The Indiana Fever are upping their game for player experience.
The Fever announced Thursday that they are building a new, state-of-the-art $78 million facility for its athletes. It will start construction later this year and be finished ahead of the 2027 season.
“This elite training center is a reflection of our organization’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that our players have the highest level of resources to be successful,” Fever President Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement. “As we look to the future, the focus of creating a first-class player experience designed exclusively for women athletes will set us apart.”
The 108,000 square-foot facility will be constructed at the intersection of Maryland and Alabama Street on the site of the former Marion County Jail. It will also have a skybridge to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for safe access to the arena.
There has been a recent push for dedicated, high-end facilities in the WNBA, especially after the Las Vegas Aces opened their dedicated training facility in 2023 — setting a standard for other teams. Since then, the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury have opened dedicated, state-of-the-art facilities, and the Chicago Sky and Golden State Valkyries have announced plans to build one.
The Fever already have a dedicated training space away from the NBA’s Indiana Pacers within Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which was renovated in 2020, that puts them ahead of teams like the Sky or the Connecticut Sun — who have to share their training facilities with the public. But this training facility will help put them on the map in terms of player experience; multiple top free agents throughout the league have mentioned facilities as factors in what team they choose to play for.
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“Last year, we experienced an unprecedented boom in interest and attention on women’s sports around the world, led in large part by our very own Indiana Fever,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a statement. “Indianapolis is proud to see this significant investment from Pacers Sports & Entertainment drive further momentum in women’s basketball in our community and continue to elevate our status as a major league sports city.”
The new facility will include:
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Two regulation-sized courts
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Strength and conditioning equipment
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Yoga and Pilates area
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Hydration station
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Full-service kitchen
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Retreat with massage, infrared light therapy, sauna, steam, heat studios, float tank, hydrotherapy pools
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Private outdoor courtyard
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Mental performance spaces
The new facility will also have spaces to supplement their players’ lifestyle, including a childcare space, podcast and content production studio, and hair and nail salon. The team will move the Fever’s team store to to the new facility, as well.
“With the goal of Indianapolis becoming the epicenter of women’s sports, this world-class sports performance center will be the preeminent place for players to train, recover and push their boundaries,” PS&E CEO Mel Raines said in a statement. “It’s a game changer in terms of providing the ultimate player experience and we can’t wait for our team to reap the benefits of having an exclusive and unparalleled facility designed specifically for them.”
Pacers Sports and Entertainment will work with architectural firm Populus to build the facility, which is slated to begin in August. The team expects to open the facility ahead of the 2027 WNBA season.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever to build $78 million state-of-the-art training facility
