USA Track & Field revealed on Tuesday that the 2027 and 2028 editions of its indoor national championships will be held in Indianapolis after two years in New York and returning to the organization’s home state of Indiana.
The championships will be staged at the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which has quickly emerged as a premier indoor track and field destination since the new facility was built and opened on the site in 2024.
Next year’s event will be held from 19 to 21, 2027 and the 2028 championships on February 18 to 20 of that year. The championships pivot from New York’s Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island as the 2027 event will help mark the 40th anniversary of the first IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis in 1987.
“We are excited to bring the USATF Indoor Championships back to Indianapolis for the next two years and, in doing so, return to a place that holds such an important place in our sport’s history,” USATF CEO Max Siegel said. “Indianapolis is home to USA Track & Field, so bringing our national indoor championship to our own backyard makes this especially meaningful for our organization. The first World Indoor Championships were held here in 1987, and the Indiana State Fairgrounds has continued to be a great home for track and field.”
Aside from being closer to USATF’s headquarters in its home city, the next two years of indoor championships in Indianapolis will give the track and field community a glimpse of a venue that is set to establish itself on the national stage.
Meanwhile, Indiana Sports Corp will partner with USATF and serve as the local organizing committee for both years and be tasked with ensuring that the site will provide a quality fan experience and meet the needs of athletes, coaches and support staff.
The Indiana State Fairgrounds has hosted large-scale events since opening in 1892 and is the permanent home of the Indiana State Fair with over one million square feet of indoor event and exhibit space across 20 venues. By 1990, the site’s pavilions, exposition hall and coliseum helped it transition from a seasonal fair spot to an all-year destination that began hosting trade shows, concerts, conventions and sporting events.
A major construction project saw the longtime Swine Barn relocated and its previous location demolished in 2022 and rebuilt into a world class track facility and office space that opened two years later as Fall Creek Pavilion.
“Bringing the USATF Indoor Championships to the Indiana State Fairgrounds is a major moment for our venue and for the future of indoor track and field in Indianapolis,” LeRoy Lewis III, director of community and media engagement for the fairgrounds said. “We’ve built the Fall Creek Pavilion to compete on the national stage, and now the nation’s best athletes will compete here.”
