Pacers Sports & Entertainment owner Herb Simon is bringing Blake Shelton’s music bar venue Ole Red to his burgeoning mixed-use Fieldhouse District, as the organization continues to expand Indianapolis’ market size through data and real estate.
As part of the deal — brokered in-house between Simon’s development arm Boxcar Development and Opry Entertainment Group — OEG will become marketing partners of the Pacers and Fever in conjunction with PS&E’s new Fieldhouse Media Network. Through Converge by Deloitte for Sports’ analytics, the Fieldhouse Media Network will, for example, be able to text or email country music fans visiting Indianapolis to promote the Ole Red bar/restaurant/live music lineup.
The 37,000-square foot Ole Red — which will feature a main dining area, an indoor bar, a covered rooftop bar and two performance stages — becomes another high-end attraction inside Simon’s impending 60-acre entertainment district. A 15-story Ritz Carlton is scheduled to open in 2028, not far from a Live Nation music venue on the corner of Pennsylvania and Georgia Streets. The Ole Red location, on Meridian Street, is projected to open in late 2027.
“Man, the energy in this place is just unreal,” Shelton said of Indianapolis and, specifically, The Fieldhouse district. “Every time I come through, I catch myself thinking up reasons to hang around a little longer. You put a city together that loves sports and country music this much, well, that’s about as good as it gets for me.”
Shelton was scheduled to fly into Indianapolis Wednesday — joined by Colin Reed, executive chairman of OEG’s parent company Ryman Hospitality Properties — for the announcement. They will see a Fieldhouse District that already has broken ground on the Indiana Fever Performance Center.
“Indianapolis is a market we have admired for some time, and we are thrilled to have a like-minded partner who shares our vision and is helping lead the continued evolution of the downtown entertainment district,” said Reed.
Simon’s stated vision has been invest in and around Gainbridge Fieldhouse to create “one of the most bold and ambitious sports-anchored entertainment districts” in the country. As of now, Simon’s team estimates there are 48 sports-centric mixed use projects in the U.S., either completed or in develepment.
“It’s our larger vision of becoming holistic entertainment providers,” said Joey Graziano, PS&E’s Chief Commercial Officer. “While basketball remains the core, expanding beyond that allows us to own music at every single level. From singer-songwriters with Opry Entertainment Group, through what goes on with now this Live Nation venue and performers at Gainbridge [Fieldhouse]. And even all the way to stadium performers at Lucas Oil within basically a four or five block radius.
“Opry Entertainment Group are world class operators, and it’s really to me an extension of the conversation we’ve been having about market expansion. The Fieldhouse Media network is way to be able to do it via data and digital, and the mixed-use entertainment districts are the way to do it with physical real estate. And so I think that’s how these traditionally smaller market teams reimagine themselves.”