Indianapolis “will put in a bid” for an MLS expansion team, reports the Indianapolis Star, “potentially placing in jeopardy” Eleven Park, the $1 billion-plus, 20-acre mixed-use development that would be anchored by a stadium for USL Championship club Indy Eleven. No potential owner was named as part of the bid announcement, but city officials told the Star that "the group of investors is led by 'an experienced and well-respected sports executive who has held leadership roles in MLS and global soccer.'"
Per city officials, the stadium “could eventually house the new MLS team.” They also noted an alternative site at “the downtown helipad.” Those city officials “also declined to share who might own the proposed team or an estimate of how much money it would take to field the team” and said that the eventual owners “will decide the stadium’s location.”
News of the MLS bid didn’t go over well with the Keystone Group, whose head, Ersal Ozdemir, owns Indy Eleven. Even before the announcement, the group “criticized [Indianapolis] Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration for trying to walk away from the Eleven Park project.” After the city’s announcement, the group said in a statement that “this is more than disappointing -- it's a shocking reversal of Mayor Hogsett's public support for this project.”
In February 2023, Ozdemir said that he is “open to making another bid to join" MLS, but he "stopped short of committing to such an effort as part of a new development planned for the southwestern quadrant of downtown.”
MLS granted an expansion team to San Diego last year, its 30th team, with a reported $500 million franchise fee. The San Diego FC will begin play in 2025.
