Lucas thinks Indy will get Super Bowl on regular rotation

Forrest Lucas, CEO and owner of California-based Lucas Oil, didn’t like the way the Indianapolis Colts playoff game ended Saturday, but he has absolutely no complaints about the 20-year, $121.5 million deal his company signed to be the title sponsor of the stadium the team calls home.

“That deal is one of the best deals we’ve ever done,” Lucas said while he was working in southern Indiana this week. “That stadium was a great deal, no doubt. The national exposure we’ve gotten from that deal has been even better than expected. You can’t believe the number of people that come up to me to talk about the stadium. No matter where I go, people ask about Lucas Oil Stadium. I think it’s the nicest stadium in the world.”

Lucas Oil has myriad motorsports sponsorships, but Lucas said nothing has taken his company to a mainstream audience as much as the stadium deal.

“Because of our stadium venture and our involvement with the NFL, twice as many people know Lucas Oil as they did before we did that deal,” Lucas said. “It’s been astronomical.”

Lucas said the bright red neon signs on the outside of the stadium have been worth millions of dollars to the company in marketing exposure every year. He thinks that value will be magnified next year when the Super Bowl is played here.

“A Super Bowl commercial is $3 million,” Lucas said. “If they show that building coming in and out of every commercial break, we’re going to get a lot more value than that. It will be huge, and our image will really be magnified.”

Lucas, who has a suite in the stadium, has been so impressed by the way the stadium operates and the city hosts Colts games, he is confident that the 2012 Super Bowl will not be Indianapolis’ last one.

“I travel a lot for business, and we do a lot of entertaining,” Lucas said. “I can tell you, what you have in Indianapolis is special. I’m confident once people come here and experience a Super Bowl, we’ll be in a four- or five-year rotation for the Super Bowl. I think we’ll be that much better than everybody else.”