WTHR |Terre Haute rolls out welcome mat for Colts

Terre Haute rolls out welcome mat for Colts

Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News

Terre Haute - For Colts players, training camp is grueling work. For fans, it's great fun.

Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, Joseph Addai and super kicker Adam Vinatieri were all on the practice field Tuesday.

Fans aren't likely to get this close to the Super Bowl champions any other place or time this season.

"The players are super nice; they interact with the fans," said Kerry Powers, fan.

Attendance increased every year since the Colts moved camp to Terre Haute's Rose Hulman campus nine years ago. In the last six years, attendance has more than doubled.

"We're here for the week," said Karen Murray, who lives in California. "You can't get tickets to the games. This is the only way you can see them."

For three weeks Terre Haute claims the Indianapolis Colts as their team.

"There's a lot of different organizations and businesses in Terre Haute that are capitalizing on the excitement," said Rachel Leslie, VP Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.

Businesses ponied up $2,000 each to adopt dozens of artistic colts decorating downtown. The community guide, sent to 100 businesses and companies a month, also caters to tourists and other visitors.

Although Terre Haute can't say precisely what the Colts are worth to the city, remember those fans from California?

"Terre Haute is beautiful! Go Colts," said Murray.