Pacers say new practice facility will build better team

Is Paul George getting enough sleep? More than that, are his sleep patterns helping him excel as a professional athlete?

Is rookie Myles Turner properly hydrated, not just during practices and games, but 24 hours a day?

It's no accident that the Indiana Pacers' new practice facility was unveiled Wednesday as the St. Vincent Center.

Having top-notch doctors and sports performance experts one floor above the Pacers' practice court is a critical component of the $50 million, 130,000-square-foot complex scheduled to open in early 2017, said Pacers President for Basketball Operations Larry Bird.

"They've got a lot of research. We feel like we can work hand-in-hand with them," he said. "In our sport, it seems like the players get bigger and stronger every year and what we try to do, not only for us but for them, is try and maximize their talents."

Bird envisions St. Vincent — which will not only be a tenant in the building but spent an undisclosed amount for naming rights — testing players with the latest and greatest medical equipment.

"(This partnership allows us to) make sure they're getting the right sleep patterns, make sure they're hydrated 24 hours a day," Bird said. "There are all kinds of different tests that we can do just to make them better at getting their skill level at the highest they possibly can."

The practice facility will allow the Pacers to build a better team, Bird said, not only with the medical help, but as a shiny state-of-the-art building to lure players.

"It also helps us recruit free agents and bring other players in," Bird said.

It's part of a trend. Since 1999, 20 of the 30 teams in the NBA have built or are planning new practice facilities.

The glistening buildings are a good marketing pitch as teams look to upgrade rosters during offseasons. Concocting a championship team often comes down to free agency.

As players whose contracts are up make choices on whether to sign with a new team or re-sign with their current one, it's certain they are weighing every aspect of the teams they're considering – including practice facilities.

Many NBA practice facilities are built with frills, including in-house barber shops, restaurants, plush theaters and spa retreats.

Rick Fuson, president of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, wouldn't go into detail on whether the St. Vincent Center would include such perks.

"We're going to continue to go through our design of that and see what it is," he said. "This is not a building that's going to have a lot of bells and whistles to it. It's more about the health and wellness and well being and being able to recruit players to come here."

The building, of course, isn't a done deal.

The city's Capital Improvement Board on Monday unanimously approved the team's request to build on the CIB-owned land, which until then had been approved only for Pacers employee parking. The team still needs approval from the city's Department of Metropolitan Development for architectural design and changing the use of the land.

Neither St. Vincent nor the Pacers would reveal the cost for naming rights, but Bird said that without St. Vincent, the building likely wouldn't be happening.

Other naming rights to practice facilities in the NFL and NBA have ranged from $10 million to $25 million for 10-year deals.

The St. Vincent Center, which will be the new home to Pacers staff, leaves a void at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Fuson said that space will be repurposed.

"We don't know exactly how, but we will have a number of square feet that we can re-purpose in this building, especially along Georgia Street, which is getting to be a great entertainment street," he said. "We will work over that the next couple of months as to what we can develop that into."

Follow Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow.