https://www.wthr.com/article/sports...orts/531-654950d5-3e66-43da-a44d-082b06d8cf33 Originally, the plan was to build Eleven Park for the USL Indy Eleven, but instead they want to focus on a site near Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Now, this is all just them hoping for a team, and likely will face stiff challenges ahead but I think the city may get a team.
It is worth noting that the new location would NOT include Indy Eleven. The group the mayor wants to work with is not associated with Indy Eleven. What isn't clear is whether money from a bill approved by the State Legislature in 2019 could be used on this new project. https://www.indystar.com/story/news...ng-to-walk-away-from-eleven-park/73453991007/
Is there an actual plan as of now? Early Monday morning, I flew to New York City to meet with the Commissioner of Major League Soccer. As a result of that conversation, I am today informing Indianapolis that, as Mayor, I will be leading an effort to file an application with MLS to pursue an expansion team. pic.twitter.com/EDmGcXoP8V— Mayor Joe Hogsett (@IndyMayorJoe) April 25, 2024 I am well aware that this new venture presents no guarantee, but every great achievement in our city’s history has begun where opportunity was met with action. Whether it be pursuing and receiving NFL and NBA franchises, or hosting NCAA Final Fours, Big Ten championships...— Mayor Joe Hogsett (@IndyMayorJoe) April 25, 2024 Also worth noting that Detroit and Tampa (two of the biggest metro areas without MLS) were both mentioned by a reporter: The mayor is planning to announce he was in New York and met with the MLS about having a team coming to Indy to apply for a new expansion slot. Tampa Bay and Detriot are two other possible cities— Abdul-Hakim Shabazz (@AttyAbdul) April 25, 2024 "Tampa Bay and Detroit are two other possible cities" for MLS expansion... No mention of other western US cities we've heard about in the past like Sacramento, Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc.? I hope MLS doesn't consider the west filled up with the addition of San Diego. How many Pacific time zone games do we get per week? Not enough!
That's a very good question. What's also a good question is why doesn't this proposal by the Mayor include the ownership group for Indy Eleven and the stadium project that they have that has already been funded by the Indiana state legislature and for which the city has already signed contracts I'm not sure the list is intended to be exhaustive.
Well, I can explain this; it's largely due to the fact that when the legislation passed on a series of laws setting up the money for Eleven Park (including removing a provision requiring the Indy Eleven join MLS), the money was originally ear-noted for both that facility and for that particular team. However, I believe that during the process of setting up Eleven Park, the city had soured on the deal, likely for multiple reasons (the expenses on the facility that likely favored the Eleven and the developer group Keystone, all of the requirements necessary to clean up the former Diamond Chain as well as surveying the land for unmarked graves of the former African American cemetery that said Diamond Chain was built on top of, the numerous delays that would take place as well as inevitable price increases in construction costs, and the fact that Indy Eleven's odds of being promoted to MLS on its own were likely slim), so Joe Hogsett, the mayor, opted for another deal that would likely get them a team, albeit at the cost of potentially alienating existing Indy Eleven fans. Not to dismiss Abdul, though in fairness he is mostly popular with the guys who don't live in Indianapolis proper but love to bitch about how the city itself is falling apart while commuting to and from the city every day in their SUVs, but I would like to know where he got this information, or if he sourced it from earlier rounds of expansion, which also did include Detroit and Tampa Bay, and is just guesstimating like the rest of us. I should also address the location of the new facility compared to the now-abandoned Eleven Park in downtown Indianapolis:
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announces MLS expansion bid. Tom Glick, former Chelsea Football Club president of business, to spearhead project. Indianapolis mayor announces MLS expansion bid, former Chelsea exec among investors, sources says
That sounds right... he was definitely with SOME previous expansion... Edit: Charlotte FC Glick was previously president of Tepper Sports & Entertainment and helped launch MLS side Charlotte FC in 2022. I'm confused, they're moving to a new location? I thought the new stadium plan was by the river...
Different plan. Indy Eleven’s stadium is on the river, the MLS expansion group wants a different location.
I had to stress the new location for emphasis. The existing location currently houses the Indianapolis Heliport which is effectively obsolete besides IU Health using it, and they're building their own helipads for their Lifeline choppers at the new hospital on 16th Street that's replacing both Methodist and Indiana University, and the former Marion County Jail, which became useless once the Community Justice Center was completed a few miles southeast in the Twin Aire neighborhood. Only major hurdles would be relocating the CSX railway line and possibly converting Washington Street into a two way, as it only goes westbound from the proposed site to White River State Park. An added benefit from the new site would be finally giving IndyGo some purpose in this city as the stadium would be right next to the transit center, whereas only one existing route that runs once every 90 minutes passes by Eleven Park while it doesn't come close to Lucas Oil Stadium.
I believe that Tom Glick was actually instrumental in the launch of two Major League Soccer clubs. Glick had been serving as Chief Commercial Officer for City Football Group for 2-1/2 to 3 years when they asked him to take on the responsibility of launching New York City FC. He was named President of the MLS club and served in that position for 15 months, after which he returned to London and his duties with CFG. In 2018, Glick was hired as President of the NFL's Charlotte Panthers. It was thought that one of the reasons he was selected for the role was that Panthers owner David Tepper was also interested in securing a Malor League Soccer franchise for North Carolina's most populous city. That proved to be the case and Glick directed Charlotte's successful MLS expansion bid, later overseeing both the Panthers and Charlotte FC as President of Tepper Sports & Entertainment.
That whole opinion article reads like a hit piece, tbh. It perpetuates the myth that non-MLS leagues are minor leagues and it straight up discredits the 11 years of emotions Indy Eleven fans have invested in the club. There are positives to a MLS club over USL for sure, just that method if expressing the differences is not productive.
If it makes you feel better, it's not like people care much for the opinion of the guy who writes the article anyway. I'm not surprised people told him Ersal Ozdemir is a Republican; he would've ran towards him and supported him given how James Briggs is a card-carrying centrist and they go goo-goo for Republicans.
Well it's Indiana you're going to have to work with Republicans... the days of Evan Bayh are over Great meeting with @SenToddYoung today while in DC. https://t.co/PGfYIihR3N— Don Garber (@thesoccerdon) May 1, 2024
https://www.wthr.com/article/sports...nces/531-d3c880fd-fa15-47fb-ac44-1b1778fd5b79 The deal is moving forward on the Pearl Street plan, while Indy Eleven fans voice opposition.
The Mayor must have something or someone up his sleeve? To be honest, as far as Indianapolis to MLS is concerned, Eleven Park's stadium is on the small side right?
https://www.indystar.com/.../indianapolis.../73459697007/ Indianapolis is going after an MLS Expansion team now . . .. . Could we see #indymls / Charlotte FC weekend in the Circle City takes place in the next 3-5 years ? ? ?? ? #cltfc4life #forthecrown https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/indymls
Pretty good, detailed article covering everything about where Indy's at so far https://www.ibj.com/articles/with-indys-soccer-future-in-balance-city-to-go-all-in-on-mls Personally, I've always hoped that Indianapolis and Louisville would make the jump to MLS because of the rivalries between the Midwest teams that started in the USL. Indy, Louisville, Cincinnati, Nashville, and St Louis all in MLS would be great. With Chicago, Columbus, and Kansas City, it would be epic.
https://www.indystar.com/story/news...oins-eleven-park-ownership-group/73612134007/ The Indy Eleven side is building allies in keeping their hopes of joining MLS and building Eleven Park alive. And, here's a non-paywall version of the story. Fort Wayne billionaire joins Eleven Park ownership group (archive.org)
This is all well and good, and I would prefer Indy Eleven join MLS over another bid, but they still need a deal to build Eleven Park. Last I've heard, the Mayor said that the deal doesn't add up. So it would seem that Indy has 2 bids, and one of them seems to be good with the Mayor's new stadium plan, if it gets passed. And if it does, then the other, Indy Eleven, would have no stadium included in their bid. Hoping that the Mayor will restart negotiations with Indy Eleven.
http://archive.today/2024.05.09-150...y-with-soccer-executive-tom-glick?utm_source= MLS and the city majority talk. Yes, the archive includes the people who fled when the Indianapolis Star got rid of the comments section and expose their "Democrats are all bad" views.
So, Indy Eleven's owners. Are they not billionaires? I'm still confused as to why the Mayor is trying to bring in a new group at a different location rather than just working with Keystone to increase the size of their stadium? The riverfront location looks pretty sweet from a non-Indianapolis resident perspective. And yes, I'm aware of the graveyard and soil remediation issues with the location, but there are ways to account for that and if Keystone is paying for that...
They are rich but MLS wants stability and as for the graveyard, they don't want another Inter Miami stadium fiasco. That said, Indy Eleven brought in a guy largely to protect the Indianapolis Heliport, which would go bye bye if the MLS consortium is selected, and conservatives would rather keep the largely useless facility around for convenience. So honestly, I'm leaning more and more Team MLS. I think the ultimate issue that drove them away from Ersal was they just don't want to pay for all this useless shit. They just wanted a stadium and a team, but Keystone expected the city to pay for everything and when they didn't, they got angry.
Indy Eleven has been around for 11 years, including through the hellscape that was Covid era sports.. I'm not sure what sort of stability you think MLS wants that Indy's owners don't have? Again, my question is if they are billionaires or not. If they are, that would seem to be the type of stability that MLS wants. The problem is that the heliport is also a politically charged thing and it is important to the rich people that fund Indy's politicians... TBH, that location is likely more fraught with warning signs than the riverfront location. Obviously, the fact that Keystone is not properly addressing the human remains found at the riverfront location is bad, but it is also something that can be resolved relatively quickly by bringing in the proper people to reinter the bodies at a different location. It's not like the location is going to be left vacant if/when Eleven Park is shelved. They are still going to develop it.