After upending Indy Eleven Park two years ago, the Men's World Cup has started and Indianapolis is no closer to a soccer stadium or MLS team. We are now getting a clearer picture as to why. (re-run from Beyond the 90 with permission from Brett Mullenix)

On Thursday, an article from Fox59 released an article titled “World cup kicks off while Indy soccer bid stalls”. You can find the full article here.

Aside from blaming the World Cup for dampening enthusiasm for soccer in Indianapolis - it isn’t - this piece by Russ McQuaid was quite informative on the status of MLS to the Circle City. For many local soccer fans, we saw this outcome a mile away. No new stadium, no MLS, and an Indy Eleven team that is caught in the middle.

To help catch readers up, here are my thoughts on the situation back in June of 2024 to help frame this ongoing battle of Soccer Supremacy, and provided an update on the MLS stadium issues in February.

For those who don’t know here is a TLDR of where we are:

Indy Eleven were set to open Eleven Park in 2024, then Indy Mayor Joe Hogesett pulled out of the deal in pursuit of a MLS franchise. One of the issues that arose was the site of Eleven Park being on a former cemetery, with ballooning costs to properly remove the bodies.
The city has a site at the Indianapolis Heliport in the South West Quad of Downtown. The Eleven brought in Sweewater Helicopter Owner Chuck Surack into the ownership group to help prevent the city’s move to the site.

There is plenty more nuance in this conversation, but I wanted to keep this part simple. As of 2024, Indianapolis was set to have it’s own Soccer-Specific Stadium in Downtown. Now in 2026, we have no new stadium, and the Indy Eleven are in limbo due to potential MLS expansion. Great times.

Key Takeaways

Let’s get back to McQuaid’s article. There were a few really important takeaways from his article:

State lawmakers are waiting for a private franchise operator to step up and announce its financial commitment to building a stadium.
The statehouse remains focused on luring the Chicago Bears to play in a potential dome stadium in Hammond, putting any Indianapolis soccer bid on the back burner.
The article mentions a trio of current MLS franchises that are considering relocating and the league is not talking expansion at this time.
The city's plan to pay for construction through taxes generated by yet-to-be-realized downtown development stalled in the statehouse.

The Battle for Downtown

One of the more frustrating parts of this whole MLS saga was the lack of transparency from the city and this potential MLS group. From the outset, locals quickly pieced together that the Simon Family were behind the bid. The Simons (owners of the Simon Property Group, and the Indiana Pacers/Fever), started acquiring land near the Heliport. However, the family never fully stepped into the light saying as much.

This lack of transparency lead many to speculate this MLS to Indy effort was either a ruse to get the Mayor out of Eleven Park deal or for the Mayor to pick sides in the battle between Keystone Group (Ersal Ozdemir - Indy Eleven owner) and the Simon Property Group in their battle to conquer downtown.

As a local resident of Downtown, it’s been nice to see development occurring to lure more people Downtown. Plus, who doesn’t like new things? What I don’t appreciate is the city picking sides in their efforts to provide subsides to an outside force (MLS) instead of investing in what we currently have (Indy Eleven). Regardless of my own personal opinion of Indy’s owner, the city already has a team who draws 10,000 fans a week.

In the wake of the bombshell that was pulling out of the Eleven Park deal, the city seemed to distance itself from the Eleven. Acting as if the team doesn’t exist. Now two years later, the Eleven have increased their spending on the City’s Bus ad space, and even used their new development on the Circle to advertise the Eleven at Hogsett’s pet project “Spark on the Circle”. The team had the caption of “This latest installation brings Indy Eleven’s brand directly into one of Indianapolis’ most iconic gathering spaces, creating a high-visibility touchpoint for residents, visitors, and the thousands of supporters who fill Carroll Stadium throughout the season”. Can’t ignore the team now.

The State has other plans

Regardless of this battle for Downtown, as noted in the article, as long as the statehouse continues to want to lure the Chicago Bears to Hammond, Indiana - there will be no funding available. As such, the state wants a private operator to come forth and commit to help fund a stadium.

Essentially, the state has other priorities and won’t spend on a stadium, if the Mayor wants a MLS team, the stadium will have to be funded privately or without state help. Again from a local perspective, I love this. I don’t want my tax dollars funding stadiums. Now luring the Bears….I don’t like it either, but that isn't why you are here.

One of the things this ask does is give Indy Eleven and Keystone Group time to figure out their situation. The MLS bid has locked in on the Heliport site, and Indy on the Eleven Park site. This pause across the state to pursue the Bears provides Indy time for a new Mayor to take office. That election set for 2027 is just on the horizon. With a new Mayor who favors helping the Eleven, the Eleven Park may just get resurrected. One who does not favor such a project, could allow Ersal to lean on his buddies in the statehouse to continue averting the city’s efforts to bring MLS to town with him.

I do want to make it clear - that is one of the main issues here. Ersal wants to own a MLS team, but MLS does not want him. So as he keeps pursuing this dream of owning a stadium + real estate around it, he will leverage all his friends across the state to do so.

Conclusion

Now there was one piece that I haven’t touched on yet - the implication that 3 MLS teams are up for relocation. The three teams I suspect are Vancouver, Montreal, and San Jose.

I believe Vancouver isn't relocating as they draw closer to getting a deal done up there in British Columbia. Montreal has a stadium plan BUT the province and city may have issues with funding their upgrades to Olympic Stadium.

Then that leaves the San Jose Earthquakes. Owner John Fisher has put the team up for sale in his efforts to get the Las Vegas A’s up and running after they left Oakland. This is pure speculation on my part, but that 3rd MLS team is looking to relocate points to be an older MLS side (Houston or San Jose quickly came to mind).

To wrap it up, the city’s efforts to get a MLS team have been for nothing. Pursuing MLS isn’t the evil here, it’s abandoning what is already here (Eleven Park). The City’s pissing contest with the Eleven have left soccer fans wanting a home of their own, and that dream keeps getting pushed back in hopes of maybe getting a MLS team. Maybe Indy will finally get that soccer stadium it deserves, and not one forced to be built in the suburbs.

- by Brett Mullenix