Key Takeaways
- Fishers, Indiana will build a $65 million, 180,000-square-foot fieldhouse with flex space for 10 basketball or 20 volleyball courts.
- The facility becomes the official training base and front-office home for Major League Volleyball’s Indy Ignite, in a 29,000-square-foot footprint.
- Pro Net Sports will run a new girls Indy Hoops Academy and a new AAU boys basketball program out of the venue.
- JD North America, parent of JD and Finish Line, anchors the broader district with a 350,000-square-foot headquarters and 200 new jobs.
- The fieldhouse breaks ground in fall 2026 and is expected to open in late 2027 or early 2028.
A Municipal Investment Aimed at the Tournament Economy
The City of Fishers is putting public money directly into youth sports infrastructure. The $65 million Fishers Fieldhouse anchors the sixth phase of the Fishers District, a $169 million expansion announced June 10 by Mayor Scott Fadness.
The building is sized for volume. With flex space convertible to 10 basketball or 20 volleyball courts, the facility is built to host large multi-court tournaments and draw visiting families from out of market. City officials framed the move as a bid to capture a slice of what the announcement put at a $40 billion youth sports industry.
“Youth sports are part of the fabric of what makes Fishers a great community,” said City-District Athletic Director Jim Self. “The Fishers Fieldhouse builds on our strategy to invest in youth sports to capitalize on the growing industry and bring more opportunities to our athletes.”
Programming Partners Lock In Year-Round Use
A new facility only pays off if it stays full, and Fishers has lined up tenants before breaking ground. Pro Net Sports is expanding into the fieldhouse to launch a girls Indy Hoops Academy and a new AAU boys basketball program, alongside a national tournament schedule.
“With the launch of the girls Indy Hoops Academy and boys AAU basketball programs, this partnership will provide local families with access to a premier, state-of-the-art sports facility close to home,” said Pro Net Sports Founder Matthew Webster.
The volleyball anchor adds credibility. The fieldhouse will serve as the official training and headquarters home for Major League Volleyball’s Indy Ignite, placing the pro franchise’s daily operations a short walk from its home court at the Fishers Events Center. Team president and general manager Mary Kay Huse called the headquarters a critical next step after two seasons and predicted other MLV franchises would follow with similar builds.
A Pro and Youth Sports Hub Wrapped in Mixed-Use Development
The fieldhouse is one piece of a larger live-work-play bet. JD North America will relocate its corporate headquarters to the 350,000-square-foot Link building at 11100 USA Parkway, the former Navient headquarters, bringing more than 400 existing employees and adding roughly 200 jobs over the next few years.
Buckingham Companies, master developer of the expansion, is adding more than 300 class A apartments and townhomes on a 50-acre site next to the Fishers Events Center. Its Contrast | Fishers community will include 167 apartments and 98 townhomes, with groundbreaking in 2026.
The combination matters for operators reading the youth sports map. Fishers is not building a standalone gym. It is positioning courts inside a walkable district with a national retail headquarters, professional sports, housing, and dining, the kind of destination layout that helps justify travel-tournament spend and weekend visitor traffic.
Why the Council Vote and the Track Record Are Worth Watching
The deal still needs approval. Mayor Fadness will present the economic development agreements to the Fishers City Council on June 15, and the city retains claw-back rights if terms are not met.
The track record gives the project weight. Since 2015, Fishers has attracted nearly $3.5 billion in capital investment and more than 11,000 jobs at an average annual wage of $76,000. For youth sports operators and brands, the Fishers model is a clear signal that mid-sized cities increasingly view tournament-grade facilities as economic development tools, not amenities, and are willing to underwrite them at scale.
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