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Indianapolis officials are once again charting plans to pursue hosting duties for a future NFL Draft—an event that could bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city.
Speculation about whether Indianapolis might go after the draft climbed after Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay on Friday morning teased as much in a post on social media site X, following the first night of this year’s three-day event.
“Monstrous crowd last night in Green Bay for” the first round, his post said. “INDY will also be a great host.”
Indianapolis, which last went after the draft in 2021, would likely be just one of several cities to bid for a future draft because the event has become highly sought after.
Pete Ward, chief operating officer for the Colts, largely declined to comment on the nature of discussions or when the city might want to host the event, deferring those questions to Visit Indy. However, he confirmed conversations are happening.
“There is nothing going on behind the scenes that says it’s a definite,” Ward said. “I think it’s a logical assumption that Indy will get it at some point.
”It’d be a city initiative and … we’ll be supportive, just like we would be for a Super Bowl bid or the [NFL] Combine. But the city has to make sure that there’s hotels and spaces that are reserved years in advance.”
The draft has typically drawn a half-million or more spectators since the league began moving to different cities in 2015. The first night of this year’s three-day draft drew 205,000 people to downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin, according to the NFL. The crowd was almost double the population of the city.
Last year’s draft in Detroit drew a record crowd of 775,000 over the three-day event.
The 2026 draft will be held in Pittsburgh, while Washington, D.C. and Denver are vying for the 2027 event. Indianapolis’ 2021 bid asked the league for hosting duties either for this year’s draft or the event in 2027.
When reached for comment about Irsay’s tweet, a spokesperson for the Colts said he wasn’t referring to specific plans but was rather an indication that the team was “excited to bid soon” on the event.
Indianapolis is also focused on retaining the NFL Combine past 2026, as it has hosted the event annually since 1984. It’s expected that any bid will be contingent on the city keeping that event, in addition to hosting a draft the same year.
“With the Colts as our QB, the Indiana Sports Corp, Capital Improvement Board and Visit Indy have expressed strong interest in hosting the NFL Draft in the near future,” the three organizations said in a shared written statement. “We know other major cities are vying to host this premier event and we feel confident the NFL knows our city’s capabilities. Simultaneously, Team Indy is also working hard to ensure we hang onto the Combine. Our group met with NFL executives when in the city during the Combine to express our interest.”
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By building the Signa on the old PamAm plaza the city has eliminated a great place for these type of events.
Agreed!
The Pan Am Plaza was a great place for public gatherings of all types.
Another wide open space in that vicinity is needed,
Can the IBJ investigate how the NFL is coming to its Draft attendance numbers? Since the NFL started moving the event around like a marque event, its attendance numbers have seemed highly inflated.
Supposedly, more than 200,000 people crammed into a parking lot next to Lambeau Field to watch the 1st round of the Draft in Green Bay. The parking lot was packed, but measuring liberally, the lot was only 8.5 acres. With the same density as the Snakepit, we would expect 100k people. Not 200k.
I find it really hard to believe that the NFL Draft in Green Bay managed to pack a 8.5 acre lot with twice as many people per unit of area as the Snakepit. Similar story for reported attendance numbers in Detroit, Kansas City, Nashville, and etc.
The Snake Pit doesn’t hold anywhere near 100,000. Maybe 30,000 tops and that’s a stretch.
Pretty sure they were comparing the density relative to the size of the two venues. Anyway who’s been to the snake pit knows that place is jam packed.