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After being canceled this year due to the pandemic, the NFL Scouting Combine will return to Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis in 2022. However, the league says the location of the 2023 combine will be determined through a bidding process involving Indianapolis, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Indianapolis has been home to the combine since 1987. Earlier this year, the NFL announced the combine would be open to bids starting with the 2023 event. The league did not say when the winning bid for 2023 would be announced.
While this would be the first official bidding process for the combine, it is not the first time Indianapolis has had to compete for the event. In 2019, Visit Indy told Inside INdiana Business the city was competing with other major cities, including Dallas and Los Angeles, to host the combine.
According to Visit Indy, the NFL Combine generates about $10 million in economic impact for the city. Senior Vice President Chris Gahl said while 2022 is the last contracted year for the combine to be in Indianapolis, the organization is confident the city will continue to host it.
“Alongside the Colts, team Indy put in a competitive bid to keep the NFL Scouting Combine in place for 2023 and beyond,” Gahl said in an email. “We are proud Indy is advancing down the field and remain optimistic the NFL will continue to entrust the city with this prestigious event.”
The league canceled the in-person combine for 2021 due to the pandemic and adjusted the event’s format to include virtual interviews with college prospects and workouts taking place at the athletes’ respective colleges.
In addition to the combine, Indianapolis has expressed formal interest in hosting the upcoming NFL Drafts.
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Because Indianapolis is the perfect location to accommodate the needs of the Combine, and has shined as its host for more than three decades, it is only natural that other cities want in on the action. But Indy cannot rest on its laurels, and will need to compete for the event in the future by staying ahead of its competitors. Exactly how that is achieved remains to be seen.
Lol. It’s moving, permanently. Might want to start getting used to that reality.
Well, Murray R let them have it. I know of no other situation that meets the needs of a multi-day event like this, like the City of Indianapolis does. If the people there are there for business (evaluating talent etc.) they need a place like this. If its to have a good time and booze and chase skirts and do everything that they do at political conventions and super bowls and similar “conventions” then Indy will always face an uphill battle. I know what LA is like and no matter what venue, you put it in, you will be driving and running all over the place to do what you want get any rest and eat where you want. As for Dallas, which is a pretty nice place it still requires a lot more mobility. If it goes to either one, it will be due to money. Give them a few years of trying to do this and you will get it returned to Indy permanently.
Keeping the NFL Combine and other conventions is going to be driven by a safe and thriving downtown. If Rolls Royce, Salesforce, AUL and other major employers are going to continue to abandon downtown, then maintaining the restaurant and entertainment amenities to keep and win new conventions will be difficult.
We are all in this together, whether we want to be or not.
Have confidence in Indy. There are too many facilities, “right here.” Nobody can beat our central/convenient facilities. We have it all over anybody else; hotels, hospitals, stadium, convention center, outstanding restaurants, handling events, etc. park your car and pick it up when you leave. No other NFL city has all of this! Plus…..the biggest factors are competence and experience.