Excited fans lined up hours before tickets went on sale Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Fever will play their first home playoff game there since 2016.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever postseason basketball will return to Indianapolis for the first time in nearly a decade.
The Fever will play the Atlanta Dream in the first round of the playoffs. Game 1 tips off on Sunday in Atlanta before returning home for Game 2 on Tuesday.
Excited fans lined up hours before tickets went on sale Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Fever will play their first home playoff game there since 2016.
Tickets were available online and at the box office starting at 2 p.m. on Friday.
Carl Robbins came from Lewisville and got to Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 11 a.m. on Friday. It was Robbins’ birthday and the tickets for him and his son were a present. He explained what it would mean for him to be at the game.
“It’s very special to me,” Robbins said. “What Caitlin’s done for this industry is just amazing. She’s a gift from heaven, that’s for sure.”
Fever star Caitlin Clark is one of multiple Fever players out for the season from injury. Robbins said he is confident with who will still be on the court and looks forward to a potential WNBA championship.
“I want to get down as low as I can,” Robbins said. “So yeah, I’m happy to wait the three hours.”
Pacers Sports & Entertainment said there is a lot of excitement and hope for the Fever — just like during the Indiana Pacers’ playoff run this spring. Playoff merchandise is out and ready for fans to gear up, and they expect the same lines seen during Pacers’ playoff games.
“I know our fans are going to show up; they’re going to be incredibly supportive of this team — as they have all year long. The highs and the lows, our fans always stay the same way,” said Joseph Graziano, PS&E executive vice president of strategy and new business ventures.
Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell was named to the AP All-WNBA First Team — a first in her career. She discussed what it means to her ahead of this playoff run.
“You guys know about my dad and losing him in 2024, so it hits home a little bit more different,” Mitchell said. “It’s less about the accolade and more about the pain and all that stuff that I kind of had to go through to get here.”
Graziano added that Tuesday’s home playoff game could be a special moment for fans that supported them all season.
“If we can win that game on Sunday, we go home with the opportunity to clinch on our home court, and I think we’re going to be a very difficult place for an opponent to come in and win,” he said.
There will not be a watch party this Sunday, but the Fever are planning activities for fans on Tuesday in Morris Bicentennial Plaza. It will be a “red out” atmosphere at the home playoff game with shirts given to fans.