Indy Eleven’s MLS bid won’t come easily — or cheaply
Michelle Pemberton/Indy Star.
Earlier this month, Ersal Ozdemir traveled to New York to try to save the North American Soccer League.
On Tuesday, the Indy Eleven owner was back in New York, setting his sights a bit higher.
Ozdemir submitted paperwork to Major League Soccer’s headquarters for Indianapolis to join MLS.
“It’s come together very quickly,” Eleven President Jeff Belskus told IndyStar of the team’s bid.
In December, the top tier of American soccer revealed it planned to expand by four teams, to a total of 28 franchises. The deadline to apply is today, and Indianapolis was the 12th and final city to submit its paperwork.
Expansion fees for teams in 2020 are $150 million. Belskus estimates the cost for a new stadium for the Eleven would top $100 million.
Ozdemir, founder and CEO of Keystone Realty Group, has enlisted a group of investors to help push Indy’s bid. According to a news release, those investors are Mickey Maurer, chairman of the board, National Bank of Indianapolis and IBJ Corp; Jeff Laborsky, president and CEO of Heritage; Mark Elwood, CEO of Elwood Staffing; and Andy Mohr, founder and owner of Mohr Auto Group. The team expects the number of investors to grow, but Ozdemir will remain the primary operating partner.
Ozdemir was not made available for comment Tuesday.
The stadium requirement remains a potential stumbling block in Indianapolis’ bid. The Eleven play in IUPUI’s Michael Carroll Stadium, which was built in 1982 and is not up to MLS standards. A proposed $82 million stadium deal passed the Indiana House but not the Senate in 2015. A revised plan that included $20 million in renovations to Carroll Stadium died in conference committee.
As with other stadiums in town, the Eleven would like assistance from the city’s Capital Improvement Board, though no agreement has been reached.
Melina Kennedy, president of the CIB, which oversees the tax money that goes to the city’s professional sports teams and facilities, said the idea of an MLS team was “very exciting.”
But, she added, “The reality today is, with the current CIB revenues, we would not be in a position to support another stadium. We wouldn’t have the financial capacity.”
The CIB’s money comes from a variety of taxes, including taxes on hotels, food and beverage and auto rentals. Kennedy said the CIB would not be in favor of new taxes to build a soccer stadium.
No bill has been presented this year in the state legislature, but Rep. Timothy Brown, R-Crawfordsville, said the Eleven and legislators continued to discuss the possibility of an upgraded stadium.
“There has been continuous dialogue over what’s needed, and so it’s going to take a team effort, literally, with the owners, the state, the city and other partners within the community to see if that happens,” said Brown, chairman of the House Ways and Means committee.
Belskus said he was optimistic the state and city governments and…
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