The year 2024 is poised to be a landmark year for events at Indianapolis’ largest public event venue, Lucas Oil Stadium. The NBA All-Star Game will take center stage, or court, in February, while the USA Swimming Olympic Trials make a splash in June.
And perhaps most importantly for fans hoping to get off the Ticketmaster waitlist — Taylor Swift will play three nights at Lucas Oil Stadium next November as part of her record-breaking Eras Tour. The Indianapolis stop is just one of three cities Swift will visit on her tour’s second U.S. leg, in addition to Miami and New Orleans.
Eric Neuburger, stadium manager at Lucas Oil, said the stadium has long had a relationship with the touring company behind Swift’s tours, Messina Touring Group, LLC. Stadium staff were hoping to be a stop on the 2023 tour, but due to both the tour schedule and other events the stadium was putting on, they weren’t able to make it work.
“We weren't necessarily able to find that match, but I think relying on the relationship and the reputation of the community in the building, we were top of mind,” he said. “So this summer, we started really talking more in earnest about dates that we had penciled in and things like that.”
The logistics involved finding dates that would work logically with the Eras’ Tour routing, as well as the Colts’ home games and other conventions and events hosted by the stadium, said Neuburger.Though the Colts' schedule won't be available until May of next year, scheduling Swift for that first November weekend was within the parameters of the stadium's 35-year lease with the team.
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11th music show held at Lucas Oil Stadium
Swift's show will be the 11th held at Lucas Oil Stadium in the company of One Direction, Guns N' Roses, Luke Combs and John Mellencamp. In addition to her 2018 stadium show, she also performed at the 2008 National Future Farmers of America Convention in Indianapolis.
Taylor Swift’s 2018 show broke ticket records for the stadium, Neuburger said, with over 55,000 tickets sold. He expects attendance to be similar or slightly higher every night of the 2024 stops. And since Swift has sold out every single show on her tour so far, there’s no reason to think her Indianapolis dates will be any different.
“If you think that or slightly larger, and three nights,” Neuburger said, “That's a lot of people getting the opportunity to see their favorite (artist), you know?”
Chris Gahl, executive vice president of Visit Indy, previously told IndyStar the tourism agency is expecting sold-out hotels both downtown and across the region, not to mention economic impact generated from other local spending at bars, restaurants and shops. Lucas Oil’s proximity to bars and restaurants downtown, as opposed to other cities such as Phoenix, whose stadiums are out in the suburbs, makes it a city that was built to host events and brave the Swiftie storm.
“We know it's a very enthusiastic crowd. It’s a crowd that comes and makes an event out of it,” said Neuburger. “Indy has a lot of experience with that, with our big sporting events and with large conventions, to be able to really make this a welcoming city.”
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How will Lucas Oil Stadium handle the event
Planning for any big event, but especially a three-night concert in a stadium, is a huge undertaking practically. The stadium turf will be covered with plastic and then a layer of sturdy plastic decking to hold as many as 80 semitrucks, which is what Swift's team brought five years ago, according to Neuburger.
While Swift’s team brings its own stage, Lucas Oil will provide all the labor, from stagehands to security.
Neuburger declined to give an exact number for the amount of people Lucas Oil will employ to put on the show. However, he said that the biggest events require upward of 3,500 staffers working behind the scenes. Though Swift’s show will not require some of the television logistics needed for a sporting event, it will be the biggest concert by far the stadium’s ever hosted.
“We scale up and scale down our staff based on the event,” Neuburger said. “And so many of the people who are working are working part-time, specialty roles that are gonna have an opportunity to help their families and earn a living in a big way here."
Overall, Neuburger said he feels a sense of pride about putting on this event in what he called "the people's stadium."
“This is a very special show,” he said. “And I think it'll really, in a lot of ways, do things that no concert has done in Indianapolis.”
Taylor Swift will play in Lucas Oil Stadium Nov. 1-3, 2024. Tickets go on sale Friday on Ticketmaster for those with a presale code.
Contact business reporter Claire Rafford atcrafford@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @clairerafford.
