected players and coaches from the four tournament semifinalist teams. Coaches will be available to answer questions from guests and the media, and players will be available for autographs. Former players from past Big Ten Conferences will be present.

The "Talk of the Town" is just one event during the week of the tournament (March 1-5), including Championship Game Pep Rallies in Indianapolis, a pavilion set up with Big Ten basketball memorabilia and a free girls basketball clinic.

This will be the 12th year out of 13 that Indianapolis will host the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament.

The Indiana Sports Corporation has many patrons, such as the Indianapolis Colts, St. Vincent Sport Medicine Center and the NCAA Headquarters. The NCAA Headquarters are located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, and the organization works with ISC to attract many athletic events to the area including the NCAA Men and Women's Final Four Championships. Because the ISC is a non-profit organization that works with its sponsors to bring events to the Indianapolis region, it is important to follow what is going on with public relations for each of its patrons.

The NCAA just announced a new way to get its news to the public, called the NCAA 3-Minute Drill. The 3-Minute Drill is a 3 minute streaming video that is accessible online through the NCAA Web site. “This gives us a fresh way to provide information about the Association directly to our membership and to the public," said David Pickle, NCAA managing director of publishing. One of the most recent NCAA news headlines was that a number of Division 3 institutions and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association showed support for coaches battling cancer at the games. More headlines can be seen on the 3-minute broadband video. Updates to the NCAA 3-Minute Drill will occur every two weeks.

Week 2

Indianapolis has officially launched a bid to be the host of the 2011 Super Bowl. Indianapolis Colts Owner and CEO, Jim Irsay has pledged to give $1 million to the effort of hosting. "Indianapolis 2011, Inc.," is the formal bid committee that was formed to bring Super Bowl XLV to Lucas Oil Stadium, which opens in 2008. Additionally, the new Indiana Convention Center will open in 2010, and will be important for attracting the event. Super Bowl XLV could bring an estimated $262 million in economic impact to the Indianapolis region, and it will be watched on television by more than 100 million viewers.

For the past seven months, many local organizations including the Indiana Sports Corporation have been working with each other to research other Super Bowls and Indianapolis' ability to host such a huge event. This would not be the first large sporting event brought to the city and worked on by ISC. NCAA Final Fours, the Indianapolis 500 and the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament have all been hosted in Indianapolis with the help of ISC.

To read more information about the bid for the Super Bowl in 2011, the Indiana Sports Corporation has released a press release on its Web site.

Communication Plan

For my public relations writing class, I have chosen the Indiana Sports Corporation as my client. I will be researching ways this non-profit organization has become involved in the Indianapolis community, as well as which high school, collegiate and professional sports teams they are involved with. My goal is to write a plan where ISC is a sponsor for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's "Race For A Cure" in Indianapolis. I am going to think of ways Indianapolis athletic teams can raise money and get the community involved with supporting the breast cancer cause annually.