Victory Field, Indianapolis
Indianapolis Indians Baseball
I love Victory Field.
This stadium has won numerous awards for its appearance, experience and value, and it’s easy to see why. Even though Victory Field will turn 30 in 2026, it’s not showing its age at all. In some areas, it’s actually getting even better.
For starters, the Indianapolis skyline has really grown around Victory Field. When the stadium was built, there wasn’t a lot of skyline around it yet. The Colts still played at the RCA Dome, which sat just to the east of Victory Field. The Colts moved a couple blocks south in 2008, and the city built the JW Marriott when Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl in 2012.
That hotel now serves as both a billboard for the city and a beautiful backdrop for the Indians. With the rest of the city visible in the distance from center field onward, Victory Field is a great place to take in beautiful views of downtown.
That makes it even crazier that it was both built out of necessity and almost didn’t happen. In the late 1980s, the Indians’ old home of Bush Stadium was dilapidated. It was able to convincingly serve as Comiskey Park and Crosley Field for Eight Men Out, but it certainly wasn’t a serviceable baseball facility. That, plus the proximity to the Reds, Cubs, White Sox and Cardinals, meant that Jeff Smulyan’s thought of moving the Seattle Mariners to the Circle City in 1989 was never going to happen.
Smulyan bought the Mariners anyway, promised to keep them in Seattle, almost moved them to Tampa two years later and sold them to Nintendo in 1992. (To be fair, the Kingdome was almost in as bad of shape as Bush Stadium.)
By the 1990s, Bush Stadium’s days were numbered. Minor League Baseball issued an ultimatum in 1993: either renovate Bush Stadium, replace it with a new facility or watch the Indians lose their affiliation. As the Indians have existed in Indianapolis since 1902, choice three wasn’t even an option. The city weighed the costs and found that a new downtown stadium would cost $1.5 million more, but would have an estimated twice the economic impact of renovation.
It was clearly the right decision. The park opened in 1996, and it has routinely been lauded as one of the top parks in Minor League Baseball ever since. The Indians have affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2005, and that affiliation will hold until at least 2030.
The Indians are also the oldest operating minor league franchise that has never changed its name. Rochester precedes Indianapolis by three years, but the Red Wings didn’t settle on their current name until 1929. The Indians have played under that name since 1902, and they are highly unlikely to change it. They considered doing so in 2020, but ultimately decided to keep their historic name after partnering with the Miami Nation of Indiana. As Indiana means “land of the Indians” and the tribes have encouraged the team to keep its name, it appears highly likely that Indians baseball at Victory Field will remain a popular event in Indianapolis for the foreseeable future.
For my own experiences, I’ve been coming to Victory Field since 2006, and it’s now my home ballpark. In 2006, I took home a foul ball for the first time when the Indians’ leadoff batter smacked the first pitch off the mound of the visitors’ bullpen and straight into my hand off the bounce. Now that the nets are in place around the field of play, that’s no longer possible.
But it’s still an enjoyable experience when I go to Victory Field. My work means that I go to a lot of Indians games, and it’s almost always a fun night when I do. Here’s a look at the Victory Field experience.
Fast Facts
Where: Indianapolis
Team: Indianapolis Indians baseball (Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)
Opened: 1996
Capacity: 12,230, with an additional 2,000 lawn seats.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere at Victory Field is pretty interesting. As stated above, Indianapolis sits within a 3.5-hour drive of the Reds, the White Sox, the Cubs and the Cardinals. Extend that radius to five hours, and you’ve also got the Tigers, the Brewers and the Guardians.
All of those teams are closer to Indianapolis than the Pirates, who sit six hours away. And that means that you’ll find pockets of fans rooting for the visiting team, especially when the Indians face Louisville (Reds) or Iowa (Cubs). It’s not a situation where the Indians are ever visitors in their own ballpark, but you will find fans who openly root for the prospects of the major league team that they care about.
Beyond that, the atmosphere is good but can sometimes get repetitive. Adult fans can enjoy the two pavilion setups in left and right field, where you can sit comfortably and enjoy bar drinks. The one in right is new for 2025 and offers plenty of shade on hot days.
When the Indians win, they’ll have someone ring the victory bell in right field. The stadium’s name comes from the original Bush Stadium, which was renamed Victory Field in 1942 when the United States entered World War II. This stadium has been Victory Field since Day 1, and the team shows no sign of changing that name.
The Indians do sometimes fall into a trap of running the same between-innings entertainment too often. When it’s a prize pack offering, it’s not a problem. When it’s a video package, it gets repetitive. The worst offender of this was the eighth inning, when the team would run its “Great Clips camera” and claim it was running their “best of” series. It was the same package every time, showing supposed look-alikes of movie and TV characters, and they ran it every night for the first two months of the season.
The good news? I complained about seeing it for the 25th time earlier this season, and whether the team listened or it was sheer coincidence, they haven’t run it once since I sent that feedback.
Rating: 8/10
Affordability and Parking
Ticket prices have gotten a bit higher recently, especially compared to rivals Columbus and Louisville. Both the Clippers and the Bats allow you to enter the stadium for $10 after fees. Outside of a Wednesday night game or a Walk-Offer, the Indians don’t offer entry for less than $15 after fees, and that’s for lawn seating. The cheapest ticket if you want a seat is $18.25, and box seats reach $22.
The cost is not astronomical by any means, but it’s still probably higher than it needs to be. While Indianapolis is a larger city than Columbus or Louisville, the cost of living doesn’t carry a 50% difference.
Parking can be an adventure depending on what’s going on at the same time. The Indians control the lot around Victory Field, and if they’re the only show in town, all surrounding lots will charge $10 to park because that’s where the Indians cap their parking cost. If there’s a convention in town, or worse, the Colts, parking prices can double or even go higher. The Pacers and the Fever play a mile away at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, so there’s not much crossover for parking there. But the convention center is right across the street and the Colts are two blocks south, so if one of those are happening, you’ll need to get to Victory Field early or get creative.
Near the ballpark, there’s plenty of other options. White River State Park, the Indianapolis Zoo, the Indiana State Museum and the NCAA Hall of Champions are just some of the nearby options. If you want to make a full day of it, you could park by the stadium early and get multiple experiences in during your time in Indy.
Rating: 8/10
Food Options
Victory Field is now cashless most days, and it offers a nice amount of concessions. The ice cream cones are especially large, and the smell of cinnamon almonds and churros is noticeable behind home plate.
You’ll find standards of hot dogs, burgers, chicken strips, pizza and popcorn here, along with a few specialty stands. Gluten-free options and vegetarian options are available at select concession stands. If you’re a drinker, the Hornitos tequila stand offers mixed drink options, and the Yuengling Landing in left field gives you a full bar.
For a unique eat, check out the Links and Drinks stand on either the third-base or first-base side. This is where you’ll find my favorite eat at Victory Field, the Hot Dog of the Homestand.
The Hot Dog of the Homestand is a special hot dog with toppings representing the visiting team’s city. When the Indians faced Omaha, for example, I enjoyed a dog topped with blue cheese, grilled mushrooms and fried onions. Against St. Paul, the hot dog was a Juicy Lucy, a dog stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon before being topped with cheese. Nashville saw bacon, cheddar cheese, onions and barbecue sauce.
One word of warning: do NOT visit the Links and Drinks stand for a regular hot dog. You can buy them there, but they’ll charge you $6 for a standard hot dog instead of the usual $5 at other concession stands.
As with tickets, prices are a little high. However, the concession prices aren’t as bad as some other options, and the quality and variety are good.
Rating: 8/10
Promotions
Promotions are the lifeblood of Minor League Baseball, and the Indians offer several of them. They’ve been slowly expanding their promotions over the past two seasons, as a few of them didn’t exist in 2024. They can be broken into two lists: giveaways and theme nights. Here’s a list of what you can expect at Victory Field.
Giveaways
Chick-fil-A Nuggets
If the Indians score five runs, everyone gets a free order of five chicken nuggets at any Indianapolis-area Chick-fil-A the next day. You have to have the CFA app to do this, and the nuggets are automatically loaded into your account when the system picks up that you’re near a participating location. With the Indians’ offense in 2025 averaging just over five runs per game at home, this one happens a lot.
Strikeout Batter Of the Game
Each game, the Indians will randomly select one of their opponent’s starting nine batters as the Strikeout Batter of the Game. If that player strikes out at any point in the game, everyone 18 or older in one section of the stadium will get a free $1 coupon for the Indiana Lottery’s Cash 5 drawing.
The winning section changes every game, but I have noticed the lower levels of the stadium tend to win more often. If you win one of these coupons, you have until the end of the Major League Baseball season to use it.
Hoosier Lottery Home Runs
If an Indians player hits a home run at any point in the game, everyone 18 or older in one section of the stadium wins a free $2 coupon for the Hoosier Lottery’s Powerball drawing. This is the only in-game promotion that can happen more than once in the same game, and there’s no limit. If Indianapolis socks 10 home runs in a game, 10 different sections would win a Powerball ticket.
The winning section changes with every home run, and it does go in numerical order. For example, if Section 109 won on this home run, the next home run will result in coupons for either Section 110 or Section 108.
Portillo’s Double Plays
If the Indians turn a double play at any point in the game, everyone in two neighboring sections will win a coupon for a buy one, get one entree at any Indianapolis-area Portillo’s. This promotion only happens once per game, no matter how many double plays the Indians turn. This is a relatively new promotion, as it wasn’t around in 2024.
Hardee’s Stolen Bases
If any Indians player steals a base, everyone in two neighboring sections wins a coupon for a free small potato rounds or small fries with any purchase from Hardee’s. The Indians have one of the faster teams in the International League, so this one happens a lot. This is also a new promotion for 2025.
Walk-Offers
If the Indians win the game in the bottom of the ninth, reserved seats for any Indians home game for the rest of the season can be purchased the next day for $12 after fees. Reserved tickets normally cost $18.25, so that’s a pretty good discount if you know you’re going to a future game.
Theme Days
Tuesday Dollar Menu
This is the best time to come hungry. On Tuesdays, hot dogs, chips, Cracker Jacks, peanuts and churros are all available for $1 each. Keep in mind, though: all concession stands at Victory Field are cashless except for on Kids Days. As Kids Days are always Wednesday or Thursday day games, you won’t be able to buy anything with cash on dollar nights.
Wednesday Day Games/Discounts
Wednesday is either one of two options. If it’s a day game, there’s no discount. If it’s a night game, all tickets are available for half price. If you want to sit in the box seats, Wednesday night is the day to do it.
Thirsty Thursdays
Draft beers are available for $3; sodas are available for $2. Concession stands selling these deals will be specially marked, as they are for Tuesday dollar menu games.
Friday Fireworks
Weather permitting, the Indians have a fireworks display after every Friday game. I have been to a Friday game where storms were in the forecast, and the show was cancelled. (So was the game; as the teams were tied after nine innings and had to suspend it.)
Weekend Theme Nights
Usually, there’s some kind of theme that happens on Saturdays. The Indians usually wear special jerseys, and there’s some kind of giveaway. On a recent weekend, the theme was “Pirates Prospect Weekend”, where the Indians wore jerseys in the style of the Pittsburgh Pirates, their parent club, and brought in the racing pierogies from Pittsburgh.
You also might get a giveaway related to the theme. During that weekend, I got a bobblehead of top prospect Bubba Chandler.
Sunday Kids Day
On Sundays, kids 14 and under get a free hot dog and chips, and registered members of the Indians’ kids club can run the bases after the game. There’s also usually a meet-and-greet with a popular kids’ character; I’ve seen Disney princesses and Peppa Pig make appearances.
Overall, the Indians do a great job with their promotions. The one quibble I have is that there aren’t enough that go out to everyone in the ballpark. But there are several ways to win and a lot of good ways to save money. The Indians are doing very well here.
Rating: 9.5/10
Quality of Facility
Victory Field does not feel like a 30-year-old ballpark. The seats could be a little bit wider, but that’s about the only negative to watching a game here. There are plenty of seats, wide concourses and a comfortable atmosphere. The ballpark is beautiful, and the views of the Indy skyline are impressive. When you get a perfect day weather-wise, it’s an incredible experience.
If you’re looking to stay out of the sun, you’ll want to sit on the third-base side. The way the park faces means the sun is mostly blocked by the stands by the time evening games start. For day games, either lather on the sunblock or sit in the first three or four rows of the box seats. This will give you the shade from the overhang.
If you want sun, the first-base side and the lawn will have plenty. The scoreboard sits in right-center field, so views can be tough from the lawn unless you’re right down the left-field line.
Rating: 9/10
Overall Score
While it could be a little more affordable, Victory Field is a great experience and a wonderful place to watch a game. The Indians do a great job successfully balancing the experience so that casual baseball fans, serious baseball fans and those who just want a night out in the sunshine all have something they can enjoy.
That’s what Minor League Baseball should be about. It doesn’t hurt that the team is usually pretty good, and its downtown location means that there’s plenty to do before and after the game.
Unlike another baseball facility in the Circle City, this one is a gem. If you’re coming to Indianapolis, a night at Victory Field is absolutely worth your time.