The Indiana Senate voted 46-3 today in favour of an amended version of House Bill 1273, which would lay the framework to secure an 18,000-seat multipurpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis. The stadium would serve as a permanent home for all Indy Eleven Professional Soccer games and potentially more than 30 other sports and entertainment events to be held every year on the Indiana University campus of IUPUI.
Peter Wilt, President and General Manager of Indy Eleven, said: “We are thrilled that the Senate’s vote today furthers our goal to secure a proper stadium for ‘the World’s Game’ and all of its passionate supporters from across Indiana. We look forward to building on this momentum with our partners at Indiana University and IUPUI and working towards a venue plan that will do the City and State proud while boosting Indiana’s economy for all Hoosiers.”
HB 1273 was filed by Indiana State Representative Todd Huston (Fishers – District 37) to extend a sports and entertainment development area to include a future stadium site and a new downtown Indianapolis hotel to be developed by the owner of Indy Eleven for the purpose of reinforcing stadium finances. The multipurpose stadium bill received strong bipartisan support from the Indiana House by a vote of 74-21.
The cost of the project would still be financed through user fees captured at the stadium and, if necessary, the afore-mentioned downtown hotel project.
Now that the legislation has been approved by the Indiana Senate, a conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers will work to finalise legislation for a stadium located on the campus of IUPUI that would be owned by Indiana University and have USD$20m of its financing allocated by the State of Indiana.
Ersal Ozdemir, owner of Indy Eleven, said: “We appreciate the thoughtful consideration of the stadium bill by the Senate and their efforts to help create a fiscally responsible solution for a multipurpose stadium in Indianapolis. The potential to partner with Indiana University to create a first-division-quality stadium that honours the rich heritage of soccer in the Hoosier State is being met with tremendous enthusiasm by our fans.”