Indy gears up for Big 10 weekend

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - This weekend, thousands of college football fans are in town for the Big Ten Championship and its giving the city another opportunity to showcase downtown Indianapolis.   

If you love college football, beautiful weather and tailgating, then head downtown Saturday.

The city is rolling out the red carpet for tens of thousands of fans in town to see the Badgers of Wisconsin and the Nebraska Cornhuskers battle for a Big Ten Title and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Georgia street is set up for another day of pre-game festivities. Some 60 to 80,000 fans are expected to flock to the Circle City, bringing with them their much appreciated out of state dollars.  

Some estimated 17 to 20 million dollars could be pumped into our local economy over the weekend. 

Starting at 10 p.m., Georgia Street will be hosting a tailgate party featuring food and beverages, a beer garden and even Indy Cars on display that will last until kickoff. 

If you are looking for family oriented football fun, then head to the Convention Center for the Big Ten Fan Fest.  Activities include pep rallies, marching band performances, autograph sessions, football clinics and more.

Last year, more than 30,000 fans attended Fan Fest. It was the first real test of Georgia street before the Super Bowl. That crowd is expected to grow this year, with attractions extended out onto Georgia Street this year.

There are still plenty tickets available for Saturday’s game.

It has been an uphill battle to sell these tickets. For starters, both Wisconsin and Nebraska had to return some of their 15,000 allotted tickets each for students.           

We don’t know exactly how many of those went unsold, but Stub Hub still had close to a hundred tickets available Saturday morning.

According to the Indiana Sports Corp, half of the available 140 suites are still available. 

Those tickets are a little more expensive, they range between four to 10,000 dollars. 

More than 64,000 attended the game last year at Lucas Oil Stadium