Lucas Oil Stadium

Lucas Oil Stadium

The House that Manning Built
Aerial photograph of Lucas Oil Stadium (2016).
Address	500 South Capitol Avenue
Location	Indianapolis, Indiana
Coordinates	39°45′36.2″N 86°9′49.7″W / 39.760056°N 86.163806°W / 39.760056; -86.163806Coordinates: 39°45′36.2″N 86°9′49.7″W / 39.760056°N 86.163806°W / 39.760056; -86.163806
Owner	Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority (State of Indiana)[1]
Operator	Capital Improvement Board of Managers of Marion County, Indiana
Executive suites	139
Capacity	American football: 67,000 (expandable to 70,000)[2] Basketball: 70,000 (approx)
Surface	FieldTurf (2008-2018) Shaw Sports Momentum Pro (2018-present)
Construction
Broke ground	September 20, 2005
Opened	August 16, 2008
Construction cost	US$720 million[3] ($808 million in 2016 dollars[4])
Architect	HKS, Inc. A2so4 Architecture[5] Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf, Inc.[6]
Project manager	John Klipsch Consulting LLC[7]
Structural engineer	Walter P Moore/Fink Roberts & Petrie[8]
Services engineer	Moore Engineers PC[9][10]
General contractor	Hunt/Smoot/Mezzetta[3]
Tenants
Indianapolis Colts (NFL; 2008–present) Indy Eleven (USL; 2018–present)

Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts and opened on August 16, 2008.^[11] The stadium was constructed to allow the removal of the RCA Dome and expansion of the Indiana Convention Center on its site. The stadium is on the south side of South Street, a block south of the former site of the RCA Dome. In 2006, prior to the stadium's construction, Lucas Oil Products secured the naming rights for the stadium at a cost of $122 million over 20 years. ^[12] The venue also serves as the current home for the United Soccer League's Indy Eleven.

The architectural firm HKS, Inc. was responsible for the stadium's design, with Walter P Moore working as the Structural Engineer of Record. The stadium features a retractable roof and window wall, thus allowing the Colts and the Eleven to play both indoors and outdoors. The field surface was originally FieldTurf but was replaced in 2018 with Shaw Sports Momentum Pro.^[13] The exterior of the new stadium is faced with a reddish-brown brick trimmed with Indiana Limestone, similar to several other sports venues in the area such as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, and the Fairgrounds Coliseum.^[14]

Features[edit]

Interior of Lucas Oil Stadium

Lucas Oil Stadium has a seating capacity of 67,000 ^[3] and covers approximately 1.8 million square feet. The stadium offers 139 suites, two club lounges, two exhibit halls and 12 meeting rooms. There are also 360 degree ribbon boards and two massive high definition video boards. ^[15] An underground walkway directly connects the stadium to the Indiana Convention Center. ^[14]

Other features include:

• 183,000 square feet of exhibit space
• 7 locker rooms
• 11 indoor truck docks
• 14 escalators
• 11 passenger elevators
• 2 accessible pedestrian ramps

Retractable Roof[edit]

The stadium's retractable roof can open or close in 9 to 11 minutes. It is composed of two panels that each weigh 2.5 million pounds. ^{[16] [3]}

NFL rules for roof opening[edit]

The home team determines if the roof is to be opened or closed 90 minutes before kickoff. The roof remains open unless precipitation or lightning is within the vicinity of the stadium, the temperature drops below 40 °F (4 °C), or wind gusts are greater than 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), in which case the roof operators will close the roof. Once the roof is closed, it is not allowed to be reopened.^[3]

Retractable Window[edit]

Visitors can view the Indianapolis skyline through the northeast retractable window.

The retractable north window offers a view of downtown Indianapolis during games, concerts and other events due to the stadium's angled position on the city block. ^{[17] [16]}

Gate sponsorship[edit]

The four gates leading into Lucas Oil Stadium are each named for sponsoring corporation: Lucas Oil, Verizon, HHGregg, and Huntington Bank. The ground-level concourses of their respective gates feature banners and floor coverings with the corporations' logos, advertisements and merchandise displays.^[18]

Events[edit]

Super Bowl XLVI post-game celebrations in 2012.

Lucas Oil Stadium configured to host the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four.

Annual events include:

• Bands of America Grand National Championships and Indianapolis Super Regionals
• Big Ten Football Championship Game ^[19]
• Circle City Classic
• Drum Corps International World Championships
• FDIC International (Firefighting Convention)
• IHSAA Indiana State Football Championships
• ISSMA Band State Finals
• Monster Energy Supercross
• Monster Jam
• NFL Draft Combine

Upcoming events include:

• Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour (September 15, 2018)^[20]
• General Conference Session of Seventh-day Adventists (June 25-July 4, 2020)
• College Football Playoff National Championship (January 10, 2022)
• NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four (April 2021)

Significant past events included:

• Super Bowl XLVI (February 5, 2012)^[21]
• Kenny Chesney (2008, 2009, 2012, 2015)
• Chelsea vs. Inter Milan (International Champions Cup) (August 1, 2013)
• NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four (2010, 2015)
• One Direction – On The Road Again Tour (July 31, 2015)
• Gen Con 50 (August 2017)
• U2 – The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 (September 10, 2017)

Football[edit]

The first games played at Lucas Oil Stadium occurred on August 22, 2008 and were part of the PeyBack Classic, featuring Indiana High School Football games between Noblesville High School and Fishers High School in Game 1, followed by New Palestine High School and Whiteland Community High School in Game 2.^[22] On November 26, 2008, Cardinal Ritter High School became the first high school to win a state championship on the field, beating Sheridan High School 34-27 for the class A state title. The Colts faced the Chicago Bears in a rematch of Super Bowl XLI^[23] in their first regular season game in the stadium.

Soccer[edit]

The stadium hosted its first soccer game on August 1, 2013, when Chelsea played Inter Milan in a first-round game of the International Champions Cup, drawing 41,983 fans.^[24]

Date	Winning Team	Result	Losing Team	Tournament	Spectators
August 1, 2013	Chelsea	2–0	Inter Milan	2013 International Champions Cup First Round	41,983

As of 2018, Lucas Oil Stadium serves as the home field for the United Soccer League's Indy Eleven, replacing the venue they used while in the North American Soccer League, Carroll Stadium.^[25]

Entertainment[edit]

Drum Corps International (DCI) announced on August 9, 2006 that it would move its corporate offices to Indianapolis and that the DCI World Championships would be the inaugural event for the stadium and would be held at Lucas Oil Stadium every year through 2018.^[26] In 2015, Drum Corps International and the city of Indianapolis announced a 10-year contract extension, allowing the World Championships to continue through 2028.^[27] The competition was held for the first time at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2009.^[28]

Other regular events include the Bands of America Grand National Championships^[29] and the Indiana Marching Band State Finals,^[30] both major events for the city in Marching band competitions.

Concerts[edit]

Financing[edit]

The total cost of Lucas Oil Stadium was $720 million. The stadium is being financed with funds raised by the State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis, with the Indianapolis Colts providing $100 million. Marion County has raised taxes for food and beverage sales, auto rental taxes, innkeeper's taxes, and admission taxes for its share of the costs. Meanwhile, there has been an increase in food and beverage taxes in the 8 surrounding doughnut counties (with the exception of Morgan County) and the sale of Colts license plates.^[3]

The County Commissioners of each county voted whether to levy the 1% food and beverage tax proposed by Marion County. Sweetening the deal for those counties was the fact that half of the revenue from the tax would stay in the respective county. Morgan County was the only county to turn down the offer, yet in a later vote, it levied its own 1% tax – thus keeping all of its additional generated revenue.

Budget shortfall[edit]

In August 2006, the Capital Improvement Board, which operates the stadium, estimated that daily operating expenses of the new stadium would be $10 million more per year than the RCA Dome. The board urged the Indiana General Assembly to authorize funding to cover the shortfall.^[33] The Indiana Legislature considered a bill to raise sales taxes statewide to cover the shortfall, however this plan faces stiff opposition from legislators outside the Indianapolis metro area.^[34]

The assembly ultimately authorized a tax increase in Indianapolis-Marion County. In addition, the CIB trimmed staff and cut $10 million from its budget. Still, the agency anticipated a $20 million operating deficit for Lucas Oil Stadium in 2009. Anticipated expenses are $27.7 million—far outstripping the $7.7 million CIB expects to collect from its share of revenue from stadium events.^[35] The Colts organization has been criticized for the favorable lease terms and the high percentage of revenue it can keep under the terms of its agreements with the stadium authorities and there have been calls for the team to cover the shortfalls of the CIB. The Colts responded to these criticisms in an open letter to fans on September 16, 2009.^[36]

Complications[edit]

On September 8, 2013 after the Colts defeated the Oakland Raiders in the season opener, a rail over the opposing team tunnel collapsed injuring two fans. One fan was transferred to the hospital for evaluation. No serious injuries were reported.

On September 3, 2015, three fans were injured by a bolt that fell from the roof of the stadium as it was being opened during an NFL preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals.^[37] The stadium was pronounced safe by officials, but the roof was to remain closed for events until a final investigation was completed as to why the bolt fell.^[38]

Construction pictures[edit]

• 

  Early phases of construction

• 

  Satellite image

• 

  Mid-stage of construction

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lucas Oil Stadium.

• Official website
• Lucas Oil Stadium page at Ballparks.com
• Lucas Oil Stadium Seating Chart
• Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority
• Emporis Buildings Site Info
• IndyStar.com Webcam
• Link to High Quality Pictures Inside Lucas Oil Stadium
• Lucas Oil Stadium construction pictures
• Retractable roof technical description and illustration