📍 Indianapolis, Indiana
🏀 Home of Butler Bulldogs basketball

Just north of downtown Indianapolis lies one of the most sacred venues in college sports. Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of the Butler Bulldogs, has cemented its place as a basketball mecca and capital of the phenomenon known as Hoosier Hysteria. Also an architectural icon recognized ’round the world, the red brick facade of Indiana’s Basketball Cathedral has been welcoming fans for nearly a hundred years to its hallowed halls.

Christened the Butler Fieldhouse when it opened in 1928, the arena was one of the first new buildings constructed on the recently relocated Butler campus. The university had moved that year to the former site of an amusement park, and both the Fieldhouse and the Butler Bowl next door were quickly erected to act as centerpieces for the new grounds.

In 1966, the gym was renamed the Hinkle Fieldhouse, in honor of three-way coach Tony Hinkle. The Butler legend spent a half century in Indianapolis coaching Bulldog basketball, football and baseball – often simultaneously. Hinkle is known for securing over 1,000 victories while at Butler, and for introducing the orange-colored basketball that’s still in use today.

The unique architecture of the Fieldhouse – featuring a red-brick exterior, window panes that allow in plenty of natural light and an arched steel-truss supported roof – helped the venue achieve National Historic Landmark status in 1987. Hinkle is also on the National Register of Historic Places, acknowledged for helping popularize the sport of basketball in the United States and shaping the design of future college basketball arenas.

The Fieldhouse was the largest basketball venue in the nation until 1950, seating a cool 15,000 before being overhauled in 1989. In order to help preserve the influential arena, a massive renovation and restoration project was completed in 2014, bringing Hinkle into the modern era while also reducing capacity to 9,100.

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In addition to Butler men’s and women’s basketball, Hinkle hosted the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament for decades from the building’s inception until 1971. The 1954 edition of the tourney – dubbed the “Milan Miracle” – featured an upset of powerhouse Muncie Central by the much smaller and less experienced Milan High School team. The stunner served as the inspiration for the 1986 film Hoosiers, based on the fictional Hickory Huskers, and starred the Fieldhouse in several climactic scenes.

Memorabilia from Hoosiers and other remarkable Hinkle moments is on display across the main concourse, with glass cases lining the halls and giving fans a glimpse into the past. A dozen-stop self-guided history tour also features points of interest all throughout the building. Thankfully, the doors to the arena open 90 minutes before tip-off, plenty of time for visitors to see all that Hinkle has to offer.

The steep seating arrangements at the Fieldhouse provide unobstructed views of the court all around, creating an open and cavernous environment. Old wooden bleachers in the end zone harken back to the glory days, while ramps in each corner add to the arena’s character.

The arena’s uniqueness carries through to the gameday experience. A Hinkle tradition, Back Home Again in Indiana is sung at the start of every game just before the national anthem. In an arena full of proud Hoosiers – not the IU kind – the reverence afforded to the Star-Spangled Banner is likewise extended to the unofficial state song, with fans on their feet and silent as the melancholy chords ring out.

The Bulldogs began competing all the way back in 1896 and rose to become one of the best teams in the mid-majors through their unique style of play known as The Butler Way, a concept that pushed them to two consecutive National Championship games. After moving up to the high-major Big East in 2013, Butler has continued to succeed and hold their own. To this day, facing off against every fierce competitor that comes into the historic Fieldhouse, the Bulldogs never fail to create that special Hinkle magic. ✨