Market Square Arena

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Market Square Arena was an indoor arena located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The arena, completed in 1974 at a cost of $23 million, sat 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey. It was the home of the Indiana Pacers of the ABA and NBA from 1974-1999 and the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA from 1974-1979. It was also the site of the final concert held by Elvis Presley, the 1980 NCAA men's basketball Final Four, and the Midwestern Collegiate Conference men's basketball conference tournament from 1986-1988 and again in 1993. It hosted the 11th WWF In Your House pay-per-view in 1996.

Market Square Arena was demolished on July 8, 2001, in a multimillion dollar implosion.

There is one amusing story surrounding the implosion. One of the more memorable games at Market Square Arena was the men's basketball final of the 1987 Pan American Games, in which Brazil, behind 46 points from legendary gunner Oscar Schmidt, stunned a team of American college stars for the gold medal. Another star on that Brazil team, Marcel Souza, told this story in an AP wire story 15 years after the event:

"Just a few days ago I was recognized at a mall here and they mentioned that game. I told them, 'That loss was so devastating to the United States they destroyed the arena where we played.' " [1]