The Hoosier Ticket Project has fueled a passion for Indiana athletics across thousands of Indiana natives

There’s a lot of joy around attending a sporting event of your favorite local team with your family.

Being able to build those special memories and a establish a close bond with your family members can be life changing.

That’s why Josh Bruick and Jason Gerdom decided to create the Hoosier Ticket Project, a non-profit organization that sends Indiana families to Indiana athletic events for free, removing the roadblock of any financial troubles. The organization also targets fans who haven’t attended a game before on campus. 

The Hoosier Ticket Project has touched the hearts of thousands of Hoosier fans across the last few years. But how did it start up?

Bruick grew up watching and rooting for Indiana basketball with his family, but didn’t have the opportunity to watch the Hoosiers play at Assembly Hall until he began attending Indiana University.

Following his graduation from Indiana, Bruick took his mother, a lifelong Indiana basketball fan, to her first ever game at Assembly Hall.

Bruick credits this exact moment to being what ultimately fueled a passion for him to bring families to Indiana athletic events to have these moments together as a family.

“That was really, really memorable to me,” Bruick said about the experience with his mother. “It was a big deal. Getting to experience that with her, seeing how she reacted. I knew quickly that I wanted to provide that opportunity for others in any way I could.”

Fast forward to the 2018-19 college basketball season, Indiana basketball had missed out on the NCAA March Madness tournament. However, the program earned the right to host games as part of the NIT tournament, a tournament designed for the top college basketball teams that failed to receive a bid to the March Madness tournament.

Indiana’s ticket office had announced they would be releasing $15.00 general admission tickets, first come, first serve, for these games.

With season ticket holders and students generally occupying a large percentage of Assembly Hall’s seats, Bruick thought to himself that this would be a great charitable opportunity for him to buy tickets for families who have never had the opportunity to attend a basketball game at Assembly Hall before.

Through Twitter, Bruick sent 200 Indiana basketball fans to Assembly Hall for Indiana’s NIT games. This incredible gesture was just the beginning of what was to come for Bruick’s impact on the community. 

Just as Bruick’s mission took off, the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on his plan, as many Indiana athletic events were cancelled or weren’t allowing fans to attend.

During the dark period of the pandemic, Bruick decided to turn his idea into a nonprofit organization, which allowed the Hoosier Ticket Project to accept both ticket donations and financial donations. These types of donations ultimately allow the organization to put families in the seats of the various Indiana athletic events.

Once Indiana fans were able to return to the seats to watch their favorite teams, the Hoosier Ticket Project began continuously receiving donations to use towards recipients.

As the Hoosier Ticket Project began to pickup traction in the community, the organization started hosting annual events, trying to rally as many people together as possible for games.

One of these events came this past October, where the Hoosier Ticket Project hosted the “Weekend at the Rock”, sending 415 fans to the sold out Indiana vs Washington football game. Recipients at the event got to witness Indiana defeat Washington 31-17.

While sending this many recipients to a game without any financial barrier is miraculous, there have been bumps in the road recently.

With Indiana football having a historic 11-1 season, many of the season ticket holders who generally have donated their tickets, weren’t looking to give up their seats.

This wasn’t the case in previous years, as Indiana football finished 7-17 across the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Bruick commented on how the impressive season from Indiana football left the Hoosier Ticket Project in a ticket drought.

“Early on we had a lot of tickets, but as the season went on and games started selling out, all of a sudden our ticket donations decreased because our season ticket holders wanted to go to the games.”

With Indiana football ticket donations dwindling, Bruick was left with a limited amount of tickets to disperse to a high number of requests.

“We never imagined that all of a sudden we’d be in a position where the last four home games are all sold out and you’ve got a stockpile of requests from deserving recipients and no way to fill them.”

This struggle forced the volunteers at the Hoosier Ticket Project to work a lot harder to try to put smiles on the faces of members of the community.

While the large number of hours of volunteer work can be daunting, Bruick says the smiling faces and the stories from the recipients make the long hours of work pay off.

“It can be difficult to find the time to go through all these recipients and assign tickets and do the work that’s involved with it,” Bruick said. “But when you see these photos of kids and families at Memorial Stadium, Assembly Hall, it makes every single second worth it. It’s a place that’s near and dear to my heart. Hopefully we’re doing our part to create the next generation of IU fans and students.”

Even with the troubles associated with the historic football season, Hoosier Ticket Project set a personal record in 2024, sending 1,185 fans to Indiana athletic events as a result of the generosity of Indiana fans. 

The incredible work this past year from all of the volunteers at the Hoosier Ticket Project truly paid off. With the Hoosier Ticket Project sending fans to games frequently, the organization’s Twitter/X account is constantly posting heartwarming stories of its recipients.

Kim Charles, a recent recipient of the Hoosier Ticket Project, had the opportunity to take her son, KeCean, to his first Indiana men’s basketball game in November.

Not only did Kim and KeCean receive courtside seats, but they also were seated near members of the Miami Heat. KeCean was able to interact and take a picture with Miami Heat point guard Tyler Herro, creating a life lasting memory at his first Indiana men’s basketball game.

After speaking with Kim, she gave her message to anyone interested in becoming a recipient of the Hoosier Ticket Project.

“Do it,” Kim says to potential recipients. “You get to experience something you probably won’t get to experience another time. It’s time we get to spend with our kid and it’s a cool memory. He (KeCean) still hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

The Hoosier Ticket Project is continuously looking for future donors and volunteers. The organization’s website is the best place to start, whether you’re looking to donate, volunteer, or inquire about receiving tickets to an event. 

Bruick explained a key goal for the Hoosier Ticket Project in 2025 is to expand its presence amongst Indiana fans.

“Indiana fans love giving back and they love sharing these experiences with others,” Bruick stated. “The more that we can share the stories of our ticket recipients, it allows for the donors to see their impact first hand. But it also allows those in position to give back to say ‘Hey, I want to be a part of that too’.”

The Hoosier Ticket Project has a large presence on Twitter/X @HoosierProject, where the organization shares images and stories regarding all of the memories recipients have made at Indiana athletic events, as well as posting about tickets available for upcoming games.

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