Indy won for Best Sports-Event Host City and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming took home Best Amateur Sports Event.
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Indianapolis took home a pair of honors during the 2024 SportsTravel Awards on Wednesday as Indy won Best Sports-Event Host City, while the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming presented by Lilly claimed Best Amateur Sports Event. The SportsTravel Awards honor the best events, venues, and hosts in the sports-event industry with the awards chosen by fan vote.
2024 has been a legendary year for Indianapolis with the national and international spotlight consistently on the city. Indy has already hosted several marquee events such as NBA All-Star 2024, the NFL Combine, the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, and numerous NCAA championships. Indianapolis continued to raise the bar for hosting mainly through innovation, such as hosting the first opening ceremony for NBA All-Star weekend and building a 66-foot replica Eiffel Tower to anchor its downtown activation for the Olympic Swimming Trials. The 2024 event schedule is not done for Indy, with the 2024 Discover® Big Ten Football Championship Game and the 2024 Indy Classic powered by Sports Tech HQ still to come in December.
The 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials marked the first time that the event was held inside of an NFL stadium at Lucas Oil Stadium and broke numerous attendance and revenue records. On opening night, the meet welcomed a record-breaking 20,689 attendees followed by 17,697 fans setting a new mark for the most-attended prelims session in swimming history. The momentum continued throughout the week, and on Wednesday, June 22, fans pushed the record even higher, with a staggering 22,209 in attendance.
Across all sessions, the meet welcomed over 285,000 fans, more than a 60 percent increase from the previous total attendance record at Swimming Olympic Trials. Record attendance was also seen at fan experiences outside of the meet at Toyota Aqua Zone inside the Indiana Convention Center and USA Swimming Live presented by Purdue University on Georgia Street. Record retail sales inside Toyota Aqua Zone added highlights to the nine-day event in Indianapolis.
For more information and to learn more about upcoming events coming to Indianapolis, please go to IndianaSportsCorp.org.