Under the mayoral administration of Richard Lugar, the city and county governments restructured, consolidating most public services into a new entity called Unigov. The plan removed bureaucratic redundancies, captured increasingly suburbanizing tax revenue, and created a Republican political machine that dominated Indianapolis politics until the 2000s.[69][70] Unigov went into effect on January 1, 1970, increasing the city's land area by 308.2 square miles (798 km2) and population by 268,366 people.[71][72] It was the first major city-county consolidation to occur in the United States without a referendum since the creation of the City of Greater New York in 1898.[73]
Amid the changes in government and growth, the city invested in an aggressive strategy to brand Indianapolis as a sports tourism destination, known as the Indianapolis Project.[74] Under the administration of the city's longest-serving mayor, William Hudnut (1976–1992), millions of dollars were poured into sport facilities and public relations campaigns as part of an economic development strategy.[22] The strategy was successful in landing the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1983, securing the 1984 relocation of the NFL Baltimore Colts, and hosting the 1987 Pan American Games.