If you just heard that the NBA Cup final is leaving Las Vegas for a 9,100-seat college gym in Indianapolis, you probably have three questions: is this real, why on earth would the NBA do that, and can I actually get a ticket. All three are fair, and all three have real answers.
The NBA has confirmed that the Emirates NBA Cup 2026 Championship will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis. The winner-take-all final is set for Friday, Dec. 11, 2026, and it will stream exclusively on Prime Video. It’s a genuine change of scenery for the event — the first three NBA Cup title games were all played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, a venue nearly twice the size of Hinkle.
Below, we’ll cover why the league picked this particular gym, what’s changed about the road to the championship this year, what makes Hinkle Fieldhouse worth knowing about before tip-off, and — the part most fans actually care about — how ticket access is going to work.
Why the NBA Chose Hinkle Fieldhouse
The league’s stated reasoning comes down to atmosphere and history. Rather than defaulting to a standard NBA arena, the NBA is treating the Cup final as a standalone event that deserves its own identity — one tied to a court with real basketball pedigree rather than a neutral, interchangeable venue.
NBA Head of Global Events Kelly Flatow framed the pick as a way to give the championship a setting that captures the game’s excitement on a stage with genuine history behind it. It’s part of a broader, multiyear approach: instead of parking the Cup final in the same arena every December, the league wants future championships to feel like events tied to a specific place, not just another neutral-site game.
Indianapolis also happens to be on a hot streak as a host city. It staged NBA All-Star Weekend in 2024, the NBA Finals in 2025, and WNBA All-Star Weekend in 2025. Adding the NBA Cup Championship continues that run, even though this particular game is being played at a college fieldhouse rather than the Pacers’ downtown arena.
The venue isn’t the only change this year — the Semifinals now work differently too, though the Championship itself stays a standalone, winner-take-all game at a predetermined site. For the full rundown of how a team actually earns its way to Hinkle Fieldhouse — group play, tiebreakers, and how the bracket is seeded — see our NBA Cup rules and format guide.
Inside Hinkle Fieldhouse: A Basketball Cathedral
Hinkle Fieldhouse isn’t just an old gym the NBA picked for nostalgia points. It’s one of the most historically significant basketball venues in the country, and its story explains why the league is leaning into it as a marketing centerpiece.
The Real “Hoosiers” Connection
Hinkle Fieldhouse hosted the 1954 Indiana high school state championship game that loosely inspired the 1986 film “Hoosiers,” and the movie’s climactic scenes were actually filmed inside the arena. One detail that often gets exaggerated in retellings: the fictional Coach Norman Dale never measured the rim height to prove it matched every other court in the state — that scene was set elsewhere in the story, not built around Hinkle’s own dimensions.
Oscar Robertson and Crispus Attucks
A year after the “Milan Miracle” that inspired Hoosiers, Hinkle Fieldhouse hosted a moment of much larger significance. In 1955, future NBA legend Oscar Robertson led Indianapolis’s Crispus Attucks High School to the Indiana state title, defeating Roosevelt High 97-64 and making Crispus Attucks the first all-Black basketball team in the nation to win a state championship. The team went undefeated the following season and won it again at the same arena.
From Butler Fieldhouse to a National Landmark
The arena opened in 1928 as Butler Fieldhouse and, at 15,000 seats on bleacher benches, was briefly the largest basketball venue in the country. It was renamed in 1965 to honor longtime Butler coach and athletic director Tony Hinkle, who is also credited with helping popularize the now-standard orange basketball after working with Spalding to make the ball more visible to players and fans than the traditional dark brown one. Hinkle Fieldhouse was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1987, and its list of visitors over the decades includes seven U.S. presidents. In its current, renovated form it seats about 9,100 — which matters a lot once you get to the ticket question below.
More recently, the WNBA’s Indiana Fever played a slate of home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse during the 2022 season, so this isn’t the arena’s first taste of professional basketball.
Hinkle Fieldhouse vs. Past NBA Cup Championship Venues
To put the move in perspective, here’s how Hinkle Fieldhouse stacks up against the venue that hosted every previous NBA Cup final, plus the Pacers’ home arena for reference.
| Venue | City | Seating Capacity | NBA Cup Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hinkle Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, IN | ~9,100 | 2026 Championship host |
| T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, NV | ~18,000 | 2023, 2024, 2025 Championship host |
| Gainbridge Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, IN | ~17,900 | Pacers’ home arena (not an NBA Cup host) |
The takeaway is simple: Hinkle seats roughly half as many fans as T-Mobile Arena did for the first three championships. That’s a deliberate trade-off — the NBA is prioritizing atmosphere and history over maximum capacity for this one-off game.
How to Get Tickets for the 2026 NBA Cup Championship
Because Hinkle Fieldhouse is a smaller venue than any previous NBA Cup final site, ticket access is going to be tighter than it was in Las Vegas. Here’s how the process is currently structured:
- General public tickets: Sales open to the public this fall. Fans can register interest ahead of time through the NBA’s official events site, which is the standard first step before general on-sale tickets become available.
- Premium and hospitality packages: A separate, higher-tier option covering premium seating, VIP access, and hospitality experiences is already available for purchase directly through the league’s event marketplace, ahead of the general public sale.
Reality check: With only about 9,100 seats — roughly half the capacity of the arenas that hosted the first three NBA Cup finals — expect general public tickets to move quickly once the fall on-sale opens. Registering interest early is the closest thing to a guarantee right now.
What Else Is Happening on Butler’s Campus
The NBA has said the championship will come with expanded basketball programming across Butler’s campus in the lead-up to tip-off, turning the day into more than just the single game itself. Specific event details typically get announced closer to the date, so this is one to watch as December approaches.
Of course, none of this happens without a team actually earning its way to Hinkle Fieldhouse first. That road runs through group play all season — you can see exactly which teams landed in which group for 2026 before the knockout rounds even begin.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many seats does Hinkle Fieldhouse have?
Approximately 9,100 in its current, renovated configuration — about half the capacity of T-Mobile Arena, which hosted the first three NBA Cup finals.
Why did the NBA pick a college fieldhouse instead of a normal arena?
The league wants the championship tied to a venue with real basketball history rather than a neutral, interchangeable arena, and Hinkle’s connections to “Hoosiers,” Oscar Robertson, and nearly a century of basketball lore made it the first pick under that approach.
Who was the arena named after?
Tony Hinkle, Butler’s longtime coach and athletic director, who is also credited with helping introduce the orange basketball to the sport in the late 1950s.
How do I get tickets, and how hard will it be?
Register interest through the NBA’s official events site ahead of the general public on-sale this fall, or buy premium/hospitality packages now through the league’s event marketplace. With only about 9,100 seats, expect general tickets to move fast once the fall sale opens.
For the complete picture of how the 2026 tournament unfolds before it ever reaches Hinkle Fieldhouse, check out our full group play matchup guide and the group stage schedule with dates and TV broadcasts. And for everything else happening across this year’s tournament, visit our Emirates NBA Cup 2026 hub.