Lucas Oil Stadium

• 1. Introduction

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  Lucas Oil Stadium opened on the 16th of August 2008, and it did so by replacing something Indianapolis had relied on for nearly a quarter century. The RCA Dome, home to the Colts since 1984, came down to make room for this new building and an expanded Indiana Convention Center next door. The question hanging over the project was whether a city like Indianapolis could build a stadium worthy of the biggest events in American sports. The answer would take years to fully arrive, and it came through record-breaking concerts, pandemic-era NCAA tournaments, Olympic swim trials, and a roof that can move in about eleven minutes.

• 2. A Building Inside a Building

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  The stadium covers approximately 1.8 million square feet, and much of that space is devoted to uses that have nothing to do with football. Inside, there are 139 suites, two club lounges, two exhibit halls, 12 meeting rooms, 11 indoor truck docks, and 14 escalators. An underground walkway links the building directly to the Indiana Convention Center next door, making it possible for the same square footage to host a firefighting convention and an NFL game within days of each other. The exterior is faced with reddish-brown brick trimmed with Indiana limestone, a material choice that ties it visually to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, and Corteva Coliseum nearby. Architectural firm HKS, Inc. designed the building, with Walter P Moore serving as the Structural Engineer of Record.

• 3. The Roof and the Window

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  Two panels, each weighing 2.5 million pounds, form the retractable roof. Together they can open or close in about eleven minutes, and the home team decides which it will be 90 minutes before kickoff. The roof's significance became clear in September 2015, when a bolt fell from it during a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, injuring three fans. Officials declared the stadium safe, but the roof stayed closed for several weeks while an investigation ran its course. Separate from the roof is a retractable north window, positioned to frame a view of downtown Indianapolis during games and events, made possible by the stadium's angled placement on its city block.

• 4. The Price of a New Home

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  Lucas Oil, a manufacturer and distributor of automotive oil, additives, and lubricants headquartered in Indianapolis, paid $122 million over 20 years for the right to name the building. That deal was signed in 2006, before construction was finished. The total construction cost reached $720 million. The Indianapolis Colts contributed $100 million of that sum; the rest came from the State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis, assembled through a layered system of taxes. Marion County raised taxes on food and beverage sales, auto rentals, innkeepers, and admissions. Eight surrounding counties, every one except Morgan County, agreed to levy a 1% food and beverage tax, with half the revenue staying local. Morgan County initially refused, then later voted in its own 1% tax, keeping all of the additional revenue for itself rather than sharing it.

• 5. A Deficit From Day One

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  By August 2006, before the stadium even opened, the Capital Improvement Board estimated that running it would cost $10 million more per year than running the RCA Dome had. The Indiana Legislature considered a statewide sales tax increase to cover the gap, but legislators outside the Indianapolis metro area pushed back hard. The assembly eventually authorized a tax increase limited to Indianapolis-Marion County. The CIB also trimmed staff and cut $10 million from its own budget. Even so, the agency projected a $20 million operating deficit for the stadium in 2009, with anticipated expenses of $27.7 million against just $7.7 million in expected event revenue. The Colts organization drew criticism for lease terms seen as favorable to the team, and calls grew for the franchise to help cover the CIB's shortfalls. The Colts replied to those criticisms publicly in an open letter to fans dated the 16th of September 2009.

• 6. Field Surface Firsts

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  The original field surface at Lucas Oil Stadium was FieldTurf, replaced in 2018 with Shaw Sports Momentum Pro. In 2024, the stadium installed Hellas Matrix Turf, making it the first indoor NFL venue to use geofill. That same year the building hosted the 2024 United States Olympic Trials for swimming, where an indoor crowd of 20,689 gathered to watch, setting the record for the largest audience ever at an indoor swim meet. The result impressed USA Swimming enough that the organization announced a return to the stadium for the 2028 trials.

• 7. Concerts and Records

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  Kenny Chesney played the stadium's first public concert on the 13th of September 2008, drawing a sold-out crowd of 50,528 and generating $3,835,609 in revenue. He returned in 2009, 2012, and 2015. Taylor Swift set a new attendance record with each of her three Eras Tour shows in November 2024, becoming the first act to perform three shows at the stadium on a single tour. The third of those shows, on the 3rd of November 2024, was also the final stop of the Eras Tour in the United States. U2's Joshua Tree Tour 2017 stop on the 10th of September 2017 drew 51,731 fans and earned $5,970,055. An earlier high mark came from Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour on the 15th of September 2018, which brought in $6,531,245 with 55,729 attendees, the second-highest attended concert in the stadium's history at the time.

• 8. Beyond Football

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  Drum Corps International announced in August 2006 that it would move its corporate offices to Indianapolis and that the DCI World Championships would be held at Lucas Oil Stadium every year through 2018. Construction delays pushed the first championship at the new venue to 2009. DCI and the city later signed a 10-year extension in 2015, stretching the annual World Championships contract through 2028. When the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to spread the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament across the country, the NCAA moved the entire bracket to Indiana. Lucas Oil Stadium hosted every round except the First Four, including the Final Four and the championship game. The 10th National Eucharistic Congress filled the stadium from the 17th to the 21st of July 2024. The 2025 Royal Rumble took place on the 1st of February 2025, and the stadium is already contracted to host a future SummerSlam and WrestleMania.