The Pacers kicked off a major media blitz earlier this year with goals of building relationships with the community, RTV6’s Tracie Wells reported.

“We're up about 500 tickets per game since last year,” said Todd Taylor, Pacers marketing vice president. “We listen to general conversation, message boards and playoff ticket sales.”

Butler University Marketing instructor Andy Wilson said that the Pacers brand value will likely increase because basketball is a homegrown Hoosier sport.

“If you can say anything about basketball in Indiana, the thing people like is team basketball,” Wilson said.

“It’s not about revenue generation; it's about getting people into (Banker’s Fieldhouse) and making sure they have a good time,” Taylor said.

The Pacers said they are offering tickets to the NBA Playoffs for about the same price as tickets in the regular season.

Official said they hoped Hoosiers would take advantage of the more than 500 tickets available for $10 each.