Indianapolis announced Thursday that it will submit a bid to a Major League Soccer expansion team, potentially jeopardizing plans underway to develop Eleven Park, a $1 billion-plus mixed-use project anchored by the Indy Eleven football stadium.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a news conference that his staff has submitted to the Metropolitan Development Commission a proposal to create a new professional sports development district to bring a soccer stadium to downtown Indianapolis near the downtown transit hub. The proposal also includes a potential ownership group and a public financing mechanism.
City officials declined to share who might own the proposed team or estimate how much money it would take to put together a team. An ownership group including investors led by an unidentified “experienced sports executive” is being formed to help pay the club's franchise fees, city officials said. The San Diego Football Club, which will become the 30th team in Major League Soccer when it debuts in 2025, has paid a $500 million expansion fee.
“Indianapolis has long been a prominent destination for professional and amateur sports,” Hogsett said during a news conference late Thursday where he announced he was leading the charge to acquire an Indianapolis soccer franchise. “A large part of this collective success stems from our history of local and international collaboration, the ability to articulate a shared vision and the commitment of businesses and the community to seeing our city teams succeed.”
Hogsett said he traveled to New York City on Monday to speak with MLS Commissioner Dan Garber about the possibility of the club coming to Indianapolis.
The new professional sports development area will be a replacement for the area already established for Eleven Park and Indy Eleven. The funding framework for the new PSDA is the same one outlined in Senate Bill 7, adopted in 2019, that Keystone and Indy Eleven are using for the stadium at Eleven Park.
The MDC will discuss the resolution at its next meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday, after which it will go to the Indianapolis City Council for approval. City officials said the team owners will decide which of the two sites will serve as the stadium site. The decision will return to the MDC for approval by the end of June and will then be submitted to the state.
355 E. Pearl St. has been identified as an alternative location for the soccer field, city officials said. It will include a one-mile radius around the new PDSA stadium.
Indy Eleven made a bid to join MLS in January 2017, but failed to make the cut, being passed over by Detroit, Cincinnati, Nashville and Sacramento. The Indy Eleven was also a candidate when the league reconsidered expansion back in 2019, but it's unclear where it stands in the pecking order.
City officials say the city now has a competitive advantage to compete for an MSL franchise.
“I realize this new venture offers no guarantee, but every great achievement in our city's history began where opportunity was met with action,” Hogsett said, pointing to the city's NFL and NBA franchises as well as its track record of hosting large numbers of players. . Large-scale events such as NBA All-Star Weekend, the Indy 500 and the Super Bowl.
What this means for Indy Eleven
It's not clear what the city's attempts to bring MLS soccer here will mean for Indy Eleven, the United Soccer League team that sits in the sport's hierarchy below MLS, or for the development of Eleven Park.
The development by Indianapolis-based Keystone Group will occupy about 20 acres currently under construction on the former Diamond Chain Company site downtown near the White River. Keystone Chairman Ersal Ozdemir also owns the Indy Eleven Hotel. Hours before the city made the announcement, Keystone Group issued a statement criticizing Mayor Joe Hogsett's administration for trying to walk away from the Eleven Park project.
City officials say there was never an agreement with Keystone and Indy Eleven, just negotiations. When they crunched the numbers, it was determined that the current professional sports development zone would not generate enough revenue to cover the funding gap for Eleven Park, they say.
Keystone tells a different story. In a statement, he accused Hogsett's negotiating team of “shopping on state legislation supported by the Indy Eleven, working behind closed doors to offer publicly owned properties and public financing to the highest bidder, with guarantees that this riverfront parcel will neither be redeveloped nor continue.” The Indy Eleven as a team will be needed to support the city.”
Keystone, which owns the site through a subsidiary, did not respond to a request for a formal follow-up interview. The mayor's office refused to provide a professional sports development district map approved by the city of Indianapolis, the company said in the statement. Council in December to the State Budget Committee as required. The resolution approved an area plan for a special tax district for the Eleven Park project.
“This is more than disappointing — it is a shocking reversal of the public support Mayor Hogsett has given to this project in 2023, to the dozens of local investors on this team, and to the thousands of Marion County jobs pledged to the Indiana companies that were working on this project,” the statement said. “The project and the tens of thousands of Indy Eleven fans in Indiana and across the country.”
Plans for Eleven Park call for it to be anchored by a 20,000-seat multi-purpose stadium that will become the new home of the Indy Eleven soccer team. The project, which is expected to be completed in phases, will also contain more than 600 apartments overlooking the White River, 205,000 square feet of office space, and more than 197,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. A hotel is also planned for this site, as well as a parking garage. Amenities will include public squares and green spaces. City Councilor Christine Jones, who represents the district that includes the site, called the vision for the area “a dream come true,” in a statement issued Thursday. She added that she now hopes the city “will move forward with plans to put a stadium there.” Today, on the one hand, I'm glad Indianapolis remains a strong market for professional sports. I'm disappointed that the decision was made to ignore the hard work and investment. “Legislation that my colleagues in the Assembly and state legislators actually passed in a bipartisan way for the former Diamond Chain site on the river,” she said. “. “I hope that the original approved site will continue to be used for any football stadium.”
Current plans call for financing Eleven Park through a public-private partnership. The Indiana General Assembly approved legislation to help finance the stadium in 2019. Taxes from a special tax district from the development will return 80% of the stadium's cost. Indy Eleven will cover the remaining 20% of the cost, up front or annually, and will cover any shortfalls if necessary.
The final version of this legislation removed the requirement that Indy Eleven must sign a deal with a Major League Soccer franchise by 2022 before stadium construction can begin. The current team was allowed to play there.
Keystone began construction on Eleven Park in May 2023. The stadium, which the company named its planned stadium, is eligible for Major League Soccer (MLS).
Contact IndyStar investigative reporter Alexandria Burris at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @allyburris
“Devoted travel trailblazer. Freelance beer scholar. Passionate analyst. Hardcore twitter fanatic.”
More Stories
The Timberwolves steal first game from the Nuggets
2024 Miami Sprint Grand Prix report and highlights: Max Verstappen rallies to win Sprint race over Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez in Miami
Takeaways from Friday’s NBA Playoffs: Mavericks knock off Clippers. Magic Power 7 game