INDIANAPOLIS--Indiana benefited from hosting the College Football Playoff game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with more money earned than originally expected pre-COVID. The numbers were discussed on this weekend’s Inside Indiana Business show, also hosted by Lucas Oil Stadium.
“That’s $53 million that went straight into the pockets of residents and workers here in the…hospitality industry,” said Susan Baughman, chair of the 2022 College Football Playoff (CFP) Organizing Committee, on IIB.
The expected economic impact was $150 million. The actual impact was $156 million, which Baughman called “solid.”
The state and city also got positive exposure, she said, with record viewership numbers for the game seeing Indianapolis through their televisions.
“The ESPN show was 22.2 million. That set a record for non-NFL games. Our media impact over the four days of the event was over $34 million,” he said. she said, “It was a great way to put Indianapolis and Indiana back in the public eye.”
Although the weather was cold, the city received positive feedback from people using the walkways to get from building to building.
“The CFP out of his national office was very happy. They’re getting a lot of great feedback from across the country and have shown signs of interest in coming back,” she said. Baughman said the city and state government also wanted to host another such event.
“We felt there was a great return on our investment.”
