The 2026 Big Ten Football Championship Fan Fest runs 5-6 December at the Indiana Convention Center. The venue publishes a forecast attendance of 70,000 for the two days.
The Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game follows on Saturday, 5 December at 8 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Big Ten Conference names FOX as the broadcast partner.
Both events share one weekend, and the room demand lands on one night.
The One Night That Matters
5 December 2026 is a Saturday. The Fan Fest covers Saturday and Sunday.
The conference FAQ, last updated 14 September 2026, describes the game as the 16th annual edition and puts kickoff at 8 p.m. ET. The same FAQ states that the two teams with the best records in regular-season conference play qualify, and that all 18 teams compete for those two places.
The conference announced on 15 September 2026 that tickets go on public sale on 22 September at 11 a.m. ET. The FAQ still carries the earlier line that ticketing information has yet to be released.
A block built for this weekend holds one night. Guests arrive Saturday, 5 December and release Sunday, 6 December. Teams, bands, alumni groups and sponsors all want that same Saturday.
What Shares the Date
The venue's event feed lists the 38th Combat Aviation Brigade Ball on 5 December in Meeting Rooms 107-110, with a forecast attendance of 250.
Ask each hotel what else it holds that night before you accept a rate.
The Minimum Hold
The venue page and the conference page publish no minimum hold for this weekend. Write your own number into the request and let the hotel counter.
5 December is a peak night downtown. A hotel holds rooms on a night like that against a commitment.
Ask three questions. How many rooms will the hotel hold on 5 December? Does that number change with a Saturday arrival and a Sunday release? Does the hotel require a two-night minimum for a Saturday stay?
The Cutoff
No cutoff date for this event is published. Treat the cutoff as the first term to settle.
Blocks, a room-block software vendor, defines the cutoff as the deadline for the final rooming list and states that cutoff dates fall 21 to 30 days before the event. After the cutoff, unbooked rooms return to the hotel's general inventory, and the contracted rate may no longer apply.
Ask for a specific calendar date. Ask whether one date governs the whole block.
Attrition on a Single Night
Attrition sets a floor under the contracted room nights. The vendor's glossary states that a contract specifying 80 percent attrition obliges the group to pick up at least 80 percent of the blocked rooms per night, and that the penalty falls on the shortfall at the full room rate for each unused room night. The same glossary states that attrition is calculated per night.
A one-night block concentrates the whole exposure on one date. Take 150 rooms on one night. The block commits 150 room nights. An 80 percent floor obliges pickup of 120. A pickup of 108 leaves 12 room nights short.
Ask the hotel four things. What floor applies? Is the floor measured in room nights or in revenue? Does a no-show count toward pickup? Will the hotel reduce the damages by what it resells?
Who Carries the Resell Risk
On a sell-out Saturday the hotel can place released rooms. Ask for a resell or mitigation credit in writing. That clause fixes which side carries the risk on the night the block misses.
The same glossary prices the cancellation ladder for a block that goes away in full. Its example charges 50 percent of anticipated room revenue at 90 days out and rises toward 100 percent inside 30 days. The glossary names a graduated schedule and credit for rooms the hotel resells as the highest-value terms to negotiate.
Ask for release reviews at 90, 60 and 30 days.
Placement and the Skywalk
The venue reports 7,100 hotel rooms in downtown Indianapolis and 4,700 of them connected to the Convention Center by skywalk.
The Fan Fest and the game sit in two buildings. The venue address is 100 South Capitol Ave, and Lucas Oil Stadium stands adjacent at 500 South Capitol Ave.
A skywalk-connected property removes the December walk. Ask the hotel to confirm its connection and its access hours. The venue publishes an approximate lockdown at 11:00 p.m. and an approximate reopening at 6:00 a.m., and it states that the schedule depends on the event.
What to Send in the Request
State the night, the room count and the profile mix.
Ask for the block rate, the minimum hold, the cutoff date, the attrition floor, the deposit schedule and the cancellation ladder. Ask for the room tax and every mandatory fee by name.
grouprooms.org publishes 273 hotels in its Indianapolis directory. The platform states that it carries 103,857+ hotels across 46 states, that it charges no fee to request rates, that hotels respond in 24 to 72 hours and that one request reaches 50 or more hotels. Those are the platform's own published claims.
Before You Sign
Put the calendar in writing: Saturday, 5 December arrival, Sunday, 6 December release. Confirm the room count the hotel holds, the cutoff date, the measurement basis for attrition, the resell credit and the deposit terms.
Ask for a written bid grid with each term on its own line. Set your decision date before you send the request.
