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Lucas Oil Stadium

Multi-purpose stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lucas Oil Stadiummap
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Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). It opened on August 16, 2008.[13] The stadium was constructed to allow the removal of the RCA Dome and expansion of the Indiana Convention Center on its site. It is located on the south side of South Street, a block south of the former site of the RCA Dome. The stadium's naming rights belong to the Lucas Oil corporation.[14]

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Architectural firm HKS, Inc. was responsible for the stadium's design, with Walter P Moore working as the Structural Engineer of Record. The stadium features a retractable roof and a large retractable window on one end, allowing the Colts to play both indoors and outdoors. The field surface was originally FieldTurf; it was replaced with Shaw Sports Momentum Pro in 2018.[15] In 2024, it became the first indoor NFL venue to use geofill when Hellas Matrix Turf was installed.[16] The exterior of the stadium is faced with a reddish-brown brick trimmed with Indiana limestone, similar to several other sports venues in the area, including Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse and Corteva Coliseum.[17]

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Name

The home field of the Indianapolis Colts for their first 24 seasons in the city (1984–2007) was the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome), which was part of the Indiana Convention Center. In 2006, prior to the new stadium's construction, Lucas Oil, a manufacturer and distributor of automotive oil, additives and lubricants headquartered in Indianapolis, secured the naming rights for the stadium at a cost of $122 million over the next 20 years.[14]

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Features

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Interior of Lucas Oil Stadium

Lucas Oil Stadium has a seating capacity of 63,000,[4] and covers approximately 1.8 million square feet (170,000 m2). The stadium offers 139 suites, two club lounges, two exhibit halls and 12 meeting rooms. There are also 360-degree ribbon boards and two 53-foot (16 m) tall HD video boards.[18] An underground walkway directly connects the stadium to the Indiana Convention Center.[17]

Other features include:

  • 183,000 square feet (17,000 m2) of exhibit space
  • 7 locker rooms
  • 11 indoor truck docks
  • 14 escalators
  • 11 passenger elevators
  • 2 accessible pedestrian ramps

Retractable roof

The stadium's retractable roof can open or close in about 11 minutes. It is composed of two panels that each weigh 2.5 million pounds (1,100,000 kg).[19][5] The home team determines if the roof is to be opened or closed 90 minutes before kickoff.[5]

Retractable window

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Visitors can view the Indianapolis skyline through the northeast retractable window.

The retractable north window offers a view of downtown Indianapolis during games, concerts and other events due to the stadium's angled position on the city block.[20][19]

Gate sponsorship

The four gates leading into Lucas Oil Stadium are each named for a sponsoring corporation, with the exception of the South Gate, which is named after the team:

The ground-level concourses of their respective gates feature banners and floor coverings with the corporations' logos, advertisements and merchandise displays.[25]

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Events

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Super Bowl XLVI post-game celebrations in 2012
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The Lucas Oil Blimp inside the stadium in 2022
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Lucas Oil Stadium configured to host the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four

Annual events include:

Upcoming events include:

Significant past events included:

Football

The first games played at Lucas Oil Stadium occurred on August 22, 2008, and were part of the PeyBack Classic, featuring Indiana high school football games between Noblesville High School and Fishers High School in Game 1, followed by New Palestine High School and Whiteland Community High School in Game 2.[58]

The first Colts game at the stadium was a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on August 24, 2008, which ended in a 20-7 loss.[59] The Colts faced the Chicago Bears in a rematch of Super Bowl XLI in their first regular season game in the stadium on September 7, 2008, which ended in a 29-13 defeat.[60][61]

Soccer

The stadium hosted its first soccer game on August 1, 2013, when Chelsea played Inter Milan in a first-round game of the International Champions Cup, drawing 41,983 fans.[62][63]

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From 2018 to 2020, Lucas Oil Stadium served as the home field of the United Soccer League's Indy Eleven, replacing the venue the team used while in the North American Soccer League, Carroll Stadium.[64]

Basketball

In March 2021, various rounds of the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament were moved to Lucas Oil Stadium as part of the NCAA's decision to consolidate the tournament into sites in Indiana as it could not be held across the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lucas Oil Stadium hosted games in all rounds (except the "First Four"), including the Final Four and championship game.[65] Lucas Oil Stadium will host the men's Final Four again in 2026.[66]

Lucas Oil Stadium hosted the Saturday night events of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend; the All-Star Game proper was hosted by Gainbridge Fieldhouse.[67]

Swimming

In 2024, Lucas Oil Stadium hosted the USA Swimming Olympic trials. The crowd of 20,689 was the largest gathering ever for an indoor swim meet.[68] The success of the event led USA Swimming to announce a return to the stadium for the 2028 trials.[69]

Professional wrestling

Lucas Oil Stadium hosted the 2025 Royal Rumble,[70] and will host a future SummerSlam and WrestleMania.[71][72]

Marching arts

On August 9, 2006, Drum Corps International (DCI) announced that it would move its corporate offices to Indianapolis and that the DCI World Championships would be held at Lucas Oil Stadium every year through 2018, beginning in 2008 as the stadium's inaugural event.[73] However, due to construction delays, DCI was forced to move its 2008 World Championships to Memorial Stadium, in Bloomington for that year. The competition was held for the first time at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2009, and has been hosted there every year since, with the exception of 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (DCI used Lucas Oil Stadium for a non-judged "DCI Celebration" in 2021.)[74] In 2015, Drum Corps International and the city of Indianapolis announced a 10-year contract extension, allowing the World Championships to continue through 2028.[75]

Lucas Oil Stadium is also host to the Bands of America Grand National Championships[76] and the Indiana Marching Band State Finals.[77]

Concerts

In addition to its role as a sports venue, Lucas Oil Stadium regularly hosts major concerts and entertainment events.

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Financing

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The total cost of Lucas Oil Stadium was $720 million.[90] The stadium is being financed with funds raised by the State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis, with the Indianapolis Colts providing $100 million. Marion County has raised taxes for food and beverage sales, auto rental taxes, innkeeper's taxes, and admission taxes for its share of the costs. Meanwhile, there has been an increase in food and beverage taxes in the eight surrounding doughnut counties (with the exception of Morgan County) and the sale of Colts license plates.[5]

The County Commissioners of each county voted whether to levy the 1% food and beverage tax proposed by Marion County. Under the agreement, half of the revenue from the tax would stay in the respective county. Morgan County was the only county to turn down the offer, yet in a later vote, it levied its own 1% tax – thus keeping all of its additional generated revenue.

Budget shortfall

In August 2006, the Capital Improvement Board, which operates the stadium, estimated that operating expenses of the new stadium would be $10 million more per year than the RCA Dome. The board urged the Indiana General Assembly to authorize funding to cover the shortfall.[91] The Indiana Legislature considered a bill to raise sales taxes statewide to cover the shortfall; however, this plan faced stiff opposition from legislators outside the Indianapolis metro area.[92]

The assembly ultimately authorized a tax increase in Indianapolis-Marion County. In addition, the CIB trimmed staff and cut $10 million from its budget. Still, the agency anticipated a $20 million operating deficit for Lucas Oil Stadium in 2009. Anticipated expenses were $27.7 million—far outstripping the $7.7 million CIB expected to collect from its share of revenue from stadium events.[93] The Colts organization has been criticized for the favorable lease terms and the high percentage of revenue it can keep under the terms of its agreements with the stadium authorities and there have been calls for the team to cover the shortfalls of the CIB. The Colts responded to these criticisms in an open letter to fans on September 16, 2009.[94]

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Incidents

On September 8, 2013, after the Colts defeated the Oakland Raiders in the season opener, a rail over the opposing team tunnel collapsed, injuring two fans. One fan was transferred to the hospital for evaluation. No serious injuries were reported.[95][96]

On September 3, 2015, three fans were injured by a bolt that fell from the roof of the stadium as it was being opened during an NFL preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals.[97] The stadium was pronounced safe by officials, but the roof remained closed for events until a final investigation was completed as to why the bolt fell.[98]

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Construction pictures

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    Early phases of construction
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    Satellite image
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    Mid-stage of construction

See also

References

External links

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