If the Chicago Bears opt to build in Northwest Indiana, it would be the third modern National Football Stadium built in the Hoosier State.
A Bears stadium also would be the third to benefit from public financing. Central Indiana taxpayers finally paid off their share of the Hoosier Dome, which initially lured the Colts from Baltimore to Indiana until 2020, 13 years after it was demolished. Lucas Oil Stadium, which replaced the RCA Dome in downtown Indianapolis, will be paid off in 2037, according to the Capital Improvements Board of Marion County. As of last year, taxpayers still owed more than half a billion dollars on the stadium that's served as the home of the Indianapolis Colts for nearly two decades now, according to an audit by the accounting firm Katz, Sapper & Miller.
While pitching public financing for a $2 billion Chicago Bears stadium by Wolf Lake in Hammond, Indiana lawmakers copied the 2005 legislation that created Lucas Oil Stadium. The 63,000-seat red brick stadium on the south end of Indianapolis's downtown has hosted the Colts, the NFL Scouting Combine, the Big Ten Football Championship Game, the Circle City Classic, Indiana High School Athletic Association state football championship, high school marching band state finals, Monster Jam monster truck rallies, Monster Energy Supercross races and the National FFA Convention.
It has also hosted the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Fours, Olympic Trials, a College Football Playoff National Championship game and major concerts, including Taylor Swift, U2, Guns N' Roses and Kenny Chesney. It's also slated to host several upcoming WWE events, including the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.
Lucas Oil Stadium, which opened in 2008, was constructed at a cost of around $720 million, according to the CIB. The Colts paid $100 million while taxpayers put up $619.6 million in public funding, or 86% of the total.
"Major development projects like this require public-private partnerships in order to move forward. The mechanisms in Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority legislation are similar to the legislation that was created for Lucas Oil Stadium and Gainbridge Fieldhouse," NWI Forum President Heather Ennis said.
Most of the taxes funding Lucas Oil Stadium target visitors to Marion County, including a 10% admissions tax, a 5% hotel tax, a 3% car rental tax and a 2% food and beverage tax, according to the CIB. A Professional Sports Development Area, similar to a tax-increment financing district, also captures an estimated $16 million a year in state and local income and sales taxes around Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center.
Lucas Oil bought the naming rights to the stadium for $122 million, and corporate sponsors also acquired naming rights to the stadium's four games, according to the CIB.
The CIB projects that the Lucas Oil Stadium and Indiana Convention Center debt, which includes $275 million of convention center upgrades, will not be retired until 2037. The CIB has budgeted $31.2 million for debt service this year, down from $37 million in 2025.
As of last year, the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building still owed more than $543.8 million in debt on Lucas Oil Stadium, according to the Indiana State Board of Accounts.
The agency estimates that Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center drew 2.6 million visitors in 2024, the most recent year for which data was available. That's up from 1.9 million in 2023. The state agency estimates tourism drawn by Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center generated an estimated $463 million in state and local taxes in 2024.
"Indiana has demonstrated that it can put responsible financial frameworks in place while remaining competitive and fiscally prudent," Ennis said. "At the Northwest Indiana Forum, we see this as far more than a stadium discussion. It reflects years of work strengthening our region’s business climate, and the Chicago media coverage throughout this process has demonstrated this. Our communities have been featured prominently, putting Northwest Indiana’s best foot forward. The attention has been intense, and it has served as a powerful commercial for Northwest Indiana."
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