Neelay Bhatt was born in Mumbai, India, and didn’t move to Indiana until 2006, after he finished a graduate degree in sports administration. But he found a home here because he speaks the language of sports and developed a strong network of local sports executives. In 2023, he founded a consultancy in Carmel that focuses in part on master planning, strategic planning and business planning, which it has been engaged to do for a massive sports and leisure destination in Portugal. Meanwhile, Bhatt has been a key player on the local organizing committees for the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, and 2024 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium.

His latest roles in the local sports community are co-chair and curator of TEDSports Indianapolis, the first-ever TED event to focus exclusively on sports. Taking place Sept. 9-11 in downtown Indy, it’s expected to draw up to 1,000 executives, educators and trendsetters from across the globe for a series of seminars, panels, workshops and curated experiences. There also is a significant networking component, potentially generating new opportunities for the city.

In this week’s edition of the podcast, Bhatt discusses his upbringing in India, how he was influenced by his grandmother who grew up in pre-independence India, how he became involved in the TED talk ecosystem and how he hopes Indianapolis can take advantage of TEDSports.