Indianapolis showcases its rich sports culture as it prepares to host Super Bowl XLVI.
By Jill Jaracz

Staring down the tunnel, you can see the field straight ahead and can almost imagine the cheers of the crowd as you race out onto the turf. For a few seconds, you’re a Super Bowl player.

Headline: A rendering of Super Bowl Village, an entertainment venue for fans to gather during Super Bowl week and beyond. Above: More than 100 years of racing tradition is presented at the IMS Hall of Fame Museum. Below: Lucas Oil Stadium, a rockin’ place during a Colts game, will no doubt erupt for Super Bowl, the sporting world’s biggest event. Indianapolis CVB photos

This experience isn’t reserved just for the pros. It can be yours when you visit Indianapolis, a city that’s become a destination for all types of sports fans. That designation will be apparent this February (Feb. 5) as all eyes will be on Indianapolis as it hosts the Super Bowl XLVI, the biggest sporting event of the year.

Indianapolis has spruced itself up to provide the ultimate fan experience on the biggest football day of the year. According to the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association, the city has invested more than $3 billion in new tourism-related infrastructure over the last three years. In addition to showing off its three-year-old football stadium, the city boasts a new airport terminal, an expanded convention center, and 1,600 new hotel rooms. A series of climate controlled skywalks connect 12 hotels with the Indiana Convention Center and football stadium, meaning many fans won't have to endure the Midwestern winter to get their Super Bowl fix.

Next to the convention center, the city has turned Georgia Street into a pedestrian zone where fans can celebrate the winning team’s victory.

“Georgia Street will transform into the Super Bowl Village, an outdoor fan-gathering space with live music, food, and entertainment. This unique outdoor space is already slated to be utilized well after the Super Bowl, and is an incredible asset making Indianapolis even more walkable and even more visitor friendly,” says Chris Gahl, spokesperson for the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association.

The main attraction of Super Bowl weekend will be Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. For those who don’t have tickets to the big game, the stadium offers tours of the facilities on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The one-hour tour explores parts of the stadium that are off-limits to the public on game day, including the press room and a locker room. The highlight is being able to imagine you’re one of the pros, as you walk through the tunnel and out onto the field, just like the players do on game day.

Keep up the Colt experience by dining at the new Indianapolis Colts Grille on Washington Street, a short walk from the stadium. It serves upscale bar food and local craft beers on tap and has plenty of televisions where you can catch all the games.

More than Just Football

While the Super Bowl may be the event that draws fans to Indy, visitors will discover that the city is more than football; it’s the ideal city for sports lovers. Indianapolis is also home to the Indiana Pacers pro basketball team, the Indianapolis Ice minor league hockey team and the Indianapolis Indians minor league baseball team. However, Indy has other unusual sporting experiences that are worth checking out.

White River State Park, a 250-acre park and museum complex in downtown Indy, features the NCAA Hall of Champions. Here you can enjoy the history of collegiate sports and try your hand at kicking soccer goals and passing footballs in simulators, or shooting hoops in a retro gym. The exhibits include all 23 collegiate sports, allowing you to see great athletes in lesser-known sports, like rowing or fencing, and give you an idea of the equipment involved in participating in those sports. Video exhibits for each sport showcase the best of the best, with video highlights from championship events.

Indianapolis’ sporting tradition can even appeal to the art lover. The National Art Museum of Sport, tucked into a conference center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, commonly known as IUPUI, is one of the largest collections of sport-related art in the country. The 800-piece collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and mixed media covers more than 40 sports and 150 well-known athletes.

Indy’s Other Great Sporting Destination

Of course, a sport-lover’s visit to Indianapolis isn’t complete without a visit to its other famous sporting site, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Home to the world-famous Indianapolis 500 (May 27) and Brickyard 400 (July 26–29) auto races, this track offers a thrill for racing fans. Explore its Hall of Fame Museum, with about 75 cards from all eras of Indy racing, the famous Borg-Warner trophy and other memorabilia from 100 years of automotive sports history in Indianapolis.

For the true fan experience, take a tour of the grounds, offered on select days of the year. Tour guides take you on a mini-bus around the track, stopping at the magical Yard of Bricks at the start/finish line so you can kiss them yourself. The tradition of “kissing the bricks” was started by NASCAR champion Dale Jarrett. After his Brickyard 400 victory in 1996, Jarrett and crew chief Todd Parrott decided to walk out to the start-finish line, kneel and kiss the Yard of Bricks to pay tribute to the fabled history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The tour also takes you into the media center where you can pretend to hold your own press conference and see the view from the press box. Pretend to chug milk while you stand on the victory podium, and enjoy a drive through Gasoline Alley. The one-and-a-half hour tour also includes admission to the museum.

Golf players can stop next door to the Speedway to visit the golf shop at Brickyard Crossing. This golf center is open to the public and has a driving range and 18-hole course, with four of the holes located in the middle of the racetrack. The pro shop opens in February, but golfing season doesn't start up until March.

Which, of course, is a lure to invite you back to Indy for another sporting experience.

Jill Jaracz is a new contributor from Watertown, Mass.