Indianapolis Colts owner gives away tickets to Taylor Swift concert
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay on Tuesday followed through on his promise to give away tickets for Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated concerts in Indianapolis, naming two fans on the X platform.
Irsay had previously said he would be giving away tickets to one winner, making a surprising announcement Tuesday that there would be two winners.
Swift’s Eras Tour will stop at Lucas Oil Stadium with shows scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Audrey Benedict, a 23-year-old nursing student in Indianapolis, was one of the winners. She spoke Tuesday with News 8 in a videoconference. She was joined by her friend, Maddie Watson, 23, whom she was taking to the concert.
“I was actually sleeping when Jim posted the winners on Twitter,” Benedict said and then laughed.
Benedict, contacted by News 8 via X, had photos of her friend “Ally” featured prominently on her account. “Ally” was a friend who died last November at the age of 16 after a battle with cancer.
“She attended a tour last year in Cincinnati. She was lucky enough to receive the infamous ’22’ that Taylor hands off to a fan each night at the show,” Benedict said.
Watson shared the sentiment. “We’ve been trying for months and months and months to find tickets. We were planning on going to the show with Ally, but then she passed away.”
Benedict recalled Swift’s music helping her friend through painful moments. “She just loved Taylor Swift so much, and (Swift) got her through some really hard parts of cancer treatment.”
“I think it’s going to make us feel a lot closer to her for that night,” Benedict said.
The tickets were for the Saturday show.
Irsay was including dinner for the winner at Wisanggeni Pawon, an Indonesian restaurant located on East 71st Street off Keystone Avenue.