So we got a 3.5 hour time for the lotto and decided to book a hotel thats about 10 minutes away, just wondering how the parking is downtown, we will have a car and dont really want to taxi or uber every day. Since Lucas Oil Stadium is part of the con will there be parking of some kind there? 

http://www.parkwhiz.com/ is a godsend. Id get on it ASAP though it will fill up fast

We stayed in Southport 2 years ago, and just drove in early every morning.  Got there between 6:30-7:00am, and had NO trouble at all parking next to the ICC, in the underground parking at Crowne Plaza.  I think we paid $22/day.  It was a pain being there that early, but it was awesome to have a place to go dump purchases and not have to carry them around all day.

If you don't care about access to your car during the day, you also have the option to valet at one of the attached hotels.  It'll be a little bit more, but the hotels will be happy to take your money.

The biggest advice I can give to parking is go in early every day. The earlier you go in, the closer you can park (although the parking is also pricier.)

I've commuted the last two years and can second jobeth66. Arrive early on Thursday and Friday.. Before the downtown workers arive and you should be fine. Can't expect to roll in at 9:50 on Thursday and make the opening of the dealers hall. Go get a nice breakfast somewhere. On Sat and Sun the state employees garage east of the JW will be open to the public and I've parked there much later in mornings with no problem.

Pro Tip: Make sure the parking location you choose is open beyond the end of your last event!

Last year I found out at 2AM that the garage I had parked in closes at 10PM each day (despite having a fully automatic payment and gate system which *did* let me out once I managed to get into the building and pay the machine.) There was one *very small* sign that listed the hours as you drove in - super easy to overlook. I won't name them for obvious reasons but it was on Illinois Street.

True dat.  Heck i would also look for signs around the place as sometimes some of those parking slots are reserved for certain businesses.

I stayed at one of the southport hotels 2 years ago as well, I discovered that most of the reserved parking goes away on Saturday and Sunday(at least at the Pan Am garage) making it a bit easier to park. After driving in at 7:30 am and barely getting a spot on the lowest level I figured Saturday would be a total zoo and got there half an hour earlier only to be directed to a reserved spot on the first level right next to the exit. After double checking with the attendant directing traffic he told me most of those reserved spots are for mon-fri office workers and are free for general parking on the weekend.
 

parkwhiz is the way to go.  prices starting at 7$ to park all day within walking distance to the con.