Before 1982, NFL teams would have to painstakingly schedule workouts and drills with each and every college prospect that they were considering for the draft. Dallas Cowboys president Tex Schramm suggested centralizing and streamlining the process, and that idea resulted in the National Invitational Camp (NIC), the precursor to the NFL Scouting Combine.
Advertisement
The event was held in Tampa, Florida, in its inaugural year of 1982. It then moved to New Orleans in 1984 and to Arizona in 1985. It finally settled in Indianapolis for good in 1987, where it has been held every year since.
When the old RCA Dome in Indy became outdated, they broke ground on Lucas Oil Stadium to replace it. It was completed and opened in 2008. And it was built with the NFL Scouting Combine very much in mind, as Indianapolis had already hosted the event for 19 years when they broke ground on Lucas Oil. Some—such as sports personality Joe Pompliano—might even say it was “designed to host” the yearly event.
“When Lucas Oil Stadium opened in 2008, it was an engineering masterpiece… The engineering team also added some unique features specifically for [the NFL Combine],” said the sports personality in a social media video.
Why is that? Pompliano shed light on the fact that the “luxury suites” are designed to transform into meeting rooms for interviews with prospects.
The stadium is also equipped with fiber optic lines running underground that ensure high-speed connections for quick data transfer. This comes in quite handy when linking to a hospital and quickly assessing a player’s health. There are also elevated walkways throughout the stadium that help the attendees move from one place to another without needing to rely on a vehicle.
“There are fiber optic lines running underground that connect to the local hospital, allowing teams to analyze 600 MRIs and 1,200 X-rays in real-time during the Combine. And everything is connected through a system of sky bridges, meaning NFL personnel can go from their hotel to the stadium without ever getting in a car or even going outside.”
View this post on Instagram
The stadium also features a five-million-pound retractable roof that can open in just 11 minutes. The retractable window, which offers a view of Indianapolis’ downtown skyline, is the largest in the NFL. Despite the seven NFL stadiums that have been built since Lucas Oil was finished, it is still one of the most impressive football cathedrals in the country.
But how much longer will the home of the Indianapolis Colts remain the home of the NFL Scouting Combine as well? There’s no doubt that the allure of the event has waned in recent years. More and more top prospects are foregoing the on-field drills for their own Pro Days later in the calendar.
However, that has not affected the bottom line at all. The Combine still brings in about $10 million in economic activity to the state of Indiana every year. That’s why it was okay to ask taxpayers to spend extra on those Combine-specific features.
Unfortunately for Indiana, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell seems like he wants to spread the love and have other cities host the Combine moving forward. It’s similar to what he’s done with the NFL Draft, which was held exclusively in New York City from 1965 to 2014.
“The NFL wants to switch things up. Similar to how Roger Goodell has made the NFL Draft a rotating event between various cities, the NFL is now letting other cities submit bids to host the annual NFL draft. No formal decision has been made yet but Indianapolis’ contract with the NFL ends in 2026. And Dallas, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Phoenix are all interested,” Pompliano reported.
The rotating host venue does give more NFL cities a chance to showcase themselves while also enjoying the economic benefits of the event. However, it would be a shame for Indianapolis to lose its marquee NFL event. Not to mention the MRI and X-ray backlog that we’re sure to see with the Combine hosted at any stadium other than Lucas Oil.
