INDIANAPOLIS — The City of Indianapolis announced it will be seeking to bring a Major League Soccer expansion team to the Circle City.
The City is looking at a site downtown, located at 355 E. Pearl St., for a potential soccer-specific stadium.
Officials say Indianapolis is at an advantage over other United States cities that would be in competition for a club.
A city needs two things to woo MLS:
- A soccer-specific stadium that is promoted and financed by the city.
- A competent ownership group to pay the MLS expansion fee.
The City is not revealing the name of the ownership group of the potential MLS team at this point in time.
Officials say on Wednesday, the city filed a resolution with the Metropolitan Development Commission to create a professional sports development arena (PDSA).
The commission will hold a meeting next Wednesday at 1 p.m. to discuss the plan. If they approve the PSDA, the City Council will vote on it.
If the City Council approves the PDSA, it will go back to the Metropolitan Development Commission for a final approval.
City officials say the deadline for the final approval is June 30.
This announcement came just hours after Indianapolis-based Keystone Group accused Mayor Joe Hogsett and his administration of "walking away" from the Indy Eleven Park project.
However, Indianapolis officials say there was never a deal with Keystone, only a proposal, and the City is not walking away.
Councilor Kristin Jones released the following statement regarding the announcement:
Nearly one year ago, I stood alongside families from District 18, business and community leaders, and our city and state leadership as we broke ground for Indy Eleven Park. It was a great day filled with hope and opportunity for an underutilized portion of downtown on the White River. Knowing that the vision of a mixed-use space and a 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium would be realized after ten years of investment, advocacy, and public input was a dream come true.
Today, while on the one hand, I am pleased that Indianapolis remains a strong market for professional sports, I am disappointed that the decision was made to disregard the hard work, investment, and legislation that my council colleagues and state legislators, had already passed in a bi-partisan manner for the former Diamond Chain site on the river. I am hopeful that the original approved site will continue to be utilized for any soccer-specific stadium.
