Susie Townsend, senior vice president of visitor experience for Visit Indy, worked inside the men’s NCAA basketball tournament bubble in Indianapolis. 

The final game has been played in Indy. If you missed it, the Baylor Bears beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs in resounding style: 86 to 70.

While the score is important it is not as impressive as some of the final numbers that I want to share with you today. As planners, we always want to look at our results as well as the impact our event had on the community. As hosting this event is one step in Indy’s recovery, I am hopeful that all of you see recovery in your community soon.

The numbers are in.

·       Room nights booked: 44,189

·       COVID tests conducted: 28,311

·       Positive COVID tests: 15 (.05 positivity rate)

·       Number of tournament games played: 66

·       Attendance numbers for all games combined: 175,592

·       Venue capacity for games: Maximum of 22% (venue dependent)

·       Number of venues used: 6

·       March Madness masks distributed: 117,000

·       Read to the Final Four participants: 30,000 (reading competition for third graders through a yearlong reading initiative)

·       Read to the Final Four participating schools: 300

·       Total minutes read: 7.5 million

·       NCAA Final Four Dribble: 3,200 (for youth 18 and under throughout the state)

·       Fan Jam events: 126 (designed to bring fun basketball-themed appearances to the community through pop-up events)

·       Items distributed to community groups: 88,040 (basketballs, backpacks, towels, hats, toiletries, notebooks and supplies distributed to schools, boys and girls clubs and local missions)

·       Local restaurants participating in meal program: 86

·       Meals delivered in controlled environment: 3,553

·       Laundry onsite: 14.2 tons of team laundry (additional 4.4 tons of personal laundry sent to area launderers/dry cleaners)

·       Volunteer shifts: 4,305

·       Volunteers: 832

·       Police escorts for teams: 669

·       Host program total tickets/orders: 553 (aka our own mini Amazon within the bubble, delivering anything and everything to those in controlled environment)

·       Artists hired for the Swish Cultural Arts program: 650

·       Outdoor live performances: 260

·       Yard signs distributed: 1,500

·       Bottles recycled: 50k+

·       Trees planted: 68

Photo: Moms and daughters enjoying one of the Swish performances prior to the NCAA National Championship game. Left to right: Susie Townsend, Hannah Thomas, Becca Townsend, Judith Thomas (deputy mayor, City of Indianapolis).