Holcomb excited about prospect of Indianapolis MLS team
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Friday said he's anticipating good things to come from Mayor Joe Hogsett's pursuit of a Major League Soccer expansion team for Indianapolis, but he intends to focus on his own job and not get involved with the city's politics regarding the matter.
"I'll leave it to the city leadership to attend to the city's garden," Holcomb said after joining other state officials in planting Indiana's one millionth tree — a cucumber magnolia — on the Statehouse grounds Friday afternoon. "I toil in my own."
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Hogsett announced late Thursday that he is leading an effort to get a Major League Soccer team to Indianapolis and expand the number of professional sports franchises in the city. The announcement came on the heels of the mayor traveling to New York City to meet with MLS Commissioner Don Garber and instructing his staff to begin the process to establish another professional sports development area downtown.
Holcomb said there's a lot of excitement swirling around the possibility of a professional soccer team coming to Indianapolis. While he admitted to being involved in conversations, the governor said he had not spoken with Hogsett since the announcement was made.
"I will be ready. The state will be ready," Holcomb said. "I assure you that there is a lot of excitement in the General Assembly. I've talked to leaders already, and we anticipate good things to come, but it will require the folks who are responsible for and paid to negotiate to do just that."
As part of that effort, Hogsett's staff has submitted a resolution for a new PSDA to the city's Metropolitan Development Commission. That resolution would establish a professional sports development area that would include 355 E. Pearl Street in downtown Indianapolis. It will go before the MDC at 1 p.m. next Wednesday.
While the city's pursuit of a team has generated some excitement, it's left others scratching their heads. The newly identified-site would be an alternative option to the existing PSDA established for a potential 20,000-seat stadium near Kentucky Avenue for the Indy Eleven soccer team.
That stadium would anchor a waterfront mixed-used development called Eleven Park. Both Hogsett and Holcomb joined Ersal Ozdemir, founder of both Indy Eleven and Eleven Park development company Keystone Group, for a groundbreaking ceremony for Eleven Park last May.
In 2019, Holcomb signed the bill that would make a new stadium for Indy Eleven possible, and set forth the framework for the stadium's financing structure. That same bill will drive the process to create the alternative PSDA. Ozdemir lobbied for its passage. Hours before the city's announcement on Thursday, Keystone accused the city of shopping the legislation and of walking away from the project. City officials says they ran the numbers and the project did not work financially.
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City officials say the stadium would not be built if the city fails to win a team. The owner would pick between the two PSDAs. The city said a Major League Soccer club ownership group is forming. The group of investors will reportedly be led by ex-Chelsea executive Tom Glick.
Holcomb said Indiana has emerged as an international player— even in sports. The governor said he had conversations about new-drafted Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark during a trade mission to Brazil.
"Nothing has farther reach, and further reach than soccer, or football, as most would call it," Holcomb said. "I think it is yet another example of our capital city, not just being a destination in the Midwest, but a true destination in America for sport of all kinds."
Contact IndyStar investigative reporter Alexandria Burris at aburris@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @allyburris
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Holcomb excited about prospect of Indianapolis MLS team
