A review of the Indy Eleven stadium financials

Rendering of Eleven Park

Let me start by saying that I want the Indy Eleven to have their own stadium. I'm an Indy Eleven fan and have been a season ticket holder from the start. That's my connection to this team before I was an official part of the grassroots media. So I've discussed the stadium significantly over the past 5 years, most recently giving my first opinions on the latest proposal. At that point, there wasn't an official bill in the Indiana Legislature for the Professional Sports Development Area and the financials of the proposal hadn't been seen. Now, there's a bill (SB 543), another bill that may get the details of SB 543 wrapped into it (SB 7), and an Appropriations Committee meeting for SB 7 that was used to discuss the details of SB 543.

At that meeting, which coincided with the Eleven's "Show Your Love" event at the Statehouse, Senator Sandlin (who originally authored the bill) discussed the bill and it's potential to receive its own evaluation in the Appropriations Committee or be included in SB 7 (which was authored by Senator Mischler, who is also the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee). Since Sen. Sandlin authored the bill, 8 more Senators have been added to the "Authored" or "Co-Authored" lists, including three that are on the Appropriations Committee.

A lobbyist and Ersal also presented to the Committee and presented their case, which included a financial packet that was given to each member of the Committee. I have been able to obtain a copy of the packet and have reviewed it.

Again, I'm an Indy Eleven fan, season ticket holder, and a long-time member of the grassroots media. All sides of me that want to see the Eleven in their own stadium.

Carroll Stadium, for all its painful charm and having the Eleven as the primary tenant, was always going to be a track-and-field stadium that held soccer games rather than a soccer stadium that held track-and-field events. It was designed for a specific purpose and that was not soccer.

Lucas Oil Stadium, regardless of whether people want to describe it as a "multipurpose stadium," is a Colts facility that others are allowed to use when the Colts don't want it. From Section 5.6 of the 2005 Lease Agreement between the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) and the Indianapolis Colts:

"Due to Club's significantly favorable economic impact on Indianapolis and the State, (i) the parties acknowledge that Club shall be considered the prime and preferential tenant of the Stadium, and (ii) CIB shall cooperate with Club and the NFL to maximize the scheduling flexibility of the Stadium to the Club."

Hence, football lines on a soccer field regardless of the time of year for this upcoming Indy Eleven season.

Rendering of Eleven Park

After my review of the packet presented to the Appropriations Committee, this does seem like the team's best presentation of a public-private partnership. A couple years ago, the team proposed to use one of Mr. Ozdemir's hotels (the one on Illinois Street) as a backstop for the state financing of the stadium. This iteration takes that concept and magnifies it. Instead of just one hotel serving as the backstop, a $450M development is serving as the backstop with multiple different types of uses built into that development. The success or failure of one hotel has now been replaced with the success or failure of a 200 room hotel, a 600 unit apartment building, 150,000 sf of office space, 100,000 sf of retail space, and public garages.

That's a much larger backstop.

Additionally, instead of one millionaire helping fund that backstop, Mr. Ozdemir has brought on 7 other successful businessmen from the area:

• Brian Bauer, President of Indiana University Health Fort Wayne
• Don Gottwald, COO and Chief Strategy Officer for KAR Auction Services, Inc.
• Shane Hageman, President of Hageman Group
• Jeffrey Laborsky, President and CEO of Heritage Environmental Services
• Fred Merritt, President of LFM Investments, Inc.
• Quinn Ricker, President and CEO of Ricker Oil Company
• Chris Traylor, Co-President of Traylor Bros., Inc.

That's a much more effective backstop.

After that, the stadium, which is proposed to be the "public" part of the public-private partnership (P3), will be owned by the CIB and leased by the Indy Eleven. This is exactly like the way that Lucas Oil Stadium is handled for the Colts, exactly the way that Bankers Life Fieldhouse is handled for the Pacers, and exactly the way that Victory Field is handled for the Indians. The Eleven are proposing that the taxes generated within the PSDA, which will include the private development, will be used to pay for the stadium. That's how they get to the "not asking for any tax money" from the government. It could be argued that the taxes generated by a new development could be used to fund schools, infrastructure, etc., but the team indicated during the Appropriations Committee meeting that they intend to use land that is currently not generating any taxes for the State/City. So they're not "taking" anything from the existing public coffers. They're building something new in that land and asking to use the money generated from that land to pay for a large public asset. 

It may be semantics, but combined with the two backstops, it might be enough to make this a realistic path for the Indiana Legislature. I think this might actually make it out of the Appropriations Committee and back onto the Senate and House floors for debate and potential resolution. Whether it makes it out of there is debatable. 

All that being said, my review of the "Analysis of Potential Available Revenues for Development" lists some assumptions that I have to question, as well as some interesting sidenotes. Let's start with the sidenotes. Emphasis mine.

Under the Tax Rate Assumptions for Food & Beverage Tax, "In 2005, the rate was increased one percent (1%) to two percent (2%). However, the additional one percent (1%) expires in by January 1, 2041 and was pledged to the payment of the debt issues for the LOS." Under the section about the Innkeepers Tax, "In 2005, the innkeepers tax rate was increased by three percent (3%) to nine percent (9%) to pay a portion of the debt obligations issued for the LOS. ... Per legislation, beginning in 2028 through 2040, the one percent (1%) increase in 1997, along with the three percent (3%) increase in 2005, were pledged to the payment of the debt issued for the LOS."

See a theme? It doesn't say anything about Bankers Life Fieldhouse or Victory Field, but Lucas Oil Stadium is forcing all kinds of reduced assumptions for the Eleven's analysis. "Through no fault of the Indy Eleven..."

I tweeted earlier this week that one of their assumptions for Admission Tax into the new stadium included:

• Indy Eleven - 19 games - 18,553 average attendance
• Pro Women's Team - 10 games - 4,500 average attendance
• Other Soccer - 3 games - 19,000 average attendance
• Concerts - 5 concerts - 14,000 average attendance
• Other Events - 10 events - 5,000 average attendance 

The main point of that tweet was a validation that there was an assumption of a professional women's team, which I had mentioned a couple weeks before as a potential use of a stadium. It was good to know that a women's team is still under consideration, particularly since Mr. Ozdemir's investment in the Indy Eleven NPSL team lasted just one season.

However, I question the average attendance numbers, which are the foundation for which all of the other revenue from the stadium are built. The Eleven and their financial advisors are assuming that for the life of the loan, the average attendance at an Indy Eleven game will be 93% full in a 20k person stadium. Given that the team have played 62 home games and have sold out just 18 of them, 14 of which came in the first season, it seems a bit of stretch to assume that high of an attendance for the life of the loan, even with a new stadium. Additionally, it would require an 82% increase in attendance over this past year's numbers, which had a significant bump from the outlier attendance of the first game in Lucas Oil Stadium against FC Cincinnati, or a 96% increase in attendance over the team's average to date for all seasons. Maybe this year's attendance numbers at Lucas Oil Stadium, with significantly fewer Wednesday games, will change my mind, but it seems like a stretch to assume that high of a value. Particularly when a world-class facility like LOS managed to average just over 10,000 this past year.

Moving to the "Other Soccer" events, that's assuming 95% capacity of...what? Men's or Women's National Team games? International friendlies? I'm not sure that I can fathom Indy getting 3 of those types of games every year for the life of the loan or that those games would consistently bring in a full capacity crowd. The USMNT game's this year, in significantly better climates than Indy, averaged just over 11,000 fans. 

It's going to take a bit more digesting of the other pieces for me to determine if I'm on board with their financial assumptions or the affect of what I would consider more reasonable attendance values, but I'm not sure what else the team can do to make a P3 more attractive to the Legislature. If this effort fails this year, I hope the team has some kind of Plan B for a stadium (modular) that is entirely privately funded. I have not been able to get anybody with the team to give me any hints on that though.

Thursday, the Appropriations Committee will discuss and vote on SB 7, so we may know by the end of the week if the latest Indy Eleven stadium proposal is dead, on life-support, or potentially making a miraculous recovery.

Indy Eleven vs Butler

The offseason came to a close tonight as the Indy Eleven took on Butler University at Grand Park. Much like them easing into the regular season, my recap of the evening is going to be similar as I ease back into writing recaps as well.

"Mr. Indy" in the house!

Grand Park's indoor facility is absolutely massive and is a reasonable place to play games when the outdoor temperatures are in the teens. The game was played on the east field, while the center field was inhabited by a home show, which was unfortunate as the center field has more, and better, seating designed for watching a game in the venue. As a result, the large contingent of season ticket holders that took advantage of attending the game exceeded the amount of available seats. That, in and of itself, isn't necessarily a problem, but seeing the entire field of play isn't the easiest during the best of conditions. Add in a couple rows of people standing on the rail and it became nearly impossible to see some of the action.
One of those on the rail? None other than "Mr. Indy" himself, Don Smart, who was on his way to Madison to join Peter Wilt and Forward Madison FC, but stopped to cheer on fellow Jamaican Dane Kelly. One more item not specifically related to the play on the field, I was introduced to new CEO Greg Stremlaw and he seems like a good guy. We'll have to see if that translates to his CEO (and GM) duties, but he was personable and was engaged in the game.

With that out of the way, the team looked about what you would expect for the first preseason game only a couple weeks after players arrived in town. In fact, not all of the signings are in town yet as recent additions Thomas Enevoldsen and Lucas Farias have not yet joined the team. Additionally, goalkeeper Evan Newton and Tyler Gibson were the only signed players to not see any minutes tonight as last year's returnee, Jordan Farr, held down the shot stopper role for all 90 minutes. There were only two players that played more than a half worth of minutes, Farr and Trialist #5. Turns out Trialist #5 is the only player to make it out of the team's open try-out and it looks like Coach Rennie is going to give him plenty of live minutes to determine if he will be added to the team. Given what I saw out of Trialist #5, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a late spot to the roster.

Trialists received plenty of playing opportunities tonight as 5 of them were in the starting lineup and 5 (I think) were shuffled in and out during the 2nd half. The most notable to me was Trialist #3, who started in the defensive mid role in the 1st half and who I was able to determine from conversations may have been Bennett Kim, who played for Butler University. I also feel like I saw him playing for the Indy Eleven NPSL team, but I could definitely be mistaken on that. I could just remember him from the times the Eleven have played Butler over the years.

Related to that, despite not having been together for very long, the Eleven were much more effective against Butler than I remember them being in the past. Butler has a very good soccer program and some very big and talented guys, but the Eleven controlled the game and spent most of the time in the offensive half of the field. The Eleven were setup in what looked like a 4-4-2 to start, but seemed to quickly morph into a 3-5-2 when the team went forward. In the 2nd half, the team pushed even further forward and it transitioned to a 2-5-3 for portions as Butler struggled to produce much offense. With the exception of a chance early in the 2nd half that Farr had to save off the line after a ricochet off the post, Butler never really threatened the Eleven. I would expect Tuesday's upcoming friendly against FC Cincinnati will provide a much better test of the Eleven's defense. It was notable that Farr seemed to be more vocal during the 1st half than in the 2nd half when Paddy Barrett took over the center back role.

While the teams finished in a 0-0 draw, the Eleven had multiple opportunities on goal, many of them just barely missing. Much like Butler's chance in the early stage of the 2nd half, the Eleven did manage to put the ball into back of the net from a recirculation of a corner kick, but the referee ruled there was a push and Butler was awarded the ball. The other notable chance that I remember was from Dane Kelley in the 2nd half when he rifled a half-volley at Butler's keeper that created such a resounding thud on his gloves that I fully expected him to need to shake out his wrists. It's the kind of shot that despite being right at the keeper, created a rebound opportunity for other players.

Overall, it was a bit choppy, with some unforced errors and guys not being on the same page yet, but it was a good start and showed some glimpses of how the team might play when the season starts.

1st Half Lineup
Farr
Trialist #1
Ouimette
Trialist #2
Trialist #3
Ayoze
Walker
Trialist #4
Starikov - Yellow Card (20-ish minute)
Ilic
Trialist #5

2nd Half Lineup
Farr
Trialist
King
Barrett
Trialist
Pasher
Trialist
Matern
Watson
Trialist
Kelly

Indy Eleven subs:
62'
IN - Hackshaw/Trialist
OUT - Trialist/Trialist

90+1'
IN - Trialist
OUT - King

Full-time Score
0 - 0

Photos:

Latest Indy Eleven stadium update

Last Thursday, the Indianapolis Business Journal released an article discussing a $550 million development that includes a stadium. From the article:

The Indy Eleven on Thursday unveiled a proposal for a $550 million mixed-use real estate district that would include a 20,000-seat outdoor soccer stadium as the team continues its quest to join Major League Soccer.
...
Ozdemir said he envisions the development, called Eleven Park, as a “transformational urban project” within the city.
...
Ozdemir said discussions with city and state officials have included where the development would best be located, noting there are “several sites in downtown Indianapolis” and one elsewhere that are viewed as good fits for the team. He declined to share the locations but said the team hopes to finalize the selection soon. 

The proposed stadium, slated to be ready for the 2022 season opener, would be surrounded by multiple apartment and office buildings, offering tenants views of the field from their windows.

The development is expected to include 600 apartments, more than 100,000 square feet of retail space, 150,000 square feet of office space and a 200-room boutique hotel. The office space would be geared toward technology-driven companies and already has received interest from undisclosed multiple parties, according to Ozdemir.
...
Kennedy wasn’t available to discuss the proposed financial structure of the project, which differs from those used to build Lucas Oil Stadium and Bankers Life Fieldhouse, largely because the Eleven plan includes adjacent development that could generate tax revenue to help pay for the project. Like both of those stadiums, the Eleven proposal would redirect tax revenue to fund construction.

The Eleven Park proposal calls for enactment of new Professional Sports Development Area, or PSDA, and tax-increment financing district overlays limited to the park’s boundaries, as well as a 10 percent ticket tax.

The overlays would capture all tax revenue generated within the district for the purpose of funding construction of the stadium.

Developer-backed bonds would be issued to pay for the stadium, which is estimated to cost $150 million. Tax overlays on revenue generated by the rest of the development, which would be funded with $400 million in private investment, would be expected to cover payments on the bonds.
...
The Eleven played its 2018 season in Lucas Oil Stadium on a rent-free basis. But Ozdemir said the stadium is too large to be a long-term solution. He pointed to difficulty in scheduling games and the desire for the team to have “a permanent home” in Indianapolis.
...
An announcement is expected within months on a new investor group for both the team and the Eleven Park development.

So those are the basics of what we know from the article. An article, from the rumors, that was released a day ahead of when the Indy Eleven planned for it to be released. An article that was followed the next day by the Indy Star indicating that the Indy Eleven were in talks to buy the property of the former Broad Ripple High School, which didn't seem to be what the team wanted to have mentioned yet. Not exactly the way the team wanted to go into the weekend.

The above is where I was going to leave it and let Kevin Johnston and Brian Cook write their thoughts on the proposal. Brian has already written his article and I look forward to reading Kevin's take. Yet, three of my six readers requested my input so here we go...

The name Eleven Park? I called it that in January 2015. I'm good with the name.

Building it as part of a development and using that to help with paying the loan? I discussed that in May 2015 (specifically around a location on the campus of IUPUI, but it would apply in other locations).

After that, work into the design that the stadium be a mixed-use building like so many of the new apartment complexes going in around the city.  Depending on the new orientation of the stadium, both the revised New York Street and the University Boulevard sides of the stadium could have street-front shops like the example below, which is close to campus.
Instead of apartments above, you have a stadium. Hell, have apartments too where rent includes a season ticket, if it helps get the stadium built. Fill the shops with businesses that cater to both soccer fans, as well as college students. A soccer-specific bar (that should be easy), small restaurants, maybe even a grocery store since there aren't too many in that area. Using the same funding mechanism that was included in the House bill, that means that every dollar that goes through the stadium and all of those businesses can be used to pay back the loan. This could make the funding much more palatable to the legislature. However, with these kinds of businesses built directly into the stadium, this creates even more potential for investment from private financiers.

Guess I'm good with that too.

Location to be determined? I've discussed that ad nauseam. Here, here, here, here, & here. None of which includes Broad Ripple because I can't imagine that it would ever be an effective location and one that the team would seriously consider. Bargaining chip? Probably. But didn't Ersal building a parking garage in Broad Ripple that wasn't that well received? Hasn't it been stated since the inception of the stadium talks that downtown was the preferred location. Broad Ripple is not downtown.

Lucas Oil Stadium isn't a long-term solution? Said that before too.

From the Press Release (emphasis mine):

Eleven Park has proposed to privately develop and finance the office, retail, apartment and boutique hotel portions of the project. Taxes that are generated on the property as a result of the private development are proposed to be utilized to help finance the stadium and public areas which are proposed to be owned by the Capital Improvement Board and financed by the City of Indianapolis by developer backed bonds. Indy Eleven is proposing to the lease the stadium and pay all operating expenses as well as any cost overruns, creating no risk or exposure for the taxpayer.

To me that sounds like taxes that are generated from a private development are going toward another facility that many feel should also be a private facility and, therefore, won't be able to be used to fund other public needs like schools, roads, and sewers. How well has that been received in the past?

With the exception that "Melina Kennedy, president of the CIB, said her group “generally supports” the Eleven Park concept," it all seems repetitive and just as likely to get enough support as the past iterations. Particularly since "the proposal calls for enactment of new Professional Sports Development Area, or PSDA" and I can't find a proposed bill in the current General Assembly that would include it. Which means it would need to be attached to something else and that never goes over that well.

So what would I suggest you ask? Well, I've covered that before too over the years...

Thinking of proposed $85M @IndyEleven stadium & looking at @SAScorpions @ToyotaField pics. Nice! Does $85M forego their phased approach?

— Drew (@GenWRX6) August 11, 2014

As I watch @USL Game of the Week with @SanAntonioFC, I see Toyota Field as an excellent example for a soccer-specific stadium for @IndyEleven. It looks like a nice facility, but designed with the ability to expand.https://t.co/EBB1frI9RK (1/3

— Drew (@GenWRX6) July 26, 2018

Not a lot of fans in the seats for Costa Rica vs Canada in CONCACAF Women's Championship, but @RGVFC's H-E-B stadium looks nice. <$20M construction cost.https://t.co/CgoqbSPf8Uhttps://t.co/pSFwJOv1yX
CC: @IndyEleven

— Drew (@GenWRX6) October 12, 2018

There are my thoughts on the newest Indy Eleven stadium. Seems like we've been in these waters before.

However, I still think the team needs to continue to focus on a downtown location, figure out a way to get private investors on board, even if that means designing mix-use features into the stadium, and the location of Carroll Stadium is growing on me provided the logistics during the construction phase can be determined.

Maybe one day I'll be able to write about the actual stadium and my experience in it instead of potential locations and grocery stores.

The Soccer Life - Josh Mason

He's your president. 

He's your vice president.

He's rumored to be insanely rich.

He likes to work for beverage companies.

He's Joshua D. Mason.

Josh is one of the founding members of the Brickyard Battalion and the group's president from January 2015 to July 2018, when he became full narc and joined the Indy Eleven as the Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Josh is an all-around good dude, full of energy and passion for the Indy Eleven and I have enjoyed having conversations with Josh and his dad on the sidelines during Indy Eleven games over the years.

Josh once described himself this way - "I'd like to note that I'm a more than average over-30 indoors soccer player who's never played college soccer. I love the sport and that's why I'm involved in the team."

This is how he answered my questions about The Soccer Life:

Photo credit: Don Thompson (@DLTPhotog)

1. Name:
- Josh Mason

2. Role (Player, Parent, Coach, Referee, General Spectator, All of the Above, None of the Above, Other):
- Vice President of Sales & Marketing of Indy Eleven
Editor's Note: and coach and parent and referee...

3. Soccer-specific Nickname (and any story behind it):
- Scooter. Thanks Dad.

4. Age became interested in soccer:
- 4

5. First recollection of the game:
- Playing my first game at ESSA on the far east side of Indy.

6. Highest level of play achieved:
- College Club

7. Honors/Awards
-

8. Last competitive match – Date (if known) & Level of Play
- Last night (I am still sore).
Editor's Note: The holidays took my attention so "last night" was November 20th of last year. I'm assuming Josh has played since then.

9. Position:
- Defense preferred

Josh presenting Braden Tamosaitis with Captain's armband
and BYB brick surrounding Brandon's signing with the team.
Photo credit: Don Thompson (@DLTPhotog)

10. Jersey number:
-

11. Coaching experience:
- Carmel FC (current U-11 Boys Travel Coach); total of 6 years.

12. Refereeing experience:
- Refereed all my childhood from like 12 years old on, and all 4 years of college.

13. Most memorable moment(s):
- The first Indy Eleven home game at Carroll Stadium. Surreal.

14. Least memorable moment(s):
- The moments I have already forgotten.

15. Favorite World Cup moment(s):
- USA vs England 1-1 draw, June 12, 2010. I was surrounded by all the Brits I played indoor with; new and old friends alike packing out a room and the energy was incredible.
- All USA vs Mexico games in Columbus, Ohio and the bus trips

16. Favorite team(s)
- Indy Eleven
- Manchester United

17. Favorite Historical player:
- Paul Scholes
- Ryan Giggs

18. Favorite Current Player
- Ayoze
- Juan Mata

19. Indoor vs Outdoor:
- Outdoor

20. Grass vs Turf:
- Grass

21. Other sports played (and to what level):
- Nothing well enough to mention!

22. Other Comments:
- Very excited to get this 2019 Campaign started. It's going to be a memorable year for sure for fans and players alike.

Indy Eleven 2018 Recap & 2019 Off-Season Outlook

With the exception of last year when it looked like the Eleven may have played their last game and I was tired of writing, I have provided a recap of the preceding season and an outlook of what I expect in the off-season leading to next year. Now that the USL Championship season is complete (congrats Louisville City FC on their 1-nil victory against Didier Drogba and the Phoenix Rising) and I've had a bit of time off to collect my thoughts, I thought it was a good time to sit down and see what comes from my brain to my fingertips to the screen. Let's start with a look back at 2018.

NEW! NEW! NEW!

If you were looking for something different with the team, 2018 was the year for you. After waiting and waiting during the off-season, the idea of not watching the Eleven play this year was looking to be a more realistic prospect. Given the option of potentially having to lose a season of play, which could have meant the death of the team, owner Ersal Ozdemir made the decision to move the team from the NASL (who are currently still stuck in legal proceedings) to the USL. Once that decision was made, a rapid succession of announcements were made regarding the future of the team and its 2018 composition. The team announced the decision on January 10th. Within a week, the team announced the hiring of Martin Rennie as the head coach. Within a week of that, Justin Braun was announced as the first player to make up the 2018 roster, with near daily announcements of additional players. Less than two weeks after announcing Coach Rennie, the team announced that they would be playing their home games in Lucas Oil Stadium. The Eleven played 5 preseason games before starting the season on the road against the Richmond Kickers. As much as I tired of the use of the excuse towards the middle and end of the season, and as much as I believe some of it was self-inflicted, that really is a lot of activity in a short amount of time by the team.

With all of the changes and limited preparation time, the Eleven won 4 of their first 7 games. Unfortunately, the team lost 4 of their last 7 games to conclude the season on a disheartening note. The Eleven finished the season with a 13W-11L-10D record, but struggled to get positive results against the top teams in the conference, achieving just a 2W-6L-4D record against the teams that finished in the top 4 spots of the Eastern Conference. I've said it before on this site, but the team was good but not great this year. They generally beat the teams that they should have beaten, but struggled to get results against the elite teams in the league, including an 0-3 record against FC Cincinnati.

The Eleven finished the season ranked 7th in the table. The Eleven finished the season ranked 8th in goals scored. The Eleven finished the season ranked 8th in goals allowed. Of the 8 playoff teams in the Eastern Conference, Indy was the only team that finished the season with a single digit Goal Differential. The successful teams in the conference scored more goals than their opponents (yes, I know that sounds obvious, but Ottawa toyed with being a playoff team until late in the season and they ended up with a negative double digit goal differential so it can, somehow, be done the other way). Coach Rennie is a defensive minded tactician, but has said that they needed to find ways to create more chances in the offensive third and be more successful in the chances that they did get in that portion of the field. Given some of the offensive talent on the roster, it makes me wonder what Rennie will do with the roster next year to remain as defensive-minded as he seems to be, while also providing better finishing. It's not like McInerney, Saad, and Starikov aren't capable of scoring goals.

So what do I see for the team in the offseason?

Looking to 2019

Stadium

2019 will, once again, be a longer legislative budgetary session that happens every two years. As a result, the team will likely make another push to get some public financing help in funding a new stadium for the team. As I've repeatedly stated for some time now, I believe this effort will not return any fruit unless Mr. Ozdemir (and maybe other investors) lays down at least half of whatever is the final dollar amount for the stadium. From my conversations with team personnel, the Eleven will again play at Lucas Oil Stadium "for the foreseeable future." I believe this was part of a two-year agreement, but that may have been revised. It is hoped that the schedule will be more favorable, with significantly fewer Wednesday night games. However, for its advantages over Carroll Stadium, I don't believe that Lucas Oil Stadium is a viable long-term solution for the team and some kind of soccer specific stadium is going to need to be determined. Particularly if the team is going to continue to have the roof open during a heat wave, creating sweltering player and viewer experiences.

St. Mirren Stadium in Scotland. The USWNT recently played here.
Could a modified version of this be sufficient for Indy Eleven,
\with the ability to expand later as needed?

While the attendance figures increased over last year, the eye-ball test as a spectator makes you question those numbers, particularly during the string of Wednesday night games. Whether the values are inflated or not, the optics of 10,000 fans in a place that seats nearly 70,000 was not good. After the +17,000 record setting attendance of the first home game of the season against FC Cincinnati, you would have been hard-pressed to think that the team needs a stadium that can sit 20,000 fans. A stadium of 15,000 might even be optimistic. Yet, the team and, more specifically, owner Ersal Ozdemir, continue to use a MLS carrot to rationalize a need for a larger stadium. If the team wants their own stadium, I continue to think that they would be better served to think smaller with the ability to expand later. I've seen a lot of stadiums and renderings of new stadiums that are much more subdued than the one that was presented to fans in the Stadium for Indiana push and I think the team should consider that route rather than the brick wall they are running up against right now.

In Belskus' exit interview with Rakestraw, he indicated that the team is looking at a stadium arrangement that includes a larger development consisting of retail, housing, etc. I had this idea three years ago, including building some of those items directly into the stadium. I also have to wonder if they are considering something like the Airport project that was discussed two years ago. I interviewed Jeff about the stadium a couple of years ago and I recently reached out to the team for more information on stadium discussions to include in this article, but I did not give them enough time to provide the detailed answers I wanted. A follow-up article on the stadium will happen later this off-season as I'm able to pry more information from the front office.

(For additional information, here are all my posts related to discussions of an Indy Eleven stadium throughout the years.)

Coach

While the front office's social media content was well done, the announcement that Martin Rennie would be returning as head coach for the 2019 season was met with a "ho-hum" response from most fans, myself included. Not necessarily because they didn't want to see Coach Rennie return (though there are a few of those as well), but rather that it was generally expected that this would be the case. Even Coach Sommer was allowed to start a second year at the helm and he didn't get a brand-new roster of players into the playoffs in their first season in a new league. In my opinion, there seemed to be almost no chance that Coach Rennie would be let go after this year. Further adding to the well hyped, but underwhelming "announcement" was that Coach Rennie stated in an interview with Greg Rakestraw on Soccer Saturday that he had moved his entire family to Indy full-time. That doesn't seem like the kind of move a person would make if they weren't returning for Year 2.

An unknown at this point is the status of Assistant Coach Phillip Dos Santos. Dos Santos' brother Marc was recently announced as the new head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Phillip was an assistant under Marc during his tenure with the San Francisco Deltas, so it would seem logical that Marc might extend an offer to his brother in Vancouver as well, especially since Phillip was born in Canada. If Marc makes the offer, I can't blame Phillip if he decides to headed to snowier, but probably higher paying, pastures.

Front Office

Much like the players on the field, the front offices of lower division soccer teams routinely have a lot of turnover from season to season. Last year it was Scott Stewart exiting to new rival Louisville City FC (who have done nothing but win the USL championship since he's been there) and Bianca Velez who exited for the Colorado Rapids. There was John Koluder and Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore before that... This year it is Danielle Wooding and Molly Kruger and Jeff Belskus. Danielle was the Community Relations Manager, Molly was the Director of Corporate Development, and Jeff was the President.

Jeff Belskus announced his retirement a couple weeks ago and I'll reiterate the question I posed on Twitter after the announcement: Was his tenure successful? I believe that it depends on your expectation of why he was hired. If you believe he was hired to use his connections from his days with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to facilitate getting the team a new stadium, then it certainly seems like he failed. When pressed by Guy-Jo Gordon (another former FO staff member) about Belskus' accomplishments during his tenure, my most notable response is that he helped facilitate the transition from 2017 to 2018. Meaning, new coach, new league, new stadium, and scorched-Earth rebuild of the roster (though I would argue that last one was not a positive and that many of the players from 2017 were not handled as professionally as they deserved). I believe he was hired to bring a new stadium, which does not seem to have been accomplished. So by that metric, it's hard to say that his tenure was completely successful.

Molly was famously the 1st hire of Peter Wilt when the team started. With her departure from the team (but remaining in Indy), only Mike Henn, Andy Piggush, Larry Linde, and Tian Liang remain from the original Season 1 front office staff.

So the Front Office took a bit of a hit this offseason. Which leads me to...

Players

Coach Rennie consistently said all season that the team needed some time and continuity with each other. With that in mind, he will likely want to retain as much of the roster as possible. Otherwise, the excuses this year will follow him into next year and fans will be less patient in year 2 as they were in year 1 of his tenure.

May be gone:

1. Campos - This is an easy one for me. He was loaned from the Chicago Fire and injuries prevented him from even getting an official number from the team. He was non-existent and I can't imagine a scenario where the loan is renewed.
2. Lewis - Despite his blazing speed and international experience, Lewis struggled in all 11 games that he played. Nine of his 11 starts took place in the first 11 games and then he fell out of favor for the remainder of the season.
3. Rusin - He was one of the first signings, but really only found minutes early in the season as a result of some injuries to Coach Rennie's preferred defensive starters. His minutes dropped off drastically as the season progressed. Unless Coach Rennie sees him as a good backup, I think Brad might not be on next year's roster.
4. Amankona - Unless he's playing for very little money, Amass was the only field player not named Campos to not see a single minute of league action. If history is any guide, that's a bad sign for him being on the roster next season. 
5. Braun - Rumor is that he is retiring. After back-to-back seasons with injuries, I can't blame him. I hate to see him go, but I can understand his frustrations and the risk of trying to continue playing.
6. Pasher - This has nothing to do with his performance on the field...when he was on the field. Any player that spends as much time on the injured list with a head injury is concerning, both from the team's perspective, but more importantly, from his own perspective. Without knowing any of the details of the injury, the duration of his injury concerns me about his long-term prospects of playing professional soccer.
7. Steinberger - Despite the level of play that Zach displayed after being loaned to North Carolina FC late in the season, I have a hard time believing that he returns next year. I don't know the details of the loan, but guys like Steinberger want minutes and he wasn't getting them in Indy. Given his success in NCFC, I wouldn't be surprised if they offered him a contract and the Eleven have to play against him next year.
8. Ring - I know. I hate writing this as much as you hate reading it, but Coach Rennie's persistence of playing rookie Nico Matern in the holding midfielder position in lieu of Ring tells you who he prefers. Some conspiracy theorists say there is a reason for that and I wish I knew the actual reason, but I'm worried about Ring's future in Indy. Unless Coach Rennie sees Ring as a useful utility defensive back-up or Ring is playing for cheap money, Indy's last remaining player from its inaugural season may be on the outside looking in. I hope I'm wrong. 

Expected to return:

1. Ayoze - He was the team's MVP and I'm not sure how you could vote for anybody else for that award. If he wants to play, he's the #1 going into the preseason.
2. Ferreira - Reiner played with Dos Santos in San Francisco. The Ferreira-Mitchell-Ouimette 3-back system seemed to be the favored lineup by Coach Rennie towards the end of the season when all three were available and healthy. I expect those three to be at the forefront of the contract renewals.
3. Fon Williams - Dependent on the loan with Inverness Caledonian Thistle but he improved throughout the season and would expect that Rennie would like to keep the backline and goalkeeper arrangement as consistent between Year 1 and Year 2 as possible. 
4. Guerra - I could see this go either way, but I think he stays.
5. Matern - See comments above under Ring. Coach Rennie prefers him and I didn't see enough out of him to warrant substantial interest from other teams.
6. Mitchell - Went to Korea with Coach Rennie. Came back from Korea with Coach Rennie. If there's a Rennie guy, I think it's Mitchell. See above for Ferreira. 
7. Moses - Workhorse with a lot of pace. 
8. Ouimette - Karl played with Dos Santos in San Francisco. See above for Ferreira.
9. Saad - Young player with a flair for free kicks. Minutes were reduced at the end of the year, but I think he returns.
10. Speas - Much like Guerra, I could see this go either way, but I think he stays too. 
11. Starikov - When healthy, Starikov demonstrated an ability to score goals and be physical up top. I think he stays. 
12. Venegas - Pasher's ability to go forward as a wing-back, but without Pasher's desire to get back on defense. Regardless, I think he's back.
13. Watson - Matt was the old man on the roster this year, but his soccer IQ makes up for some of his reduced speed. I think Rennie brings the skipper back. 

Unknown:

"Kubel to Base. I've lost the package" - Kubel (probably)

1. Mares - He was with the team outright at the end of the year and not as a part of a loan, but Dylan did nothing but get better in his time away after his first stint with the Eleven and he was pretty damn good back then. In his limited time in Indy this year, he separated himself from everybody but Ayoze as the best player on the team. The team would do well to try and keep him, but I have to believe that Dylan is going to get some lucrative offers this off-season for other teams. Just like his last departure from Indy, I don't know if the Eleven will be able to match the offers.
2. McInerney - Jack didn't want to be here in the beginning of the year and it showed. After he settled in and realized that any chance of him moving back up to MLS was dependent on how well he performed this year, he started doing what he was hired to do and scored goals. It's nice having a double-digit scorer on the roster, but I think Jack believes he shouldn't be playing in lower division soccer. Some MLS team might agree with him.
3. Collier - I would expect that his loan from the Chicago Fire expires and he returns to them, but the Eleven have had some very successful loans from the Fire. It seemed that Coach Rennie was impressed with Collier's abilities, so he might push for another loan, but I think a lot of it will have to do with the Fire's desire to get him back.
4. Farr and Lundgaard - Back-up goalkeepers that never saw minutes. Do they want to stick around? Their return may also be dependent on what happens with Fon Williams..

That means I think 13 of the 26 players will be retained, with a couple more being possible. In lower division soccer, maintaining half of the roster is doing pretty well. Maybe as important though is that the above 13 players that I think return account for 75% of the minutes played for the season. If Coach Rennie is to be believed that the team needs some more consistently to be really good, 50% of players and 75% of the minutes is a good place to start.

Fans keep clamoring for news from the team. The team keeps telling them to be patient. I hope I'm wrong about a couple of the players and I'm sure the team has different ideas about a stadium, but only time will tell.

Indy Eleven vs Louisville FC - 05.35 - USL Playoffs

- Opponent: Louisville City FC
- Location: Louisville
- Attendance: 6,763
- Final Score: 4-1 L
- Starting XI: Fon Williams, Ouimette, Mitchell, Ferreira, Ayoze, Matern, Moses, Watson, Mares, Speas, McInerney
- Substitutions: Venegas 45' (Matern); Collier 61' (McInerney); Saad 61' (Watson)
- Unused: Lundgaard, Rusin, Ring, Guerra
- Goals: Saad 67' (assist Mares)
- Bookings: Mitchell 46' (Yellow); Ouimette 72' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: Two

Indy Eleven limped into the USL playoffs losing 4 of their final 6 games, including a loss last week to tonight's opponent in Louisville City FC. In those final 6 games, Indy played the elite teams of the eastern conference in FC Cincinnati, Louisville City FC, and Pittsburgh, as well as Bethlehem Steel who also made the playoffs. In those four games, Indy was outscored 8 to 3, giving up a trifecta of goals to Pittsburgh and FC Cincinnati. As I've pointed out before, Indy's record against the top four teams in the league (FCC, LCFC, Pittsburgh, & Charleston) was 2W-6L-4D.

Indy was good, but not great all season. Tonight, they were great for the first 5 minutes and came away with nothing to show for that effort. McInerney had a good opportunity within the first 20 seconds and Matern had another a few minutes later. After that, and much like last week, the better team won. Once LCFC put a goal on the board in the 29th minute by McCabe (his first of 2 on the night) and Indy had to push more numbers forward to get an equalizer, they were going to continue to provide opportunities for LCFC to exploit them.

Immediately ahead and behind the halftime break, Indy gave up free kick chances that LCFC put into the goal, creating an insurmountable lead. Coach Rennie went to the bench early in the second half, substituting Venegas in for Matern at halftime and then held off until the 61st minute before throwing all of his chips into the table. Out came McInerney, who felt a bit non-existent at times, for Collier and Saad in for Watson, both in the 61st minute. Indy had another good stretch of play after the substitutions and Saad made an immediate impact, pulling one back for the visitors in the 67th minute.

The optimism about Indy potentially making it a close game was short-lived though as Lancaster placed a (potentially) wind-assisted free kick over the wall and into the upper 90 out of reach of a fully-stretched Fon Williams. With that dagger, the rest of the game played out like a painful death march to the off-season for Indy Eleven and their fans.

The game finished as I expected, if not by the goal line that I expected. Indy was always going to have issues going into Louisville and getting a win. Exacerbating their odds were relatively poor performances from some guys like Ouimette and Matern. Not surprisingly, Ayoze and Mares played well in the loss and I would hope that they find their way back onto next season's roster. I'm more confident that Ayoze will be back, but I suspect Mares will once again be offered a contract some place that the Eleven will not be able to match. If I believe the line that Coach Rennie has stated all year about needing time to achieve proper chemistry (apparently 8+ months isn't quite enough), I would assume that most of this year's squad will be returning next year though I have to wonder if Lewis, Amankona, Pasher, Ring, Rusin, & Steinberger will be returning.That's a discussion for another time though.

Tonight, the Eleven begin their off-season after a disheartening 4-1 loss to a rival after having a good, but not great, season.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Ayoze and Mares. Ayoze is the team MVP and Mares gets 2nd place just because of his limited time here in Indy this season.

Highlights

Indy Eleven vs Louisville City FC - 05.34

- Opponent: Louisville City FC
- Location: Louisville
- Attendance: 10,686
- Final Score: 1-0 L
- Starting XI: Fon Williams, Venegas, Ouimette, Ferreira, Ayoze, Matern, Moses, Watson, Mares, Braun, McInerney
- Substitutions: Collier 54' (Braun); Guerra 78' (Matern); Speas 81' (Moses)
- Unused: Lundgaard, Rusin, Amankona
- Goals: None
- Bookings: Ouimette 51' (Yellow); Moses 78' (Yellow); Mares 82' (Yellow)
- Adage goals: None

I wanted to wait to write my thoughts about the Eleven's loss to Louisville until the rest of the results from the league's Sunday games were final as it affected where the Eleven would end in the table, and by extension, where they would play in the first weekend of the playoffs. At the conclusion of the game against LCFC, Indy maintained the spot they entered, which was in 5th place. At the conclusion of the Sunday games, the Eleven fell all the way to 7th, forcing a rematch with Louisville City FC next weekend.

Knowing that it was a possibility for the two teams to play again next weekend, I considered the option during the 2-hour drive home. I would like to be wrong about it, but I don't believe that the Indy Eleven can win the game next weekend. They have played Louisville tough this season, but at the time of year when it matters most, the Eleven don't look like the team that can win against the top level talent in the Eastern Conference. They've played the top teams in the closing weeks of the season and have lost 3 of their last 5. That's not exactly the run-of-form that you want when heading into the playoffs.

With what we've witnessed Saturday, the Eleven held their own in the first half, but chased the game in the second half and not just chasing the game in the sense that they adjusted their tactics to find an equalizer after falling behind from a 34 minute penalty kick goal from Lancaster. Rather, they were constantly chasing the ball trying to catch up to the ball movement from Louisville. I don't see how the team remedies that in less than a week.

Then there's the field... LCFC have clearly figured out how to play in a field that is short, narrow, and watered down with dish soap laden water. How many LCFC players did you see slip and slide making cuts in the infield "grass" and how many Indy Eleven players did you see slip and slide making cuts in that exact same area of the field? I think Braun's early second half departure was a result of a slip that caused him to slowly pick himself off the turf. In the first half, Venegas looked like a thief tip-toeing through a house in an absurd soccer crime-caper movie. Which, I'm sure seems obvious, is not an ideal way to defend a team. Particularly when you're playing more of a three back lineup. So in addition to the eleven players on the field, the Eleven had to compete against the field itself.

LCFC were not as affected by their field, and by all indications, avoided the baseball infield portion of the field as much as possible. Yet, even with LCFC playing in just the northern half of the field, the Eleven were constantly trying to catch up to the movement from Louisville.

In the first half, the Eleven were going from West to East. I took the heat map from the game's match center, roughly drew in the location of the infield "grass," rotated the map to reflect the actual field, and split it for each team. Here's what that evaluation confirmed for my eye-ball test.

Indy defended a lot and the majority of their touches were within their own half. That was in both halves, but the second half was even deeper in their defensive third.

Indy Eleven 1st half heat map - defending west

Indy Eleven 2nd half heat map - defending east

Louisville, on the flip side, had a great deal of their touches in Indy's half of the field and looked to make a concerted effort to avoid the infield "grass." They seem to have adjusted their play to the difficulties that the infield and pitcher's mound presents. Yet, even with that compressed field limitation, LCFC's passes consistently forced the Eleven to recover defensively.

LCFC 1st half heat map - defending east

LCFC 2nd half heat map - defending west

With less than a week, Coach Rennie and the rest of the coaching staff have to figure out how to beat a team that, to me, were the better team on Saturday without any way to recreate the difficulties of playing on the surface they saw this week. Which is going to be a tall order and leads me to this week's Game Beckons Game Ball.

The Game Beckons Game Ball

Owain Fon Williams in a runaway. Fon Williams set a new season high for him in saves on Saturday, officially tallying 8, but what felt like more. Coach Rennie was quoted afterwards of saying that he thought "he [Fon Williams] deserved a clean sheet" and "it was only a penalty that was able to beat him." Owain had to deal with more than double the Shots on Target as his LCFC counterpart, Ranjitsingh, and was able to keep the Eleven in the game. He managed to minimize the scoring damage and a penalty kick is a rough way to lose a clean sheet, but he played well and was the definite bright spot for the team.

Photos

Highlights