Dusty May And Michigan Were The Second-Biggest Winners Behind Indianapolis

Courtesy of a suffocating inside attack on both offense and defense, the Wolverines didn’t blow all of its double-digit lead in the second half Monday night through sloppy play and awful shooting. They survived UConn 69-63 down the stretch of the Final Two inside Lucas Oil Stadium, and just like that, Michigan had a national championship in basketball, not football, which stirs the most emotions around Ann Arbor.

For verification, “The Victors” was composed in 1898 as the school’s fight song with only blocking and tackling in mind. So the Wolverines winning it all in hoops for only the second time in history was interesting, even fascinating, but not as much as this: Where it happened.

It occurred in the city that went nearly overnight within the last five decades from outsiders calling it “Naptown” and “Indian-no-place” to its real name of “Indianapolis,” while sprinting toward becoming the world’s greatest city at hosting huge sporting events on a consistent basis.

Well, so it seemed for those of us in Indianapolis, not only for this Final Four, but for many of those other national and international events held within these city limits since the early 1980s.

Economists would agree with us. And this goes beyond that 500-mile race which has occurred at the end of May inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway every year since 1911 (except for the two World Wars).

According to the NCAA and the Indiana Sports Corporation, the 2026 Final Four -- combined with the championship basketball games for Division II, Division III and the NIT also in town this weekend -- to bring an economic payout of around $400 million to the Indianapolis area.

That’s the third-highest total in Final Four history.

The 2025 Final Four in San Antonio generated $440 million in revenue while the one the year before in Phoenix was around $429 million.

Now get this: If you go by the last U.S. Census in 2024, Indianapolis was the original little engine that could. Phoenix and San Antonio sat in the top ten in population (fifth at 1,673,164 and seventh at 1,526,656 respectively), but Indianapolis finished 16^th at 891,484.

Yet Indianapolis keeps getting stuff.

And prospering.

“As a kid growing up in Kansas, we always heard about how great Indiana basketball was, how great Illinois basketball is,” said Illinois coach Brad Underwood, speaking to me and other reporters during one of the Final Four press conferences this weekend. His Illini were eliminated Saturday by UConn during the semifinals, and Michigan routed Arizona in the other one.

“I've said this is one of the great venues for the Final Four,” Underwood continued. “Every single year, obviously the NCAA is housed here, but as long as I can remember, these have always been an incredible environment for the Final Four, the proximity, everything is downtown, the venues, all of it play hand in hand. But you've got very knowledgeable fans. You've got passionate fans. It just makes for one of the great, great events in all of the sporting world is right here in the heart of America in the great city of Indianapolis.”

And it began in 1980, when the first Final Four rolled into Indianapolis to produce what the Indianapolis Star reported at the time was $7 million to $8 million in economic impact to the community.

Let’s see.

So $400 million now and $7 million to $8 million then.

The little engine evolved into a sleek jet. It eventually soared as a rocket ship toward sports universes unknown for cities the size of Indianapolis and climates more famous for snow than sunshine.

For one, that 1980 Final Four accelerated the role of the Indiana Sports Corporation after its formation during December of 1979, and that coincided with the first of four mayoral terms for William Hudnut.

Prior to Hudnut’s reign, Indianapolis mayors had a two-term limit of four years each, but he and the Indiana Sports Corporation were so brilliant in selling the glory of the city to others through athletic events that the state legislature passed what was called “The Hudnut Forever” bill.

It made sense. Two years after the 1980 Final Four, Indianapolis began its push toward fame by declaring itself as the Amateur Sports Capital of the World, and Hudnut and the Indiana Sports Corporation brought the National Sports Festival IV to town in July 1982. It drew a record 250,00 spectators to see 2,600 US athletes compete in 33 different sports.

Weeks before that festival, there was Shocker No. 1 regarding Indianapolis and sports when construction began on the $75 million Hoosier Dome in May 1982, with the NFL on Hudnut’s mind.

Indianapolis didn’t have a team.

Still, with Hudnut leading the way, UPI reported Indiana taxpayers funded “the bulk of the project through a 1% food and beverage tax in Marion County to pay off $47.25 million in revenue bonds.” The wire service said the rest of the project was “financed with private donations, including $25 million from Lilly Endowment and $5 million from the Krannert Charitable Trust.”

Then came Shocker No. 2 regarding Indianapolis and sports: The city had an NFL team out of nowhere in July 1984 when the Colts shocked the senses by bolting Baltimore in the middle of the night.

The 10^th Pan American Games followed the Colts to town in August 1987. According to local TV station WRTV, “947,469 fans attended the games, spending about $9 million on tickets alone. A whopping 38,000 volunteers, 4,000 of which came from out of state, helped facilitate the games.”

Four years later, Indianapolis hosted a second Final Four, and then came nearly everything else in a hurry: Seven more Final Fours; at least 500 national championship events, including a world swimming championship; the NBA All-Star game; the headquarters for the NCAA moving from its longtime home of Kansas City and the National Federation of State High School Associations; and four national governing bodies for amateur sports.

There were world-class facilities built, ranging from a track and field stadium to a velodrome to a natatorium.

In 1996, the Triple A Indians formed a partnership with the City of Indianapolis to raise $18 million for a new downtown ballpark.

In 1999, Gainbridge Fieldhouse (originally Conseco Fieldhouse) was built for $183 million. Then in April 2019, it became part of a downtown plaza through a $360 million renovation and expansion project with the Capital Improvement Board and the Indiana Pacers, the primary tenants of the arena.

Among the biggest gamechangers for Indianapolis was the opening of Lucas Oil Stadium in August 2008. According to the Indiana Economic Digest, “the Colts paid $100 million while taxpayers put up $619.6 million in public funding, or 86% of the total.” Those who complained had their grumbling go a shout to a whisper after Indianapolis got the 2012 Super Bowl and hosted four of those nine Finals Fours, including Michigan’s latest national title in basketball.

“This is the first time I’ve been with a group that has been truly sacrificial, and we were about each other,” Wolverines coach Dusty May told me and other reporters after his victory over UConn. He finished his second season at Michigan, but he grew up in Bloomfield, Indiana, 81 miles southwest of Indianapolis.

May also graduated from Indiana University, which is 56 miles south of Indianapolis. He also was a student manager for the Hoosiers basketball team before he joined his alma mater later as an assistant coach.

So this Final Four was all about Indiana.

OK, Michigan, too.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com