WATCH: NFL Has High Hopes For Indy’s New Combine Experience

The NFL Combine Experience runs through Sunday.

Officials say the inaugural NFL Combine Experience, which begins Thursday in Indianapolis, will attract 100,000 fans to the Indiana Convention Center. NFL Events Manager Nicki Ewell says the city has set a high bar for the event after hosting the league’s first-ever — and best-attended — Super Bowl Village in 2012. The fan-focused event aims to connect visitors to the league’s premiere scouting gathering, which is accessible only to teams and potential players for the most part.

Visit Indy Vice President Chris Gahl says events at the Combine Experience have been crafted from years of tourism research. The organization has run advertising in NFL markets in driving distance to Indianapolis such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati and Gahl says hotel business has spiked this week. He says the experience alone is expected to generate a $2 million economic impact, adding to the $8 million figure connected to the Combine. "That’s a big weekend for Indianapolis economically, but also from a media exposure standpoint," Gahl told Inside INdiana Business. More than 800 members of the media are credentialed for Combine weekend, putting the city on a big stage for the event and for the city as a whole. "That goes a long way in marketing Indianapolis and enhancing the perception of Indianapolis. And this isn’t a one and done — we’ve experienced this routine national media exposure for 30 years," said Gahl.

The Combine is locked in to Indy through 2020. Free events connected to the NFL Combine Experience will run: Thursday from Noon to 8 PM ET; Friday from Noon to 8 PM ET; Saturday from 10 AM to 8 PM ET; and Sunday from 10 AM To 5 PM ET. You can see more by clicking here.