INDIANAPOLIS – The relationship is at 35 years and counting.
Whether – or when – it hits 36 is anyone’s guess.
We’re talking about the NFL Scouting Combine, which has called Indy home since 1987. It’s that week on the league calendar – late February – set aside for draft-eligible prospects to converge on one site so general managers, coaches, scouts and medical personnel are able to assess that next wave of talent on a level playing field.
The first of 324 prospects begins arriving in town Sunday and Monday, which signals a return to normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic kept everyone away last year.
There will be another rinse-and-repeat cycle next February, but the overriding question: Where?
After spending the last several years tweaking and tinkering with the operational aspects of the Scouting Combine to stoke fan interest – 10,000 fans will be allowed in the lower level at Lucas Oil Stadium for player workouts; those workouts, for so long reserved for the eyes of GMs, coaches and scouts again will be televised in primetime – the NFL last summer decided to address the event’s permanent status in Indy.
It’s no longer permanent.
The NFL sought bids from other cities through that city’s team to host the Scouting Combine. Three made the cut: Indy, Los Angeles and Dallas.
A final bid from that trio is due April 1 and a decision on next year’s site is expected in late spring or early summer.
It’s conceivable the Scouting Combine returns to Indy in ’23 to give the next city an opportunity to better prepare for the massive task it’s assuming. But again, it’s not if, but when the event relocates.
“We have every intention to keep the event and grow the event,’’ said Chris Gahl, senior vice president of Visit Indy. “And if the NFL decides other cities will have the opportunity to host the event, we’ll look for opportunities to invite them back for future years.’’
It’s uncertain how the NFL’s rotational approach with the Scouting Combine will work. Two years in a city? Three? Ideally, will there be four or five cities in that rotation? Or like with the NFL Draft, is it destined to become a traveling circus?
One thing’s for certain. The Scouting Combine is on the move.
“We’re not surprised that after years of other cities wanting to host the Combine, the NFL put out a request for other cities interested in hosting,’’ Gahl said. “And we’re not surprised other major cities want to host this sought-after event.’’
Visit Indy projects the Scouting Combine offering a $10 million economic impact on the city. Along with roughly 2,000 NFL personnel (GMs, coaches, scouts, medial staff) and thousands of fans flocking downtown next week, the event has grown into one of the league’s most-credentialed occasions. It breached the 1,000-individual level several years ago.
Those are among the reasons Indy wants to retain the Scouting Combine, and the impetus for the NFL to share it with others.
“We know there’s not a city in the U.S. that wouldn’t want to host the NFL Scouting Combine because it is attaching into the NFL brand, which is a positive,’’ Gahl said. “And then you have a thousand national media walking about your city for a week.
“We know our competition is fierce with L.A. and Dallas coming to the table with competitive bids. But there’s not a day goes by we’re not thinking about and strategizing about keeping the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. That’s year-in and year-out. We have never taken this event for granted, and never will.’’
Jeff Foster is president of locally-based National Football Scouting Inc., which runs the Scouting Combine.
He and his staff have gotten the complex routine down to where it runs as seamlessly as possible, which starts with travel arrangements for 300-plus athletes from all corners of the country. Once in town, athletes deal with a three-day window during which they are shuffled between interviews, medical and psychological testing and the positional workouts. The proximity of IU Health and its working relationship with the Scouting Combine, and downtown’s convenient infrastructure can’t be overstated.
With the increased involvement with NFL Network and ESPN, timing is heightened and scheduling glitches magnified.
Gahl stressed Indy’s “efficiency that can’t be replicated in other cities.’’ The city has worked closely with the Indianapolis Colts – most notably owner Jim Irsay and general manager Chris Ballard – in enhancing the city’s attractiveness to the NFL.
But in the end, Foster and his support staff probably have been too good at their job. And he knows it.
“I think the event has been very successful in Indianapolis, maybe to a fault,’’ he said recently. “The event has grown and been so successful that the NFL now feels like it’s an asset that can be moved.
“It’s probably important to note the Combine isn’t moving because Indy did anything wrong. It’s actually the reverse. Indy did it so well that it grew this event into a tent-pole event for the NFL. Like the Super Bowl and the draft, the league believes it needs to be moved around.
“It’s one of the unfortunate consequences of success.’’
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You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.