Mayor: Colts camp ‘all about identity’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indianapolis Colts begin their final days of training camp today with the first of two joint practices with the Chicago Bears at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield.
The Colts are one of only eight NFL teams to conduct training camp off-site, and a big reason for that is fan engagement, which is highlighted by the fact that both joint practice days are sold out.
Westfield Mayor Andy Cook says hosting the Colts camp since 2018 has improved the identity of both the city and Grand Park in a way that couldn’t be done otherwise.
Cook told Around INdiana Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman the biggest return the city sees from training camp is national recognition.
“The unearned media from having NFL TV here, from having the national media here, and I read it in the paper every day in the national publications. And I love that byline that says, ‘Westfield, Indiana,'” Cook said. “I can document several cases where residents and business people, their very first introduction to Grand Park was visiting or hearing about the Colts.”
Cook said the media attention is worth millions of dollars of exposure each year. He said the camp is largely an Indiana crowd by design, which means area hotels don’t see as much of a boost as local restaurants do. But the purpose is to bring a Colts experience to families from throughout the state.
“You see the thousands of families, thousands of kids, many of them have never seen [Colts mascot] Blue. They’ve never seen a Colts cheerleader, and they certainly have not seen an NFL player live. And when you see these kids, their eyes are as big as saucers at the end of camp. They’re all around the fence waiting for those autograph balls to be thrown out. How do you put a price on that?”
The training camp itself is not a money maker for Grand Park. A report presented to the Westfield Redevelopment Commission in December showed last year’s camp brought in nearly $164,000 in revenue, but had over $716,000 in expenses, about $256,000 of which was reimbursable.
But Cook said the partnership with the team is just one aspect of Grand Park and has come with its own benefits. He noted the Colts have rebuilt and maintained two football fields at their own expense. “So there’s a lot of give and take.”
“You have to look at the entire Grand Park picture,” he said. “Do we make money off of this operation? No. We don’t. But would we change that when our overall picture is so positive? Absolutely not.”
He said excluding the venue’s existing debt, which is being paid by property taxes generated from the businesses that have located in the area, the entire Grand Park operation, including Colts camp, creates $8 billion in revenue.
“Last year alone, the city netted $2 million in operational profit that we put right back into the park. So does Grant Park make money? Yes, it does.”
The city is currently in the process of identifying a new operator or manager of Grand Park. Our partners at the IBJ reported last week that three companies remain under consideration, though the city did not identify which companies from the original seven being considered are included.