INDIANAPOLIS— The founder of Keystone Group and Indy Eleven says he wants to sit down with Mayor Hogsett to talk about plans to bring an MLS team to Indianapolis.
"This is not about me. This is not about individual. This is about the future of downtown, this is about riverfront development, this is about neighborhood development, this is about thousand of jobs," said Ersal Ozdemir, the found of the Keystone Group and Indy Eleven.
He says he was initially shocked by last week's announcement because things were moving forward on Eleven Park. The multi-use development broke ground last year at the Old Diamond Chain Complex. It would include a 20,000 seat soccer stadium as well as retail and apartments.
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Mayor Hogsett is proposing a different, new stadium on Pearl Street but told WRTV the site Keystone is building on is also an option. Ozdemir says he's willing to work with the mayor to get his project done.
"I'm happy to get in a room with him today and say 'how can we work together with your vision, our vision is aligned in this case. I have the site, willing to give you, why don't we work together to make this dream come true for all of us'," said Ozdemir.
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The question now is, is an MLS team feasible in Indianapolis?
Milt Thompson, a sports entertainment and business attorney, says there are three factors you need when trying to start a franchise. That is political backing, an ownership group with the money to do it and a fan base to support it.
"I’m not sure it's economical feasible, it may be. There’s enough people with enough money, so they’re saying lets take a look at it," said Thompson.
The plan to create a Professional Sports Development Area at the Pearl Street site goes in front of the Metropolitan Development Commission on Wednesday.
