Students from the fourth-year design studio class at Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning met with the City of Indianapolis to review and select 20–26 projects for consideration.

The arena's basketball floor remains preserved and housed nearby within the National Institute for Fitness and Sport in White River State Park.

The first regular-season ABA game in the arena was held on October 18, 1974, against the San Antonio Spurs; the Pacers lost in double overtime, 129–121 in front of 7,473 fans.

The 1974–75 season ended for the Pacers with the ABA Finals played in Market Square Arena and Freedom Hall against their archrivals, the Kentucky Colonels.

Market Square Arena was the primary concert venue for virtually all national and international musical acts visiting Indiana until its demolition in 2001.

Market Square hosted acts from Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Eric Clapton, Kenny Rogers, Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Grateful Dead, KISS, Metallica, and several Black Expo performances.

Other events held at Market Square included circuses, Ice Capades, monster truck shows, indoor motocross racing, and rodeos.

Billy Graham's 1980 Indiana Crusade, featuring a young Bill Gaither as one of the musical guests, was the most attended event at the arena in its history.

Mötley Crüe filmed their music video for "Wild Side" here on July 18, 1987, which contains footage of drummer Tommy Lee's spinning drum cage.

On July 28, 1988 Run-DMC performed their Run's House Tour at the arena with EPMD, Public Enemy, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.

[16] On November 30, 1990, Ice Cube and Too Short bought their Straight from the Underground tour to Market Square Arena with Yo-Yo, Poor Righteous Teachers, D-Nice, and Kid Rock.

[17] Troy Dixon, better known as Trouble T. Roy, was killed when he accidentally fell from the exit ramp to the ground two stories below following his performance with Heavy D and the Boyz on July 15, 1990.

[18] Hosted an Event In Your House 11: Buried Alive on October 20, 1996 Michael Jackson performed two consecutive sold–out shows at Market Square Arena, during his Bad World Tour on March 18–19, 1988.

[10] Michael Jordan made his first comeback from retirement at Market Square Arena on March 19, 1995; the Pacers defeated the Bulls in overtime in what was the most-watched NBA game on television in 20 years.