INDIANAPOLIS — The quest to bring a Major League Soccer team to Indianapolis has spanned several years and stadium sites, but the plans looked like they were on the sidelines. Indiana Governor Mike Braun is now hinting that the expansion game is back on again.
Braun revealed that Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber visited Indianapolis on Monday. Braun said he supports building a new soccer stadium at the Indianapolis Heliport site and joining the league if any slots open up.
"I think we would regret it if we don't find a way to bring MLS to Indianapolis," Braun said in a press conference. "I would think we ought to figure out how to accommodate it, because we're a great sports town. It's the very early part of the conversation."
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Those conversations appeared to hit a wall in July 2024, when Garber suggested the league was no longer looking for new expansion bids.
"The folks in the state and around the city are very bullish about an MLS team in Indianapolis, but we've done this a lot," Garber said back then.
However, Braun and Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett remain optimistic that a new team and stadium unrelated to the Indy Eleven will come to Indianapolis.
"We went through the local process of approvals for the stadium and we're now before the state," Hogsett said. "Based on my conversations with the commissioner, he is still optimistic about Indianapolis' chances. He continues to say we're doing the right things."
Braun suggested a local entrepreneur would need to come forward for an Indianapolis MLS bid, but neither he nor Hogsett gave any indication who would be on that short list.
The existing Indy Eleven play in the United Soccer League, a tier below Major League Soccer.
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