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The Indiana Pacers are proud to represent the state of Indiana in the NBA. For many years, the Pacers have been one of the most successful teams in the league. Our commitment to play championship caliber basketball and to serve this community is as strong as it has ever been. We all have wonderful memories of the Pacers games at the Coliseum, Market Square Arena and now at Conseco Fieldhouse. Jackie and I are so grateful for the many good times we have shared with our children, Tim, Todd and Jennifer and our close friends watching the Pacers play great basketball.
Many have asked me why I wanted to be a part of Pacers Sports & Entertainment after completing my five year term in Rome leading the UN World Food Programme. I gave a lot of thought to how I might spend the next several years and do it in such a way that I could continue making a contribution to the things I care most about: strengthening a sense of community, partnership and togetherness in central Indiana and how does every young person have a fair chance at a good, rewarding, fulfilling and constructive life. The Pacers, Fever and Conseco Fieldhouse offered that special opportunity to stay focused on what mattered most to me.
Professional sports franchises bring people together, especially when they are centrally located, reflect the values and aspirations of their community and when there is a genuine feeling that the teams belong to everyone. The Simon family bought the Pacers to serve our community, to bring vitality to central Indiana, to strengthen our area’s economic competitiveness and for all of us to have fun and enjoy the Pacers experience.
The Pacers and Fever have an enormous positive, inspirational impact on the area’s young people. Tamika Catchings recently received the WNBA’s Dawn Staley Leadership Award for exceptional community outreach and service. Players for both our teams have helped the Red Cross during the recent devastating floods. We are partnering with the Colts and Emmis Communications to work with Gleaners Food Bank and the Shepherd Community Center to provide clothing, food and backpacks for students who need help. We are partners with the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and all the Marion County school systems to raise the high school graduation rate from 70 percent to 80 percent within the next three years.
We care deeply about our community, especially our young people. Our commitment to serve and be a good partner for those who help, encourage and uplift young people is at the core of who we are. The Fever will compete for the WNBA championship, while the Pacers had an excellent draft. We have a basketball icon leading our franchise. We have coaches who believe that character is the critical ingredient of winning teams. We have the best facility in the world for basketball, concerts and community. We have a remarkable staff who give everything they have every day so that we will win and serve the community. We have remarkable owners who are supporting the effort for all the right reasons.
We know how important basketball here is to the people of Indiana from the youngest boy and girl just beginning to play, to the thousands of coaches and teachers who work with kids every day, to the many athletes who have represented the state in Olympic basketball competition and to the rest of us that simply enjoy the sport, love the competition and want it played the right way. May I assure you that we take responsibility for leadership of basketball in our state seriously. We want you to enjoy our players, to enjoy the Conseco Fieldhouse experience and to have wonderful memories with your friends and family, especially your children. We need your help, support, suggestions, encouragement
and enthusiasm to be what you want us to be. I promise that we will not let you down.
