Fact One: The state legislation authorizing a soccer-specific stadium in Indianapolis was written for and championed by Indy Eleven after five years of work.
State legislation authorizing the construction of a soccer-specific stadium in Indiana is the direct result of work by Indy Eleven over the course of five different sessions of the Indiana General Assembly. This resulted in the passage of a state law authorizing the state’s first soccer-specific stadium within Senate Bill 7 in 2019, with Governor Eric Holcomb inviting Indy Eleven and its development partners to participate in a bill signing event at the Statehouse.
Fact Two: Eleven Park already contains an MLS-eligible soccer stadium that has been under design for more than a year and broke ground on May 31, 2023.
Although leaders in the Indiana General Assembly specifically excluded any MLS requirement for the soccer-specific stadium authorized by Senate Bill 7, Indy Eleven and its development partners have been working for more than a year to design a 20,000 seat stadium in Eleven Park. Rezoning, demolition site remediation, and site work have been completed and the site is prepared for the next phase. It is also designed for capacity expansion if MLS admission rules change after construction is complete, meaning the 20,000 seats are also fully capable to grow significantly with the way the stadium has been designed and engineered.
Fact Three: Eleven Park is more than just a stadium – it will transform a neighborhood.
After a multi-year site selection process, Indy Eleven and its development partners selected the former Diamond Chain factory site as the location for Eleven Park with the specific goal of delivering a respectful, transformative redevelopment project to near westside residents. Eleven Park will provide the largest private investment in this part of our city since the original construction of the GM Stamping Plant, creating thousands of jobs and connecting our successful downtown with this long-neglected neighborhood.
Fact Four: Eleven Park will be funded by an expanded ownership and investment group with access to billions in capital.
Indy Eleven and its founder Ersal Ozdemir have made clear that Eleven Park requires substantial outside investment. That is why for five years, a broad group of new investors have been brought in to broaden the team’s ownership group and expand sources of equity for private development in the project. The result is a proven investment team with access to global capital, and a vision that goes beyond what league the team competes in and extends into the surrounding neighborhood. The current ownership group has also made clear its willingness to take reduced ownership positions to source capital for any prospective MLS franchise fee.
Fact Five: Eleven Park will be built by a design and construction team filled with Indiana companies.
Indy Eleven and its development partners have decades of experience in delivering high-quality sports venues and modern mixed-use development. Just as critical is their experience in deploying Indiana talent in their projects. That is why the Eleven Park development team is already filled with Indiana companies so that any public investment in the site is guaranteed to provide a return on investment by supporting Indiana workers and their families.
Fact Six: Eleven Park won’t require taxpayers to pay one penny to acquire land for the stadium or private development.
Indy Eleven and its development partners have used their own money to acquire real estate for Eleven Park, have already rezoned the property with city support, and has offered to donate land necessary for the stadium to the city for zero dollars. Current estimates are that the alternative city proposal could require tens of millions in tax dollars be spent up front just to acquire land from other governmental agencies and private citizens – including the potential use of eminent domain to take private property from unwilling sellers.
Fact Seven: Eleven Park won’t require taxpayer money from the city budget and will pay for itself.
Indy Eleven and its development partners have already invested more than $26 million of private money to prepare the site and design the stadium and first phase of private development. Rather than ask for up front cash from the city budget, both the stadium and private development would be funded by a combination of private investment and capturing economic activity generated by Eleven Park itself. The private development partners have also agreed to fully guarantee any investment in public infrastructure for the site so taxpayers aren’t exposed to risk.
Fact Eight: Eleven Park has already been voted on by the City-County Council and enjoyed broad, bipartisan support.
In 2023, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office took important steps to move Eleven Park forward. This included the passage of a predevelopment agreement that was adopted by the Metropolitan Development Commission unanimously and the submission of the Mayor’s Office’s prepared Professional Sports Development Area for Eleven Park and the Indy Eleven. That measure passed just five months ago with every Republican and Democrat caucus member’s support.
Fact Nine: Eleven Park is supported by those who represent and live near the project site.
Indy Eleven and its development partners have worked over more than a decade to build bonds between the team and the community it represents, and the results speak for themselves. Since the city announced its current plans to abandon the riverfront site, support for Eleven Park has poured in from surrounding neighborhood associations, local nonprofits that benefit from Indy Eleven’s local philanthropy, and local elected officials such as District 18 City-County Councilor Kristin Jones, who is a longtime resident of the near westside.
Fact Ten: Eleven Park is ready to be built right now, and Indianapolis doesn’t have to wait for MLS executives to see investment in our city.
Eleven Park is more than an idea in an out-of-state broker’s pitch deck: it’s a shovel-ready project built on more than a decade of advocacy, five years of planning, along with three years of site acquisitions, site preparations, and design. The result is that Eleven Park is ready to build now, providing guaranteed investment at a time when the city would welcome new cranes in the air. It also means that Eleven Park’s ongoing construction can help influence decisions made by MLS executives in the coming years – rather than have the city indefinitely paralyzed as it waits on decisions from New York City.
Fact Eleven: Eleven Park will be the home of the Indy Eleven.
Eleven Park is the only development plan guaranteed to be the home of the men’s and women’s teams for the Indy Eleven. That represents more than the players on the field and the uniforms they wear. Because behind that crest stands Indy Eleven employees and their families, the thousands of supporters within the Brickyard Battalion, its reigning national champion W League women’s team and its new Super League professional women’s franchise; all of its Pro Academy teams; the more than 18,000 young soccer players affiliated with the team, and the hundreds of thousands of fans who have loyally watched these teams play.
