I believe the legislature's short session begins on Monday, january 11. So, yes, you have to think that things are in the works.
I hope that the adage is true and that the third time is the charm. I mean, selling out your first year, and maintaining a 9,000+ average in your second year is pretty good for a team that, on the field, was mediocre at best. But, please, no "Let's make a deal where we keep the track" stuff. Either give us a real stadium that we can build on a $50-$60 million budget or give us a suitable compromise on upgrading Carroll. If this city can blow money on a cricket field and a soccer facility where you can only play on it with an appointment, certainly the state would be willing to open up the pocketbooks just a wee bit.
The short session is now underway, and all seems quiet on the stadium front. If an effort is going to be made this year, we should hear something very soon.
i haven't seen anything about a stadium proposal on any of the bill lists i've seen. if anything was going to happen this session, we should have been hearing about it for a month now. they need the pr. they'd have to get the public to support it, and building momentum for that doesn't happen overnight. it would take time.
Well, they tried the shortcut route two years ago, trying to attach the stadium to an existing bill relatively late in the process. It didn't work then, and you'd think the lesson would have been learned. If I had to guess (and this is just speculation, not based on any information, inside or otherwise), I'd guess that they figure that they have one more good shot at the stadium, at least in the next few years, and that it would be better to wait for a full session for that big push than to attempt it now. Edited to add: Jeff Belskus, new Indy Eleven president, mentioned the stadium in his brief statement today. Given this transition, it seems extremely unlikely that they'll try anything this session. But, given that Belskus has no soccer experience but extensive experience in the Indianapolis sports market, I suspect that he was brought on at least in part to bolster the push for a stadium.
I saw today in the news, the proposal to build the Sports Medicine center (ABN Global Center for Brain Health) on part of the eastern portion of the airport property where the old terminal and rental car lots were located. The proposal indicates a potential for 3,000 jobs dedicated to studying brain health for soldiers and athletes. Anyway, the article states that if approved, the first phase consisting of a hotel and 2 office buildings could break ground in 2017. The second phase includes a 25,000 seat stadium. Sounds like the right size for a Soccer Stadium to me. There is no mention of the Indy 11 or Soccer, but I find it interesting. All of this has a ways to go before becoming reality though. There was no mention on when Phase 2 would break ground. Here is the article from the IndyStar and other from the IBJ. http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/02/16/development-plan-old-airport-chosen/80450274/ http://www.ibj.com/articles/57242-proposed-airport-medical-facility-could-create-3000-jobs
That does strike me as an odd inclusion. They just randomly want to build a 25k seat stadium for....something? I mean yes it is a sports medicine research center so having a stadium doesn't seem to far out there, but 25k seats is a lot of seats for just a sports medicine research center stadium. Other than a full-time professional tenant I am having a hard time coming up with realistic events that would make such a stadium worth building. You have high school sports championships, maybe some college sports games, and other than Indy Eleven I can't think of anything else. I don't think high school championships, and the occasional college sporting event would be enough to make a stadium of that size worth it. Especially considering anything football will almost certainly always be in Lucas Oil.
As a fan of the New York Mets Who has been going to games at Shea Stadium and Citi Field for decades , I can say that the end of the runway is a terrible place to build a stadium. Unless, that is, you like the roar of airplanes more then the roar of the crowd. Beyond that, I can't see Indy Eleven moving to the airport – it's too far, too isolated from the community they're trying to build downtown. The whole idea is very curious. Really, what could this stadium be for? It definitely can't double as a concert venue.
Yeesh. On the one hand, it could solve the stadium issues, but on the other... it's not really desirable. There is plenty of emphasis on getting people to the airport, yes, but it doesn't sound centralized
I'm sure the images in the article are just placeholder renderings, but for what it's worth the stadium appears to have an opaque roof. That would allow some natural sunlight in while providing some sound suppression from the planes taking off and landing. The location isn't ideal for an Indy Eleven stadium, but if this development can secure the financing which appears possible due to the people and organizations attached to the project, it could work. Might be possible that some of the parties involved would be interested in partnering up with Ersal to help fund a move the MLS as well. The potential plans for a light rail or BRT line to the airport could also help in getting people to the games from downtown. The location of the highway would provide easy access for many and ample parking on-site. I'm not a fan of a stadium outside the downtown core, but this could work and be successful.
I'm not sure if I'd rather have this stadium near the airport, or a renovated Carroll with the track still there. Carroll has great location for everyone, but that new stadium looks quite nice.
I would rather see a rebuilt Carroll. While it definitely isn't an ideal location, it also isn't a bad location. It is right off of 465, and would only be at most 10 to 15 extra minutes to get there. The down side would be the lack of ancillary entertainment. There aren't a lot of restaurants, bars, or other things out there as far as I am aware. Although maybe the idea is to start building that area up into another center for entertainment in the city. Also I do wonder if 20k stadium would be too big. Without a move to MLS, or the miraculous event that the NASL overtakes MLS, I find it hard to believe they would be able to even come close to filling a stadium of that size. Edit: I don't know if they edited the article or not now, but after re-reading the article it states it is "only" going to be a 20k stadium. I am guessing they made an edit cause I remember seeing 25k before.
I do too. And I continue to find the inclusion of a stadium in the broader project really curious. Especially if it's a domed stadium, as is depicted in the graphic. Small domed stadiums are really few and far between, as they're more expensive to build than open-air stadiums. I don't know what the stadium is supposed to be for, and I don't know if Ersal had any talks with the developers before the proposal was made public. But I continue to think it would be a bad spot for Indy Eleven. Mere accessibility (which does exist) is not a sufficient basis for putting the stadium there. Last year a Star columnist (who clearly knew nothing about Indy Eleven or about the way the soccer landscape has changed in this country) suggested putting the stadium at Lafayette Square. That idea was widely derided, and rightly so. A stadium there would be accessible by highway and major city streets. But no one would want to go there. The airport doesn't seem much better, even if an office park/medical complex is built there.
I think the airport would be a much better location. I don't think anything directly off of 465 can be considered an inherently bad location, just not ideal. Lafayette Square on the other hand was just laughably bad.
This would be fine with me. I know the location isn't ideal but it is only about 10 minutes from Downtown. It's a much better location than Lafayette Square.
I was listening to the report on Fox 59 last night, and one of the things they mentioned was that the Indy Eleven was a possible tenant for the new stadium, but they are also interested in luring another pro sports team to it. Though... the options are pretty limited for a 20K stadium, even if it's domed. The location would be not in the best location, since it's right next to the airport, but compared to some of the other choices (Lafayette Square and the old Eastgate Mall) people have mentioned over the years to dump off boondoggles, it isn't the worst choice. Getting to the airport is a key priority for the bus and cab companies in this city, and express airport travel would be part of the plans for expanded public transit. Having some hotels nearby also wouldn't hurt, especially if they offer deals for teams playing at the stadium. Another thing to consider is what would this stadium do to the other venues in the city? The stadium is supposed to be a multipurpose venue, but it's not an ideal location for musical acts, which routinely skip this city anyway (one of the biggest local stories this past month was Jimmy Buffett coming back), and high school and college teams may prefer to play in the existing Lucas Oil Stadium and Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
High school and college basketball and football teams would prefer to play in Lucas Oil and The Fieldhouse, but if the venue is cheaper to rent (which would almost certainly be true compared to Lucas Oil) most other events would probably prefer a 20k stadium that was closer in size to what they need. Very few non-Colts events need a 70k stadium. Hell most probably don't even need a 20k stadium. I am curious as to which pro sport they are trying to get to come to Indy. This city isn't exactly large enough to support two men's basketball or football teams. So that really just leaves baseball, hockey, and soccer. I don't think a 20k stadium is large enough for a MLB team which is the only level of pro-baseball that would consider even moving to Indy because no other level of team would be able to even compete with the Indians. I don't think an MLS or USL team makes sense either. USL for obvious reasons, but I also think an MLS team might run into similar issues. Indy Eleven seem to have a lot of good will, and if an outsider moves a team here I think a lot of people would see it more as an invasion trying to exploit the success that the Indy Eleven have had, instead of someone taking a chance on Indy. So maybe a hockey team? I'm not sure Indy has enough hockey fans for an NHL team. I also am not sure how much good will the Fuel have going for them. Unlike soccer, where there was about a decade gap between teams, minor league hockey teams seem to come and go from Indy fairly often.
An interesting analysis of what is known about the airport stadium proposal, based on two Indianapolis Star articles. I'm sure there are things going on that we don't know about. What we do know, however, makes the proposal seem half-baked at best.
That article kind of sums up my thoughts on it too. Although I think he dismissed hockey too quickly. I think this proposal is based a lot on hope, and not a lot on solid foundations. They want the stadium, and they hope they can lure a team to it so they have a reason to build it. If they can get a team in order to play at that stadium then they have a valid reason for building the hotels.
On the Permanent Relegation podcast, Ozdemir and Belskus laughed off and brushed aside the airport stadium proposal. Publicly, at least, they are committed to downtown. For now.