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Changes are coming to the NFL scouting combine, but the event is staying at its long-time home for at least the next two years.
The NFL is extending its partnership with the city of Indianapolis to host the combine through 2021, adding another year to its standing agreement, with “a series of annual options” available after that for the NFL to keep the combine in Indianapolis, the event’s site since 1987.
Indianapolis has fought hard to keep the combine despite widespread interest from other cities in hosting the event and years of speculation that the NFL will move the combine to Los Angeles in order to make the NFL’s annual draft evaluation a bigger spectacle.
The announcement of the NFL Scouting Combine staying put for now also comes with changes surrounding on-field drills. Starting in 2020, the televised drill portion of the combine will shift from the morning and afternoon to the afternoon and prime-time slots on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, NFL Media's Judy Battista reported.
“We are always looking at ways of bringing more football to a wider audience,” the league said in a statement to NFL Network. “This will enable us to accomplish the goal of reaching more fans while still fully maintaining the football integrity of the event. We will adjust the schedule to ensure a positive experience for the players and clubs.”
Adjusting the schedule will be no easy task for National Football Scouting, Inc., the Indianapolis-based organization that runs the combine. Complications with the new could include accommodating players for an extra night and a host of other moving parts.
