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| Lucas Oil Stadium |
Presently the Colts receive 100% of the profits from game day concessions. During negotiations, the Colts demanded 200% of the revenue and threaten to terminate their contract and relocate the team if the CIB didn't accept the deal. After what CIB President Anne Lathrop describes as "hardball negotiations," the CIB agreed to give the Colts 150% of the concession revenue.
Both parties described the deal as a "win-win." Lathrop remarked that "the importance of the Colts to the economic vitality of Indianapolis cannot be disputed because we paid for a study that would say exactly that. We can't have the Colts moving to Los Angeles or some other venue where the team can make more money."
Jim Irsay, the owner of the Colts, said he was happy with the 150% deal. "While we never threatened to move the team, we were glad when the CIB suddenly contacted us and offered to pay us more concession revenue," the Colts owner said. "That was very generous of the CIB."
As a result of the deal, when a patron buys an $8 beer, the CIB will have to kick in an additional $4 to the Colts.
Mayor Greg Ballard emphasized the importance of keeping the Colts happy. "Years ago the city's leaders built downtown a certain way. Every piece is critical. You take away a piece, like the Colts, and the whole economic engine could collapse." At that point, Mayor Ballard said concessions stands should offer Chinese food and that if the Super Bowl gets cancelled, the city could put on a cricket tournament instead.
Meanwhile the Pacers have announced that the team would demand a similar concession contract from the CIB. In response, Lathrop threatened that the CIB would be a tough negotiator. "Let me just warn the Pacers that we take the responsibility of stewards of taxpayer money very seriously. The Pacers can expect the same tough negotiations last year when we agreed to pay only $30 million to the team to run a building it gets 100% of the profit on."