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Relative to most other stadiums, Lucas Oil Stadium has held up to the test of time very well. It even holds its own compared to much newer facilities.
It should be renovated, but there is no need to build a new stadium anytime soon. Moving practice facilities Downtown could make sense as well, but most of the land to the south & east of Lucas Oil needs to be developed.
The Irsay’s have plenty of money to take care of the stadium themselves.
Interesting how you forgot to include the Halas-McCaskey family as well.
Michael N.
+1
The city has contributed more than enough to a Billionaire owner.
If the Colts ever ask for non game day revenue of any kind that should be a big fat “ He’ll No”
As for wanting to be in the top five teams in the league revenue wise, it will never happen. Indianapolis is to small of an NFL market.
I love the Colts and watch all their games. But the Colts are and have been draining the city of revenue that is badly needed for maintaining downtown infrastructure.
GG, what’s interesting? I’ve been very vocal that that billionaire family should build its own stadium, too
+1
“Forty-two years in a city should yield more than one championship banner. Rather than merely reaping the financial rewards of a dedicated community, the franchise needs to match the city’s investment with a premium product on the turf.”
Spot on
David B.
The state should help the city get a MLS team here. The benefits would be huge for the city and state,
Winning one Super Bowl with Peyton Manning is unforgivable.
It took a talent the caliber of Peyton Manning (and several others from Polian on down) to overcome the generational mediocrity of the Irsay Family.
Now that the Statehouse and Governor bent over backwards to try and lure the Chicago Bears to Hammond, the Colts have every right — be it right or wrong, to demand more. Whether or not the Bears do move to Indiana, the Bears will remain Chicago’s team. Precedent has been set. That said, the Colts WILL eventually come calling for help with stadium upgrades and improvements. For the life of me I don’t get why the same lawmakers have tried to stomp out efforts to get a MLS franchise and stadium for Indianapolis. Spend some of that money and effort on a team that would truly benefit Indiana.
A mixed use stadium district would be a big boost to the city. The parking lots around the stadium are a waste of prime real estate. There are a lot of complaints about subsidizing billionaire team owners, but Lucas Oil Stadium gets a lot more use than just the Colts. The other sporting events, concerts, and convention use that it gets are an important to the city as well.
Sure, that development will look nice but what if your bar or restaurant is outside that development? Good luck competing with that. Also, the state and local taxes from that development will be diverted to pay for whatever upgrades the Colts want for LOS. The stage has been set with the deal for the Pacers and the proposed deal for the Bears. The Colts are coming with their hands out – you can count on it.
I would hope that any renovations, expansion, etc. can be funded by refinancing high-interest debt. Hopefully, when interest rates decline that can happen. I suspect the revenue which pays off the bond debt is well beyond what was projected. To review, there’s a 1% restaurant tax in Marion County and surrounding counties except Morgan. That should be adequate to fund refinancing the current balance and up to $500 million going forward. LOS has been a huge benefit to Central Indiana and we need to continue to improve it to maintain the Colts, Final Fours, football championships, as well as Convention business.
And/or make the Colts sell a minority interest in the team to fund their share of the upgrades. How many homes and guitars did good-ole Jimmy purchase thanks to the taxpayers?
I’m not sure, could be wrong. But I thought the Colts / CIB agreement several years ago included the Colts keeping non game day revenues also. Such as concessions, parking, etc,….
In fact almost all non game day revenues from anything going on in Lucas Oil Stadium.
Is this correct???
Yup. We got worked over on that deal.
cTo those of you who hate “billionaire” owners, stadia are similar to tax credits to lure e.g. Amazon facilities or Meta facilities or Lilly facilities! What is so short-sighted about folks is that now you have more than 40 years of the Colts here. Is Indianapolis better off with Lucas Oil and the RCA Dome before??? If you say no, you’re blind to the other development LOS has led to. If the Colts folded tomorrow, we have this state of the art facility they can’t take with them! It’s a regionally funded, regional asset that benefits all of Indiana. Wake the hell up!
John S.: Simply stated, simply put. Helping teams build stadiums with taxpayer breaks and $$?: Not ideal, but it’s the world we live in. As mentioned above, LOS’ primary tenant may be the Colts, but the spin-off events cast an even more lucrative and wider net: IHSAA and B10 football championships, Final Fours, Swimming, NFL Combine, Taylor Swift, “pro” wrestling, high school band competitions, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, Gen Con, Firefighters convention, Ed Sheeran, 60,000 Catholics for the Eucharistic Congress…to name a few. Oh yeah, the Super Bowl. Without LOS, face it, most of that stuff ain’t happening here folks. With new all-weather stadiums in progress or in the pipeline: Nashville, Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington D.C., maybe Chicago (somewhere?!) we have to stay on top of our game….ahead of it really. Just think about it.
Yes, it is nice to have an NFL stadium with an NFL team.
However, how about a large multi purpose stadium that can seat 65,000 to 85,000 people. An arena that is specifically designed to be multipurpose.
Concerts, exhibits, sporting events, conventions, ect….as part of the convention center.
Not being dependent on an NFL team that does not pay for itself
while simultaneously being the financial shot caller.
Look at our downtown infrastructure. Street curbs crumbling, badly stained and chipped sidewalks, and the bricks on monument circle look absolutely horrible.
My point is, that we have conceded to much to the Colts financially. The Colts should contribute more financially. Our downtown infrastructure needs the funding badly.
We should not be so financially dependent on the Colts.
Show us the “other development” around LOS?
Unfortunately almost all data points to the opposite outcome of your argument…
The city invests the money and the majority ends up in a few private hands – that investment could have been spent and created more local wealth from most historical data studies
Our city is more than just downtown and vacating a large complex in Pike Township would not be acting “in the city’s best interest”, to quote the COO. Proposing a new team headquarters facility and asking for their neighbors’ tax dollars to build it, at the same time that they would be leaving a gaping hole on the northwest side, is a lose-lose for Indianapolis.
I am sooooo glad my food and beverage sales tax dollars are supporting billionaires that can’t afford to build their own stadiums. The NFL Cartel likes to siphon money from the poorer people in the name increasing the franchise value. If municipalities were owned in the franchise for supporting projects with tax dollars and we could recoup on the transfer or sale of the team…I think that is a better formula for tax payers…In my opinion…
Packers define small market, yet are ranked 11th for revenue, play in one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL, have multiple championships and are not going anywhere!
Packers are a unicorn now prohibited by NFL rules.
It’s all politics as usual. The powers that be will do what they want. It doesn’t matter to them what the public wants. They will approve and taxpayers will get shafted again regardless. More of my tax money will go for something I don’t use. Any sports team in Indiana should pay for any upgrades themselves. Especially since they get all revenue for the games. But I don’t expect that to happen. We can’t have them leaving, can we? I mean they are 28th our 32 in the league.
To the best of my knowledge the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, host to the biggest single day sporting event in the world plus numerous other uses, has never asked the city or state for any tax payer funded handouts. Also, you can get a ticket to the race for a reasonable amount of money if your willing to sit in certain areas. The Hulman’s, the George family, and now Penske all have made enormous improvements to the venue without any significant handouts.