The Pacers have "unveiled plans and renderings for a newly remodeled section of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, along with a multi-year naming rights deal that likely will score the Pacers more than" $1M over the course of the deal, according to Anthony Schoettle of the INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL. The team is turning seven suites at the south end of the arena "into a single entertainment area with a club-like feel that could serve as an alternative for fans who want high-end amenities without committing to an entire suite." The new $2.8M space, "with a capacity for 104 guests, will be called the Sells Group Loft" after a locally based digital marketing and development firm. Pacers and Sells Group officials said that the naming-rights pact is a "five-year deal, but declined to provide financial details." It is estimated "in the low to mid six figures, netting the Pacers seven figures over the span of the agreement." Sells Group "will get multiple signs in the new space along with in-arena advertising and other marketing elements." A set of four tickets for loge boxes "will cost $50,000 annually and a set of four tickets for theater boxes will cost $70,000 annually." The space is designed by Populous. Tickets for the space "will be sold in three-, five-, and seven-year packages" (INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/15 issue).
YOU'VE GOT MAIL: In Indianapolis, Greg Andrews notes IRS attorneys have "gotten their hands on an email that appears to buttress their case that Herb Simon received a sweetheart deal when he acquired" his ailing brother Mel’s 50% ownership in the Pacers in early '09. Whether Mel "got full value for his stake matters because, if he didn’t, Herb effectively received a massive gift -- which is exactly what the IRS contends." After conducting an audit, the IRS valued that gift at $83M and "ordered Mel’s estate and his widow, Bren Simon, to each pay" $21.3M in gift taxes. Both paid, but Bren "did so under protest and filed a suit in March of last year seeking to recoup the money." The suit "remains in its early stages but already is bringing to light new details about the sometimes-contentious, behind-the-scenes family deliberations that led to the deal -- which was so private the brothers and team never announced it publicly." The emails the IRS has amassed during discovery "suggest the parties took no steps to seek outside validation the terms were fair -- despite the apparent complexities of valuing a major sports franchise." Perhaps "most damaging" to Bren’s case is an email that former Pacers President Robert Salyers sent to Herb and others in November '08 "regarding NBA approval of the deal." The IRS "will get its hands on even more internal documents if it prevails in a standoff with the team, which so far is fighting a records subpoena from the IRS it considers overly broad and burdensome" (INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/15 issue).
