After visiting Bankers Life Fieldhouse for an Indiana Pacers game the previous night, our staff visited up Lucas Oil Stadium to take in a Indianapolis Colts vs. Cincinnati Bengals game. This was our third NFL Stadium as a staff and the Colts won big time over the Bengals and held them scoreless. According to Stadium Journey Magazine, Lucas Oil Stadium was rated as the best stadium in the NFL. My final impression? No way.

Any new stadium that knowingly adds that many seats with obstructed views doesn't deserve the title of league's best stadium. We'll get to the obstructed seats a little later.Upon walking to the stadium, you'll notice the heavy amounts of Colts fans making the walk with you. There are so many bars within walking distance including the Slippery Noodle, Taps and Dolls, the Ugly Monkey and Kilroy's. If you want a spot at those places, I would suggest getting there early. There was plenty of tailgating going on as well but I would have to guess the vast majority of Colts fans in attendance did not tailgate. To my knowledge, the surface lot at 302 Washington Avenue is vacant and fans are free to park there. It is a decent hike to the stadium but it will allow you to see much of Indy's downtown. Monument Circle is beautiful and the epicenter of downtown.

We had brunch at Harry and Izzy's before the game. Very upscale setting but you'll enjoy it. I want to advise you that when you finally arrive at the stadium- don't be like me. Pay attention to your ticket; it will tell you what gate to go enter when trying to get in. All of the gates have very cheesy corporate names like the Verizon Gate and the Huntington Bank Gate. The pat down process was super long. They “wand” every fan that enters the stadium. If your tickets are in the 300s, 400s or 500s, finding your seats will not be easy once you get inside the stadium. There are signs telling you where your seats are but they're very easy to miss.

Once we arrived at our seats, I was extremely disappointed to find that we had spent a lot of money on seats with an obstructed view. How could they not advertise on the ticket that our view would be obstructed? Well, it does say “obstructed view” on each ticket but in the fine print. Typical. To see the right side of the 40 yard line, I had to get up out of my seat and walk down the row three or four seats. Very few fans had purchased seats in this area; I guess they had gotten the memo with prior purchases. Like any business, the Colts should make extraordinary efforts towards customer service and building obstructed view seats is just wrong. Fans pay hard earned money to see these games and Lucas Oil Stadium isn't 100 years old like Wrigley Field where obstructed views should be expected. Please take note; if you're browsing for seats in the 400s at Lucas Oil Stadium that are past row 10, DO NOT BUY THEM!

Indianapolis Colts fans were surprisingly generous and kind to all of the Cincinnati Bengals fans in attendance. I didn't see any excessive drunkenness, foul language or fights. The security was right on top of everything and were constantly walking up and down the aisles if someone appeared to be acting disorderly. The concessions were priced averagely with what every other stadiums charge. There was a decent selection of almost everything; most of the beers offered were Bud Light and Budweiser.

The stadium's best feature is the glass windows that allow natural sunlight to shine through the stadium. It creates such a unique environment. The seats had a good amount of comfort in terms of leg and arm space. The cup holders are located at your feet and all of the seats are colored “Colt Blue”. This is a very knowledgeable football fan base in a state that prides itself on basketball. Indianapolis became a “football town” right around the time Reggie Miller retired from the Pacers and Peyton Manning established himself as the league's best quarterback.

In summary, Lucas Oil Stadium is a beautiful stadium with a first class fan-friendly environment. It still has that new shiny feel to it and the Colts are a proven franchise. The ticket prices are steep so make sure you do plenty of research on our Indianapolis Colts page before making your ticket purchase.

 

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