Colts’ New $700M Stadium Set To Debut

By Andrew Lippe
The
Indianapolis Colts are known for their high-powered offense and
quarterback Peyton Manning’s almost machine-like ability to produce
touchdowns. So it is appropriate that, from the outside, the Colts’ new
home, Lucas Oil Stadium, resembles a factory. Inside, the $700 million,
63,000-seat facility has features that Colts fans will marvel at.
Among them are HD Daktronics scoreboards, a retractable roof, and, a first for the NFL, a window wall that opens to a view of downtown. The window wall is like a sliding glass door that opens from the center. It can open and close in six minutes.
“The build of our stadium is unique because much of the build was controlled by the state of
Indiana
,” says Brian Woodrum, director of production for the Colts. Roscor was the project integrator and the company responsible for installing the control room; WJHW was the architecture consultant. “I’ve spent the last two NABs with both consultants. They listened to my input,” he says, adding, “My background is mobile production, so I wanted the latest and greatest in a mobile unit.”
The Daktronics HD scoreboards are positioned in the northwest and southeast corners of the stadium. “The scoreboards are 36 by 96 feet, compared to 25 by 31 feet in our old stadium,” says Woodrum. They are nearly five times the size of the video boards at the old RCA Dome. The stadium also features a brand-new ribbon board.
The Colts will use F&F as preseason mobile-truck provider. A Token Creek mobile unit will be deployed during the season to enhance the stadium show. “We brought in a mobile unit to have additional cameras, longer lenses, and additional equipment necessary to do a post-game show from a remote location in the stadium,” says Woodrum.
The control room, located in the press box, has a Kayak switcher, two Sound Creations Crossfires instant-playback machines, and Avid editing machines. Video for the scoreboard is produced by two Ikegami HD-NX10 and three Ikegami 725P cameras.
“We have all flavors of HD, from Sony XDCAM on down, because we have a variety of other clients that come in and need to use the stadium,” says Woodrum. Lucas Oil hosts many events, and the stadium will have many opportunities to perfect its style before it serves as the site of the 2012 NFL Super Bowl.
The Colts’ first game in the new stadium will be a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Aug. 24. At the game, the team will unveil its video called Dreams. Narrated by Billy Bob Thornton, it chronicles the 25 years the Colts have been in
Indianapolis
. “We are going to pull out all the stops there,” says Woodrum. “We are not going to wait. We are excited to get going.”