The Pacers "will continue to play basketball in Indianapolis for at least a decade" under a $160M deal the team and the city "plan to announce Monday morning," according to documents cited in a front-page piece by Tony Cook of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. The documents show that the agreement "locks the team into Bankers Life Fieldhouse for 10 years, with three one-year renewal options." The city in exchange will provide $160M to "cover operating costs and facility upgrades." The new deal "appears to be more costly for the city than the current agreement." The agreement "locks in the Pacers" through the '23-24 season and "possibly through the end" of the '26-27 season. That "coincides with the final debt service payments on the fieldhouse." The deal "sticks even if the Pacers begin to lose money." The Capital Improvement Board "will subsidize fieldhouse operating costs to the tune" of $3.7M a year. The CIB also "will pay the fieldhouse's manager" $7.1M a year, with that amount rising 3% annually. The CIB will provide $26.5M to the Pacers for "upgrades to seating, new paint and improvements to locker rooms and concessions" and will pay for $7M in improvements "directly to replace the floor, upgrade the cooling tower and improve the facility's steam pressure control system." The CIB also will pay $8M over 10 years "for the scoreboard and sound system and will take title of the equipment at the end of the deal." The new deal "makes provisions in the event of the death" of team Owner Herb Simon. If the team's lenders "call its current loans due, or if those loans mature, the Pacers must seek replacement financing that is secured by collateral, likely real estate" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/11). In Indianapolis, Schouten & Andrews report the pact "calls for the Pacers to create a separate entity to operate Bankers Life Fieldhouse." In the event of Simon's death, the CIB "would have 15 months to help the team find financing and would be entitled to a right of first offer in the event of a sale" (IBJ.com, 4/10).
POWER PLAY: In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz in a front-page piece writes the Pacers, "like most sports franchises, have the leverage." That is "especially true with the Pacers," who can look to K.C. or Seattle "for two cities who would pay a king's ransom to have this franchise move." Pacers President Jim Morris said, "Herb has never, ever contemplated taking the team away from Indianapolis; he would never do that. But the challenge is that we are one of the smallest markets in the NBA. ... We had to find an economic model so that whoever might own the team 10, 15, 20 years down the road will be successful." Kravitz writes while the Pacers "have not publicly threatened to move without a new deal, it's implied." Like any pro sports franchise, it is "going to take cash to keep them happy, even if their owner is a billionaire" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/11).
