Local sports fans may be coming down from the highs of WNBA All-Star weekend and last month’s NBA finals, but there will soon be more high-end sports festivities to enjoy.

The first-ever TEDSports conference will be held Sept. 9-11 in Indianapolis, TED, a non-profit based in New York and Vancouver, Canada, has announced.

Guests from six continents will attend the three-day event, which costs $2,000 to attend.

Over WNBA All-Star weekend, TED Chief Program and Strategy Officer Monique Ruff-Bell, who is based in New York, and TEDSports curator Neelay Bhatt talked to IndyStar about the new conference in light of Indianapolis’ growing sports ecosystem.

What is TEDSports?

TEDSports is a new conference by TED, a non-profit that organizes events spotlighting global changemakers. The sports-focused program will feature TED talks, workshops, panels and curated meals. Workshops will be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Lucas Oil Stadium and other sports facilities around the city, said Bhatt, who is based in Indianapolis.

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TED has put athletes on stage to talk about sports in the past, Ruff-Bell said. But its flagship conferences have never focused specifically on the evolving world of sports — until now.

“One of the things that, you know, I had been talking about with my CEO for a couple of years now is how impactful and powerful sports storytelling is,” Ruff-Bell said. “And how people really just connect to the stories of resilience and teamwork and how to think differently.”

Those stories are the inspiration behind the conference, which will present new ideas on climate change, gender equality and artificial intelligence, all through the lens of sports.

Why Indianapolis?

Bhatt said the event will demonstrate sports’ ability to create change. He said he’s seen firsthand how sports have changed Indianapolis.

In the last 15-20 years, Bhatt has seen Indianapolis become a major athletic epicenter. Not only did Indy host the weekend’s WNBA All-Star game, but it’s hosted numerous Big Ten championships, the Super Bowl and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

In addition, Bhatt said, Indianapolis has been a leader in the growing sports technology industry.

“That’s where we can see so much more focus on innovation that is driving change and affecting the whole sports system,” he said.

For instance, Sports Tech HQ, established in 2022, is a collective of companies that create technology for sports fans, teams and athletes.

Based out of Indianapolis, Sports Tech HQ aims to turn the state into “a global hub for sports technology.” The collective has inspired some of the ideas that will be discussed at TEDSports, Bhatt said. Other speakers include Olympic medalist and refugee Cindy Ngamba, former Indiana forward Tamika Catchings and former Fever president Allison Barber.

Thanks largely to the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark, Indianapolis has also played a role in the rise of women’s sports in recent years, Bhatt said.

Indiana is looking to become “the global capital of women’s sports,” he said.

“Women’s sports is no longer a moment, it’s a movement,” he said. “And so it just makes sense for TED to further amplify that as well.”

What TEDSports aims to do

Both Ruff-Bell and Bhatt have felt inspired by sports storytelling in their own lives.

Ruff-Bell has never been an athlete, she said, or much of a sports fan. Still, she’s totally fascinated by sports documentaries. She’s come to love how much storytelling can happen behind the scenes and off the field.

That storytelling is an avenue to broach new ideas, Bhatt said.

“We’re still bringing it all back to sports, but about topics that we deeply care about that TED has always cared about and promoted, but now hopefully brings a new audience in because of sports,” Bhatt said.

The goal, Ruff-Bell said, is for the event to grow and hopefully be continued annually in other cities.

To learn more about the program, visit TEDSports Indianapolis’ website here.