Thought I'd start early by pointing out the team is moving back to Carroll Stadium after a few years at Lucas Oil Stadium for most of our matches. The advantages to the return will be more flexible scheduling, as well as the supporters being able to use their smoke again. The disadvantages would be going back to food trucks and porta-potties, which... people who aren't supporters likely are not going to be thrilled with. The team has said there likely will be upgrades to Carroll, much like there were upgrades when the team first arrived on the scene, but they have kept mum.
Overall, I think it's a positive move. When we can have crowds again (and we will have crowds again), the MIKE is a far more imposing environment at capacity than the same number of people around Lucas Oil. Yes some of the amenities will decrease. But assuming a stadium is actually built, this isn't a long term stop.
It's not just a matter of food trucks and ports-potties. The Mike is a genuinely uncomfortable place, with little legroom, tight seat spacing, and no backs for the benches except in the first six or so rows. My no-longer-young body found evenings at the Mike physically unpleasant, although the games were of course fun to watch. Not that Lucas Oil was ideal--the gridiron lines were distracting, and the team's unwillingness to b pay the bill for air conditioning meant that summer matches could get uncomfortably warm. But at least it had real seats (to go with the real concessions and real toilets). I imagine social distancing measures early in the season will take care of some of the cramped feeling, but they'll also make the atmosphere less imposing.
https://www.uslchampionship.com/new...nFDQcSatJtku4QvVLCoONO4lHHq_3X8AMqaM9pikmiBp0 Indy Eleven Signs Quartet to USL Academy Contracts
Well, after a long string of mediocre results the boys in blue are back in playoff position after a win against SKC2. Hopefully they can finish the season with a few more wins and remain in the top 4.
Only two posts occurred in this thread during the season, one of which was to mention the Academy signings. That's not a good sign for fan engagement of the team.
I thought they had a decent roster throughout the season. Either I was wrong or there is just something really wrong with this team. Perhaps a few goals could help build the fan base.
I've been having money issues this year so that affected me going to matches, plus Carroll isn't kind to someone with bowel problems like me. This season, the team just hasn't been there. Absolute radio silence on Eleven Park besides a vague "you'll know when we know" on Soccer Saturday back in May, and the club never being close to competitive in the standings (though finally winning more games in LIPAFC was a highlight). It's also reflected in attendance, where the average has dipped to around 5K; still solid for USL but nowhere near the halcyon days of the club. Next year, Detroit City comes in, so we'll have another regional team to get rowdy with that we have knowledge about, but I think a combination of moving back to Carroll, all but abandoning Eleven Park, and not being successful two years in a row has whittled down interest.
https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1194368 INDIANAPOLIS – Indy Eleven announced on Tuesday the appointment of Mark Lowry as the club’s new Head Coach. Lowry becomes the fourth permanent Head Coach in club history as he joins the side after a successful three seasons at El Paso Locomotive FC in which he led the side to three consecutive postseason berths and two Western Conference Final appearances in the club’s first three campaigns.
I believe that due to COVID restrictions, the team were only allowed a certain number of people into the building, the max of which was about 6,500 people. That skewed the average.
Just for fun I'll be optimistic again at the beginning of this season. But I can't keep that up if they continue to be difficult to watch.
Not optimistic enough to start a new thread for the new season though? Ha. Their season wasn't even on my radar. It's a shame that they lost the wave of momentum they had for the first few seasons.
The enthusiasm seems to have peaked with Tyler Pasher. I didn't realize that the stadium was dead in the water. It would seem that the pandemic, coupled with the recurring inability to make the postseason, was lethal. But hey, how about that Louden United . . . game?
Don't help that Indy Eleven no longer has home games on local broadcast. I couldn't go to LIPAFC tonight and it's on ESPN+. I can't get ESPN+! My freaking bank account thinks its a scam and ESPN raises the fees every two or three months.
Indy has pretty much gone "Stadium? What stadium?" when anyone even remotely brings up Eleven Park. It's been more than a year since they were given an extension, and we have absolutely heard nothing. It doesn't help that the quality of the team on the pitch has gone downhill, which is absolutely death if you want support in a casual town. I mean, I follow the Indy Fuel, and the Fuel have never been successful in the postseason (two playoff trips in eight years, and only one postseason win), so years of losing and purely serving as goaltending practice for Rockford is killing the crowds up at the Coliseum. It's not fun when you see a team go down, but it's not like it didn't happen overnight.
ESPN+ started out as $4.99 a month if you just wanted it and not part of Disney+ or Hulu, and now it's $6.99 a month.
Interesting. I've done the bundle through Hulu the whole time and the price has been consistent. They even lowered the price for the bundle with Hulu Live TV a few months ago.
I actually did the live tv bundle for a bit because it gave me access to even more sports, that's how I know they dropped the price on that bundle. The overall bundle is the same price as when I started with them 2 years ago. It's odd to me that they've changed the price of ESPN+ itself because that indicates they're changing the prices of the component parts while keep the total the same.