Indianapolis became known as the Amateur Sports Capital of the World, due in part to Hudnut's efforts at marketing the city. While mayor, Indianapolis held the 1987 Pan American Games and the 1982 National Sports Festival. Hudnut formed the Indiana Sports Corporation, which directed sporting projects such as the Indianapolis Tennis Center, the Major Taylor Velodrome, and the IUPUI Natatorium. In 1980 Hudnut formed a committee on building a new stadium to attract a National Football League team. With the newly built Hoosier Dome and other incentives, he secretly negotiated with then-Colts owner Robert Irsay to bring the Colts to Indianapolis from Baltimore. On March 29, 1984 he organized the team's middle-of-the-night departure to Indianapolis with Mayflower moving vans, and he called it "one of the greatest days in the history of this city."