Indianapolis will continue hosting the NFL Combine through at least 2024, the league announced on Tuesday.
For the first time, the NFL accepted bids from cities to host the NFL Combine in 2023 and 2024. Indianapolis was awarded another two years of the NFL Combine – which it has hosted since 1987 – with a strong bid from the Colts, Visit Indy, the Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium, the City of Indianapolis, IU Health and the Indiana Sports Corp. Dallas and Los Angeles also submitted bids.
"Indy is a city built to host major sporting events, and I'm proud the Combine will continue to stay in our city," Colts Owner and CEO Jim Irsay said. Irsay said in March he had been pushing behind the scenes for Indianapolis to continue regularly hosting the Combine.
Plenty of NFL executives, scouts, staffers, coaches, and media members expressed their hope the NFL Combine would remain in Indianapolis during this year's event in early March. The setup in Indianapolis is ideal, with a central location for prospects and talent evaluators to conduct their work all under one roof between the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium and the hotels connected to those facilities. The Combine's partnership with IU Health allows for a streamlined medical process during the week-long event, too.
"We know many cities want to host the NFL Combine, and we're incredibly appreciative the NFL continues to put its faith in Indy," said Leonard Hoops, president & CEO of Visit Indy. "We are proud so many media, agents, scouts, coaches, and athletes organically called to keep the event here. And after more than three decades of hosting the Combine, our excitement has only grown when it comes to continuing our work with the NFL and the National Invitational Camp to make the event better every year for all those stakeholders as well as the growing number of fans who want to experience it in person."
