I tried to send some updates and pictures of the Lucas Oil Stadium tour on Sunday 8/17/2008 via Twitter, but I was having a lot of connection problems. Apparently, AT&T has more bars, but little service with so many Colts fans jammed into one cell zone. So, I decided to just do a quick post with some pictures and thoughts.

Entrance

We entered through the north entrance, the Lucas Oil Plaza. My first reaction was geez, is it cold in this place! I mean really cold. I wondered why they would have it so cold when surely they were going to be opening the roof and window. Maybe they were testing the AC? They also have probably the biggest ceiling fans ever made on the concourses. They move some serious air. Again, it was really cold in there and I’m not usually cold. We wondered through the plaza and past the stage and looked out onto the field as in the picture below:

Now, we set out to find our seats. Along the way we ran into the media podium. I couldn’t resist getting my picture taken: like I would ever have anything newsworthy ever to say about the Colts, this was probably my only chance.

My season ticket seats

After finally locating the escalator to our section, we headed up. I like that we’re in the last row with no one behind us. It is on the upper concourse level, so no steps to climb at all. There is even room to go behind the seats, if needed. Here are the seats:

And here is the view from the seats:

A view to the north end.

I was actually pretty happy. The view was great. It was closer to the end zone and a little further from the field than my old seats, but all in all I like them so far.

The roof: to open or not to open?

After promising the roof would be opened at 4:15, they delayed it to 4:30. At 4:30, the north window slid open, but not the roof. About 15 mins later, they announced “there will be a delay in opening the roof. Potentially indefinitely.” Seriously, that’s what they said. However, about 10 mins later they opened the roof. And for the record, it didn’t take long for the warm air to permeate the building. All that AC, through the roof!

The view from the upper concourse:

Locker room and field tour

We decided to go ahead and wait in line for the Colts locker room tour and to get on the field. It took us about 45 mins to stand in the line, but they moved a lot of people through there.

The locker room

The lockers (very California Closet-like)

Entering the Colts inflatable entrance to the field

Section 537(my seats), from the field.

Final thoughts

They also set up a camera on the field that projected onto the big screens. Those screens, BTW, are very big, extremely clear, and way cool. Makes my 50” Plasma look silly. The only area we couldn’t tour was the suites. I guess I understand they don’t want 40,000 people traipsing through the expensive corporate playgrounds, but it sure would have been cool to see one. Really can’t wait until Sunday to see the game and the new stadium in action! Will it be as loud as the RCA Dome?