INDIANAPOLIS — Last year, news hit that Indianapolis would host the entire March Madness tournament. Many wondered how the city would pull it off, with 68 teams in the middle of a pandemic.
“It was definitely the craziest 70 days of my professional life,” said Ryan Vaughn, president of Indiana Sports Corp.
At the same time, a documentary crew was already highlighting the work of Indiana Sports Corp. and its more than 40-year impact. Now, they also had the chance to document history.
“The rest of it became an opportunity to pivot the documentary a little bit and split it to half history, half kind of behind the scenes of March Madness and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our city,” Vaughn said.
The documentary crew was able to capture behind the scenes how the city, state and thousands of volunteers made it possible.
“One thing about this community that’s really awesome and really distinguishes us from our competition is we have this sense of collaboration,” Vaughn said. “We have a can-do attitude. We all work really well together outside these opportunities, so I knew we could do it, but it was going to be a lot of work, for sure.”
The more than 80-minute documentary also gives a look back on the sports corporation’s history and the more than 500 national and international events they’ve hosted.
“At its core, it’s a story of civic engagement and civic pride and what we can accomplish when we work together toward a common goal,” Vaughn said.
This year, the tournament will look different, with more fans and fewer restrictions, but Vaughn said the same amount of work will go into it.
“It definitely feels like we are back to normal. We are rocking and rolling with full stands and cheering fans,” Vaughn said.
To watch the documentary, use this link to fill out a form.
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