During Packed Weekend, Van Wagner Covers In-Venue Shows for Championships Across Indianapolis

Eight games across four tournaments will be played in three venues; accommodations were required at NFL's Lucas Oil Stadium

In 49 states, it's just basketball, but this is Indiana. That phrase runs deep in every town in the state, and it sums up the NCAA's larger initiative to host multiple men's championship games in the capital city of Indianapolis. For the semifinals and final of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the national championships in Divisions II and III, and the Men's Final Four in Division I, Van Wagner will produce the in-venue show for eight games in three separate venues across three days.

We're relying a lot on those in-house crews to handle these shows, says Daniel Zerunyan, senior producer, Van Wagner. We're still working with the NCAA to improve these scripts, but we're delivering content for producers that are onsite.

Hoosier State Hoops: Lucas Oil Stadium, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Gainbridge Fieldhouse

With the basketball-crazed state of Indiana ready to crown four champions, the NCAA decided to culminate four tournaments at three Indianapolis venues - Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Colts; Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of Butler University's men's and women's basketball programs, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and WNBA's Indiana Fever - over the weekend. Hinkle Fieldhouse, located north of the city's downtown, hosted two NIT Semifinal games on Thursday.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse will host the NIT Championship game between the University of Tulsa and Auburn University at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 5. The Division II National Championship game with Lander University vs. Gannon University will tip off there at 1 p.m.; the Division III National Championship game pitting University of Mary Washington against Emory University will be at 4:30 p.m.

Van Wagner produced the NIT Semifinal games at Indianapolis's Hinkle Fieldhouse (pictured) and Division II and III Men's Basketball National Championships at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.This isn't the first time the NCAA has hosted multiple national-title games in the same city. Men's tournament finales were played in Atlanta in 2013: the Division II and Division III games at Philips Arena, the Division I game at the Georgia Dome. On the women's side, it has been done twice: Indianapolis's Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in 2016 and Dallas's American Airlines Center in 2023. On the other hand, with the NIT Championship this weekend, this will be the first time that all four games are played in the same city. From an in-venue-show perspective, the logistical logjam is spearheaded by Van Wagner VP, Creative Services, Ryan Kehn.

It's exciting having all of these events happening in the same city on the same weekend, but definitely requires an extra lift and forethought, says Kehn. We're not talking about one motion package that covers the whole scope of events: the semifinals and championship of Division II and III, the NIT, and Men's Final Four all have distinct looks. While there's a cohesive theme across the Lucas Oil Stadium and Gainbridge Fieldhouse packages, there's still nuance to help each venue stand on its own, so there was a lot of thought put into how we can be efficient and not re-invent the wheel between venues while also giving them each their own unique touch.

Each school works with Van Wagner to solidify the content package to be played during its games. With games tipping off soon after the previous one's final buzzer, brackets updating in real time, and an extremely short turnaround time, hitting deadlines and maintaining organization is critical. Different editing techniques and a dash of artificial intelligence has assisted in this process, but assigning dedicated staffers to each project is still the strongest method.

Ross Video's Joshua Weber (middle) and Amber Barnett (right) are part of the team supporting the video displays for the Men's Final Four. It also means dedicated support on the creative side for each phase, continues Kehn. We had four separate teams working on these packages, so making sure that what needs to stay consistent throughout the process is communicated properly and we're not creating extra work for ourselves down the road, is important.

With Zerunyan occupied with the three Men's Final Four games, Van Wagner is relying on a strategy that worked for all rounds of the College Football Playoff: it offered creative support for on-campus productions during first-round games and the neutral-site quarterfinals and semifinals before overseeing the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year's Eve, the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8, and the CFP National Championship on Jan. 19. The same is being executed for the Women's NIT in Huntington, WV and the Women's Final Four in Phoenix.

Home of the Colts: Show Is Tweaked for NFL Venue

At Lucas Oil Stadium, Van Wagner is working inside a building that is busy year-round. This will be the fourth Men's Final Four played there, but, the last time Van Wagner was there, in 2021, the venue had a pandemic-limited audience. A lot has changed since then, but one thing that hasn't is the need to adapt to producing an in-venue show for a basketball game inside a massive football stadium. Different sightlines, additional seating, and a heftier slate of technologies mark the production, but the Van Wagner crew is comfortable with it all.

I think we've gotten used to it, says Zerunyan. We've built a great relationship with the crew at this building over the years and have the expectations and ideas of what needs to go into building out this show.

The rapport has given both crews a better understanding of how each

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/04/03/ncaa-mens-final-four-during-pac...
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