For the first time last year, the NFL allowed fans to attend one day of the Scouting Combine. That worked out well enough that the league has decided to admit fans for two days of this year’s Combine.
The Combine is still primarily for the players, coaches, scouts and team officials who are there working, and so fan access is still limited to just 300 people in a small section of Lucas Oil Stadium. And the fans will be far away from the action, with those coaches, scouts and team officials getting the better seat.
But for the 300 fans who get in, the deal is a good one: Tickets are free and are distributed to the fans who want them most, as judged by the applications they fill out at 1iota.com. Fans are asked to provide interesting or unique information that they think demonstrates they’re real fans who deserve tickets to see the Combine in person.
To some, the fact that fans even want to go to the Combine sounds crazy. Just as it sounded crazy to many when NFL Network first announced plans to televise the Combine workouts. But NFL fans are passionate, and there will no doubt be thousands of them who apply for the right to watch future NFL players run 40-yard dashes in shorts and T-shirts.