Pacers' Mounting Financial Losses Among Troubles For Indy CIB
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Pacers Have Given Financial Documents To
CIB To Show Franchise Is Losing Money |
Indianapolis' Capital Improvement Board (CIB) "still faces enormous challenges," and among the "most difficult will be hammering out a new financial agreement with the Indiana Pacers, who, after years of losses, say they can no longer bear the entire" $15M annual cost of operating Conseco Fieldhouse, according to Francesca Jarosz of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. While the team "has not asked to renegotiate its contract, it has given the CIB financial documents to show it is losing money." Pacers Sports & Entertainment VP/Corporate & Public Relations Greg Schenkel noted that the team has lost $200M "since Herb and Melvin Simon bought it in 1983." CIB VP Pat Early said that the Pacers have "made clear ... that they can't continue to sustain those kinds of losses." Early: "I don't want to downplay the fact that there's some urgency. We're either going to have to (find a solution), or we run a real risk of them not being in Indianapolis." Early noted that the team's 20-year contract through '19 "allows the Pacers an option of terminating early if they can show they are facing financial hardship," though Schenkel said that the Pacers' intention is to "stay here forever." Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard's Chief of Staff Paul Okeson said that an agreement with the Pacers "could cost even more" than the estimated $15M the CIB "would have to spend to operate Conseco Fieldhouse." Okeson: "Everything is on the table. No doubt we're in a tough financial position, but we've got to make it work." Meanwhile, Jarosz notes the CIB also is "facing mounting pressure from the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association for funding to promote the expanded convention center." The CIB in less than a month "must resolve whether it can use alternatives to cash" to cover $26.3M in debt service reserve funding or "potentially see its cash depleted" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/13).
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