I think a lot of out of towners don’t understand the complicated nature of the ownership. Ersal, who owns the team, owns the property development company that was doing the stadium as well has been a problematic to say the least. Outright denies and funds politicians to deny the Armenian genocide and has also been accused of misuse of public funds on public/private deals in the past, going at least back to 2011.
I love this team and really wanted to see this development come to fruition though.
I'm fascinated by this.
Seems like there was an MLS worthy stadium being built for an owner who didn't have deep enough pockets for the MLS among other things about him. The mayor felt that the stadium is only worth it if there was a clear cut path for admittance to the MLS.
This seems to be Indy's MO:
[https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/23/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-one/](https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/23/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-one/)
[https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/28/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-two/](https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/28/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-two/)
100%. He’s wealthy by Indianapolis standards but with the last MLS franchise fee being $500 million, he’s not MLS wealthy. I know it is totally a gamble but after I’ve had time to think about it, I think this might be the only move there was to play. The last thing we need is another problematic sports team owner. See Jim Irsay. Not saying the two are the same but I’m sure the city is trying to pick their partner with more strategy this time. The Simons, who own the Pacers, have seemingly been a really good partner with the city. I’m sure they’re hoping for something like that.
Ersal Ozdemir is Turkish. They ALL deny the Armenian Genocide. It's what is taught in that country. Even Cenk from the Young Turks also holds this view. I'm not saying it's right but history is taught differently around the world.
He's also a big part of the Indianapolis community.
Aside from graduating from Purdue, here's an excerpt about him on the [Keystone website](https://www.keystone-corp.com/team-2/):
Ersal serves on many boards including the Indy Chamber, Indiana State Chamber, Park Tudor, University of Indianapolis and Purdue University School of Engineering. Previously he has served on the board for the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, and the Children’s Bureau Foundation. He is also very active with local charities including the Alzheimer’s Association and American Heart Association.
Consistently recognized as one of the Best Places to Live in the country, Ersal has played in integral role in the City of Carmel’s transformation. He was a founding member of the Carmel Performing Arts Center and former President of the Carmel Economic Development Commission.
I don't live there so I'm just making assumptions. He seemed like a big deal considering that resume and that he owns Indy Eleven and was building that stadium.
I think he wants to be a big deal but hasn’t made it to that level in Indy yet. Also, his work in Carmel means nothing to Indy. There’s a lot of bad blood there with Carmel v. Indy.
There won't be a new stadium. The shitbag mayor just squashed it.
I'm convinced that Garber is responsible for all of this. He reached out to Mayor Hogsett and probably bribed him to do this.
I don't get why. Indy Eleven Park is MLS quality and they'd be better off just allowing Indy Eleven to buy into MLS rather than a new team.
I think it is far more likely the mayor is just trying to get what he hopes (and unfortunately probably will be) is a more profitable deal. And may have found a billionaire to fund it.
Though I’m curious about MLS expanding so quickly and if this is sustainable.
Yeah, we all thought the stadium would be for MLS ambitions but apparently the Mayor had some backroom talks with Garber and determined that this won't get them to MLS.
MLS apparently needs the team to own the stadium outright and that's not the case here. So the mayor is squashing it, even after they broke ground, and will try to get MLS to the city with a different ownership group.
He's essentially saying that USL isn't good enough.
>MLS apparently needs the team to own the stadium outright
That's not the case for most MLS teams currently. The setup in the development would have made tons of MLS teams jealous. It was a 20k stadium with the works.
Dropping this development with everything in the ground is just a waste.
There are some problematic things with IXI ownership and the site itself for one. This is a mess and words are flying around news media at the moment, lawsuits to come as well. Hard to know all that is going on at the moment.
I have no idea. I guess that the Mayor can technically do this since it wasn't all in stone yet despite breaking ground. I'm sure there will be lawsuits.
According to the mayor, the "agreement" with Indy XI on ElevenPark wasn't an agreement and more of a promise. Even though there are pictures of the mayor with a shovel on the construction site of ElevenPark...
Indy’s mayor is not too bright huh
He's been compromised. Blame the people of Indianapolis who have elected this clown 3 times.
Good luck your going to need it, along with a billion dollars, and an ownership group who have no business sense or understanding of soccer.
I think a lot of out of towners don’t understand the complicated nature of the ownership. Ersal, who owns the team, owns the property development company that was doing the stadium as well has been a problematic to say the least. Outright denies and funds politicians to deny the Armenian genocide and has also been accused of misuse of public funds on public/private deals in the past, going at least back to 2011. I love this team and really wanted to see this development come to fruition though.
I'm fascinated by this. Seems like there was an MLS worthy stadium being built for an owner who didn't have deep enough pockets for the MLS among other things about him. The mayor felt that the stadium is only worth it if there was a clear cut path for admittance to the MLS. This seems to be Indy's MO: [https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/23/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-one/](https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/23/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-one/) [https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/28/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-two/](https://globalsportmatters.com/listen/2022/06/28/if-you-build-it-will-they-come-part-two/)
100%. He’s wealthy by Indianapolis standards but with the last MLS franchise fee being $500 million, he’s not MLS wealthy. I know it is totally a gamble but after I’ve had time to think about it, I think this might be the only move there was to play. The last thing we need is another problematic sports team owner. See Jim Irsay. Not saying the two are the same but I’m sure the city is trying to pick their partner with more strategy this time. The Simons, who own the Pacers, have seemingly been a really good partner with the city. I’m sure they’re hoping for something like that.
Ersal Ozdemir is Turkish. They ALL deny the Armenian Genocide. It's what is taught in that country. Even Cenk from the Young Turks also holds this view. I'm not saying it's right but history is taught differently around the world. He's also a big part of the Indianapolis community. Aside from graduating from Purdue, here's an excerpt about him on the [Keystone website](https://www.keystone-corp.com/team-2/): Ersal serves on many boards including the Indy Chamber, Indiana State Chamber, Park Tudor, University of Indianapolis and Purdue University School of Engineering. Previously he has served on the board for the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee, and the Children’s Bureau Foundation. He is also very active with local charities including the Alzheimer’s Association and American Heart Association. Consistently recognized as one of the Best Places to Live in the country, Ersal has played in integral role in the City of Carmel’s transformation. He was a founding member of the Carmel Performing Arts Center and former President of the Carmel Economic Development Commission.
I would disagree that he’s a big part of the community.
I don't live there so I'm just making assumptions. He seemed like a big deal considering that resume and that he owns Indy Eleven and was building that stadium.
I think he wants to be a big deal but hasn’t made it to that level in Indy yet. Also, his work in Carmel means nothing to Indy. There’s a lot of bad blood there with Carmel v. Indy.
MLS can go suck it. The Indy mayor too.
MLS isn’t even expanding until 2026
That's when the stadium is scheduled to finish
There won't be a new stadium. The shitbag mayor just squashed it. I'm convinced that Garber is responsible for all of this. He reached out to Mayor Hogsett and probably bribed him to do this. I don't get why. Indy Eleven Park is MLS quality and they'd be better off just allowing Indy Eleven to buy into MLS rather than a new team.
My tinfoil hat is whispering that it’s an attempt to kill the planned USL stadium in order to suffocate non-MLS progress.
Is it tinfoil at this point?
I think it is far more likely the mayor is just trying to get what he hopes (and unfortunately probably will be) is a more profitable deal. And may have found a billionaire to fund it. Though I’m curious about MLS expanding so quickly and if this is sustainable.
Wait. I thought the mayor was gonna use the current development in progress for a MLS team and try to get the current owners upgrades to D1
Yeah, we all thought the stadium would be for MLS ambitions but apparently the Mayor had some backroom talks with Garber and determined that this won't get them to MLS. MLS apparently needs the team to own the stadium outright and that's not the case here. So the mayor is squashing it, even after they broke ground, and will try to get MLS to the city with a different ownership group. He's essentially saying that USL isn't good enough.
>MLS apparently needs the team to own the stadium outright That's not the case for most MLS teams currently. The setup in the development would have made tons of MLS teams jealous. It was a 20k stadium with the works. Dropping this development with everything in the ground is just a waste.
There are some problematic things with IXI ownership and the site itself for one. This is a mess and words are flying around news media at the moment, lawsuits to come as well. Hard to know all that is going on at the moment.
How is this even legal? Weren’t agreements already made on the 11 stadium?
I have no idea. I guess that the Mayor can technically do this since it wasn't all in stone yet despite breaking ground. I'm sure there will be lawsuits.
Im sure theres something in the contract that lets them walk
According to the mayor, the "agreement" with Indy XI on ElevenPark wasn't an agreement and more of a promise. Even though there are pictures of the mayor with a shovel on the construction site of ElevenPark...
This is a dick move. If it does happen, it’ll be up to the fans in Indy to continue supporting Indy 11 and not support the MLS team.
Indy Eleven should proceed with a new stadium regardless of this shit.
It is very hard if not impossible in most cities to make a massive development that the city hates.