Nearly two years into the pandemic, the agency that oversees the convention center, Lucas Oil Stadium and other sports venues has been able to pay its bills without layoffs or long-term facilities closures.
The Spring League, a developmental football association formed in 2017, racked up some $1.4 million in unpaid bills during a nine-week stay in Indianapolis last spring.
The improvements will bring new, higher-definition video boards to the northwest and southeast corners of the bowl, along with new video-ribbon displays, an upgraded sound system, new carpet and furniture, and an area in the team’s locker room for female football personnel.
The submissions—which are forerunners to formal bids—detail the city’s interesting in hosting the NFL scouting combine from 2023 to 2027 and the the draft in either 2025 or 2027.
The operator of the city’s convention facilities reported its best monthly financial performance since the pandemic led the Indiana Convention Center to temporarily close down in March 2020.
The Capital Improvement Board of Marion County is working to balance its budget and rebuild its reserves after a year in which it fell $40 million into the red.
The aging system has created friction between the CIB and some users of the convention center—most notably Gen Con, which wrote in 2018 emails it was concerned the Wi-Fi system was falling short of meeting its needs.
The company said Wednesday it plans to install its 5G+ service in the seating bowl, concourse area and exterior spots at the stadium ahead of the Final Four.
The agency, which operates the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Victory Field, was hit hard by the pandemic, with annual revenue off more than 50% from the previous year.
Senate Bill 385, authored by Republican Sen. Jack Sandlin of Indianapolis, would add two years to a 2019 bill that had called for a new special tax district—known as a professional sports development area—to be established in Marion County by mid-2022.
Officials are hopeful new virus cases won’t ruin plans to host two dozen events in the first quarter of 2021—including efforts to bring the full NCAA men’s basketball tournament here.
But Executive Director Andy Mallon says he’s “very confident” the board will recover from not only the pandemic but also necessary spending cuts and financial hits over the next 18 months.
Overall, 340 groups, representing nearly 965,000 attendees, outright canceled their Indianapolis events this year because of the pandemic. The loss of business is taking a toll on the Capital Improvement Board’s revenue streams.
The steps taken by the Capital Improvement Board of Marion County included putting five members of its executive staff on indefinite leave.
The program, called the Hospitality Establishment Lifeline Program, will provide grants to Marion County bars, restaurants and live entertainment venues that pay food and beverage taxes.
While the convention center began seeing some activity during July, those events had very little impact on the venue’s operating income for the month.
Overall attendance at Indiana Convention Center events has stagnated, but annual major conventions have seen explosive growth.
The Capital Improvement Board of Marion County approved a $132.3 million budget for 2021 during its Friday board meeting—a reduction of 26.4% from this year’s budget.
The CIB, which operates the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium, on Friday said May income fell significantly short of both previous-year and budgeted totals because of the pandemic.
With no new business in April and downtown hotel occupancy stuck below 8% since late March, the agency overseeing the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium has seen revenue crater.
