Combine sees record attendance as Indy looks to keep event past 2025
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis drew a record of more than 27,200 people over a four-day period, local tourism officials said Friday.
The combine, held Feb. 29 to March 3 at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium, was bolstered by the Combine Experience and Inside Look, separate attractions that were added to make the overall event more fan-inclusive. The previous record for fan attendance at the combine was in 2023, when about 26,000 attended.
The media-saturated combine primarily serves as a job interview and talent and medical evaluation process for upwards of 300 top college football prospects ahead of the NFL Draft, with Indianapolis hosting every year since 1987. The city will host the event again in 2025, but faces competition from other sites in future years.
Inside Look, which debuted in 2022, allows thousands of fans to watch athletes participate in primetime broadcasts of on-the-field workouts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, such as the 40-yard dash, the long jump, the high jump, cone drills and other position-specific exercises. In its first year, the event drew about 6,600 spectators.
This year, University of Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy broke a combine record for the 40-yard dash, posting a time of 4.21 seconds to break the previous record of 4.22 seconds set in 2017.
The NFL worked with Visit Indy and the city to create a limited Combine Experience ahead of the 2018 event, marking the first time spectators were permitted to go into the Indiana Convention Center to watch prospects participate in the bench-press drill, take part in interactive games, and glimpse the media center, where press conferences and interviews are conducted.
The Combine Experience is now largely staged on the parking lot south of the stadium, giving participants an opportunity to see all 57 Super Bowl Rings, play interactive games, take a photo with the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl XLI Vince Lombardi trophy. Fans can also try the bench press, a vertical jump and run a 40-yard dash against a virtual depiction of NFL players.
Chris Gahl, executive vice president of Visit Indy, said weather is a factor for the Combine Experience because it is largely held outdoors—in 2023, one day was rained out. Attendance this year was bolstered by a more thorough advertising campaign than in years past.
He said Visit Indy used geofencing, or virtual boundaries, during NBA All-Star Weekend to advertise the public-facing events for NFL Combine, in hopes it would lead visitors and residents downtown during that weekend to return for football-focused activity.
The tourism agency also advertised in several Big Ten Conference and Midwest markets to woo those who follow players on college teams to the event.
“We had a much more robust, more focused marketing campaign, this year,” he said. “We also started the marketing in mid-January,” which is earlier than in years past.
While an economic impact figure for the 2024 combine is not yet available (last year it generated $9.1 million), local tourism officials have continually stressed the importance of retaining the event—particularly as other cities pursue bids to host it after 2025.
Since the bidding process began in late 2021, Indianapolis has managed to keep its grasp on the combine, even amid competition from cities including Dallas and Los Angeles, who attended the 2023 event in anticipation of a bid. This year, delegations from Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Nashville and Phoenix attended the event and had meetings with the NFL.
Gahl said Indianapolis participated in its own meetings with the league, using the opportunity to make its pitch on keeping the combine.
“We had a very healthy discussion about our desire to keep the event safe and sound and in Indy past 2025,” he said. “We still believe we are the best host city and we were able to to talk with the NFL about enhancements that were made this year to the event from the city side. We also discussed areas of priority for them moving into next year, in 2025.”
He said Visit Indy is hopeful to learn of the league’s plans for 2026 and beyond “in the next eight to 10 months.”