One club, one reservation, eight days in Indianapolis
The NFL's important-dates page for the 2026-27 season lists the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium from March 1 to March 8, 2027. The full name on the league's list is the NFL Scouting Combine presented by Microsoft Copilot.
Eight days, one city, one travelling party. Personnel executives, coaches, medical staff, scouts and club media staff move on the same clock. The Colts describe the working day as prospects shuttling "between meetings, athletic testing, medical evaluations and media availability", with the Indiana Convention Center as the central conduit. Colts Chief Operating Officer Pete Ward describes the city moving "prospects, team owners, coaching staff, medical personnel, and national media". A club books that party as one group. One request, one block, one rooming list.
The one-day gap that sets your release date
Plan the back end first. The league's own note on this cycle reads: "In 2027, there will only be one day between the end of the combine (March 8) and the start of the negotiation period (March 9)." The same page records that the gap between the combine and free agency "spanned a full week in 2026".
The clock is exact. The negotiation window opens at 12:00 noon New York time on Tuesday, March 9 and closes at 3:59:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 11. The 2027 league year and the free-agency signing period begin at 4:00 p.m. on March 11. A contingent released on Monday, March 8 is back in the club building before any of it begins.
Seven nights or eight: the Monday decision in money
Check-in Monday, March 1 with a Monday, March 8 release books seven nights. A club whose staff work the closing day and fly on Tuesday, March 9 books eight. Twelve travelling staff in six double rooms come to 42 room-nights over seven nights, or 48 over eight. Twenty-four staff in twelve doubles come to 84 and 96.
At a worked rate of $200 per room per night, which is the planner's own input because no Indianapolis rate for these dates is published, 42 room-nights is $8,400 before any group rate applies and 84 is $16,800. bookMyTeam publishes a 15-40% saving band. The band puts those two totals between $7,140 and $5,040, and between $14,280 and $10,080. Treat the band as a benchmark.
Late approvals are normal on this trip
Headcount moves late. The league's tentative deadline for college underclassmen to apply for draft special eligibility is January 6, 2027. The preliminary list of approved underclassmen reaches clubs on January 7, the approved list on January 14, and the final list on January 30. The tentative deadline for underclassmen who played in the National Championship game is January 29.
A scouting and medical list follows the player pool, so a contingent can change after a December approval. Send the request with the full party and the split you expect, then set the cut-off late enough to absorb the change.
Wednesday, March 3 falls inside combine week
Clubs may designate Franchise or Transition players from February 17 through 4:00 p.m. New York time on March 3, the Wednesday of combine week. The people who own that decision are in Indianapolis with the rest of the contingent. Plan which of them need a working room and which need to be off the floor.
What the district gives the group
The Indiana Convention Center publishes the downtown numbers: 7,100 hotel rooms downtown, 4,700 of them connected to the Center by skywalk, 200 restaurants within walking distance, and 15 minutes to Indianapolis International Airport. Skywalk hours are event-dependent, with a published rule of thumb of an approximately 11:00 p.m. lockdown and an approximately 6:00 a.m. reopening. For a club moving staff between a bed, a testing floor and a media room, that skywalk count decides whether the group needs ground transport.
Rates, terms and the cut-off to ask for
bookMyTeam publishes the group rate at a block of 10 or more rooms per night, and adds that some hotels discount from as few as 5 rooms depending on season and availability. A combine contingent clears 10 rooms comfortably. Put four terms in the agreement: the cut-off date, after which unclaimed rooms return to general inventory; the attrition clause; the 24-72 hour response window from 50+ hotels per destination; and the fee line, published as $0 because hotels pay bookMyTeam a commission and the rate is never marked up. The club pays the hotel directly.
The saving claim is published against more than one base: "15-40% Below Rack Rates" on the how-it-works page, "15-40% Group Savings" on the homepage badge, and "typically 15-40% below the Best Available Rate" in the homepage glossary. Ask a hotel which base it is quoting. The Indianapolis directory lists 273 hotels available.
Five questions to put in the request
- How many double-double rooms for all eight nights, and how many for seven?
- What is the cut-off date, and how late can we add or release rooms without penalty?
- What is the attrition threshold, and does it apply to the block or to room nights?
- Are all rooms skywalk-connected or do you run a shuttle?
- Can the block sit under one master account with individual folios, split by department afterwards?
Book the block early
The league has committed the combine to Indianapolis for 2027 and 2028, and the venue window is a fixed eight days. Late January is when a club travelling party firms up and demand for the surrounding weeks rises. Submit the request with your dates, your split and your cut-off, test the numbers with the group rate calculator, and check the Indianapolis directory for the district.
