Colts ready for gameday with new amenities, ceremony to honor Irsay

INDIANAPOLIS — Football season is officially back in the Circle City.

The Indianapolis Colts are taking on the Miami Dolphins for the 42nd regular-season home opener at Lucas Oil Stadium.

As folks make their way up the stadium steps, enhanced security screening technology should improve the wait times getting in.

“We’re going to have better metal detection, better ticket scanning, better bag checking,” said Roger VanDerSnick, chief sales and marketing officer for the Colts.

The pro shop has brand new items on the rack to buy and the concessions have their grills heating up with new food to try. There are eight new food items throughout the concourse.

One stand, featuring the familiar name Kelsey Murphy, rebranded to Clutch Kitchen during the off-season and expanded to other areas in the stadium.

“We wanted to figure out how we can give something new to the fans, but still maintain our identity,” Murphy said. “There’s some items, like the Cuban, we can’t get rid of.”

The Colts are dedicating this first game to honor the late Jim Irsay after Blue helped to rename the street signs north of the stadium after him.

“It’ll be a great opportunity for our fans to just kind of have that visual reminder as they walk up, and obviously a very unique way to kind of honor his legacy and his impact on the city,” said Stephanie Pemberton, vice president of marketing. 

Those with tickets will be gifted memorabilia of him to take home as well.

“Every fan will have a special commemorative ‘For the Boss’ t-shirt placed in their seat ahead of the game, so they’ll find that when they get to their seats,” Pemberton said.

A handful of players will be returning for the halftime ceremony, inducting Irsay into the Ring of Honor.

His name will be the first on the west side of the stadium, front and center.

”Anytime that we had a Ring of Honor ceremony, it meant a great deal to him,” VanDerSnick said. “Now it’s our turn to be able to honor him.”

The Colts plan to have the roof and window open for gameday if the weather is nice. Touchdown Town opens at 10 a.m. and kick-off is at 1 p.m.