NBA All-Star Game changes add to list of losses for downtown businesses

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Pier 48 on Pennsylvania Street was set to host the NBA for the upcoming All-Star Game in February.

Owner Keith Stucker said he was supposed to head to Los Angeles in two weeks to finalize the details.

“The NBA was going to take over our entire restaurant for a week and it was a big six-figure number that they were going to give to take over. So it’s a material event for us. They were going to broadcast out of here,” he said.

After finding out the NBA canceled its hotel contracts for that weekend in Indianapolis, Stucker is bracing for another year of disappointment.

Indianapolis was set to host the event on Presidents’ Day weekend next year. The league typically purchases large blocks of hotel rooms for All-Star weekend.

“I’m getting numb to it all because it’s yet another thing that’s been taken away from businesses in downtown Indianapolis,” Stucker said.

Stucker said after losing the Big 10 Tournament, NCAA Regional Game and countless other events downtown, he was relying on the All-Star game to help make up for lost revenue from the past several months.

While Stucker understands most of the cancellations are meant to keep people safe, he worries about what will happen to an already struggling downtown.

“The fear of coming into Indianapolis because of the increase in crime and all of those things that have happened, we have a homeless population that’s been growing. We’re trying to figure out how long we are going to weather this whole thing. I don’t know how much longer we can do it,” said Stucker.

News 8 reached out to Visit Indy and Indiana Sports Corp to better understand the economic impact this may have on the city. Both organizations pointed News 8 to the NBA’s statement.