Lucas Oil Stadium opened in 2008, but even as several NFL teams have debuted sparkling new stadiums in the last decade and a half, the home of the Colts remains a state-of-the-art facility.
"When we tour an event group through Lucas Oil Stadium, they're usually surprised it's a 15-year-old building and then comment on how clean it is," Lucas Oil Stadium director Eric Neuburger said. "... We don't defer maintenance, we don't defer keeping up and cleaning the place. We try to make sure it's top notch any day of the year."
A panel of experts from USA Today's 10Best nominated Lucas Oil Stadium for its Best NFL Stadium award, and Colts fans can vote for their home away from home by clicking here. Neuburger, who's been Lucas Oil Stadium's director for the last seven years, has seen the Colts continually improve the gameday experience for fans – which, in tandem with upgrades to the facility and a commitment to maintaining it, have made the downtown Indianapolis stadium a destination not only for Colts fans, but for over 200 events every year.
"The creativity that the Colts put in place for the fan experience continues to amaze me," Neuburger said. There's a lot of talent that the Colts have in that building over on 56th Street, and whether it's dropping T-shirts from the catwalk, the pyrotechnics that are employed during Colts games, the new video boards that came into play in 2022 that have allowed amazing creativity to be displaced and fan engagement — I think Colts fans are really lucky to have the Colts minds behind the experience that they get to have on Sundays."
Since opening in 2008, Lucas Oil Stadium has hosted a Super Bowl, the College Football Playoff Championship, three men's Final Fours and, at least through 2024, the NFL Combine every year. In 2024, several events surrounding the NBA All-Star Game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium, and for the first time, the U.S. Olympic swimming team trials will take place at a football stadium – a nine-day primetime event between June 15-23, 2024.
And whether it's hosting Colts games, some of the country's biggest sporting events or anything else, Lucas Oil Stadium continues to be an example for just how well-run an NFL stadium can be.
"I do not know of any NFL stadium that has the volume and quality of events that we have," Neuburger said. "We are a stadium that operates much like an arena in terms of turning over from event to event and while there are others that do it, I think the way our stadium is situated in downtown Indianapolis connected to the convention center has led us to be the leader that most other stadiums look to in how they wish to operate."
