March/April 2014 – BizVoice/Indiana Chamber
17
Resource:
Indy Eleven at
. Single game tickets start at $10, and Indy Eleven’s first home match is April 12 against the Carolina
RailHawks | Anita Sipes, Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC, at
| Jeff White, WISH-TV and WNDY-TV, at
Veteran German goalkeeper Kristian
Nicht takes a goal kick during the
team’s scrimmage against Major
League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas
City. Indy Eleven played three MLS
teams during its first preseason
training camp in Arizona in February
(Reid Sprenkel photo).
our manufacturing facility, job opportunities and our Honda products.”
She adds that Honda will include its associates through ticket
giveaways and events with the team.
Indy Eleven games will also be broadcast to a local audience on
WNDY-TV. Television sponsors will gain exposure with the fans at
the game as well.
“There will be a video board in Carroll Stadium,” Linde explains.
“The feed will be the same as the broadcast feed – so the sponsors that
buy television broadcasts of the games will also get in-stadium exposure.”
Broadcasting live soccer will signify a new venture in Indiana
sports television.
“Indy Eleven has demonstrated popularity with ticket sales, and we
felt it would attract some viewers to the station as something different
and new,” reveals Jeff White, WNDY and WISH-TV general manager.
He understands broadcasting a sport on such a large field with
constant action will pose new challenges and opportunities, but White
believes the exposure will help all involved.
“We’re excited. I think there will be an extreme amount of
curiosity about the team and professional soccer in general. Seeing the
team (on TV) may motivate some people to say, ‘Let’s take the family
and go down there next week and watch the game.’ ”
A league of gentlemen
The NASL began in the 1960s, but was disbanded nearly two
decades later and then rebirthed in 2009. It’s considered a second tier
league – while Major League Soccer (MLS) represents the top division
in the U.S. – and will feature 10 teams in 2014.
Wilt describes the complexity of the NASL now, noting its uniqueness.
“The league is a little dynamic and growing into an identity,” he
articulates. “It’s a very independent, entrepreneurial identity, and it’s
different than the MLS business model. The other division I and III
leagues in the country are more centrally directed. This league allows
teams to create their own destiny a little bit. New teams, like ours,
are making quite the impact locally.”
Rumors abound that the NASL may one day become affiliated
with MLS or even operate in a promotion/relegation partnership that
might work similarly to the English Premier League.
“That’s talked about within NASL, but it has to make sense for all
parties – and at this point that doesn’t make sense for MLS,” he points
out. “And frankly, NASL teams need to prove we can operate at a first
division standard. But we’re well on our way; selling 7,000 season tickets
months before the season starts is more than first division standards.”
He argues Indy Eleven’s corporate support also ranks similar to
MLS teams, as well as the quality of its staff. There are concerns,
however, that need to be addressed when it comes to facilities. Carroll
Stadium, initially constructed for track and field events, has no
showers or running water, and portable toilets and outside concession
vendors will be brought in to accommodate fans during matches.
In early 2014, the team launched a plan for an $87 million,
18,500-seat stadium – supported primarily by public tax money generated
by the team’s operation.
“Our facility is not first division standard – but our vision of a stadium
is,” Wilt states. “If we get there, that would go a long way in saying to
U.S. Soccer – and it would have to be a critical mass of NASL teams,
not just us – that we’re first division standard off and on the field.”
Indy Eleven will eventually get its shot at MLS competition in the
U.S. Open Cup Championship, which allows the leagues to compete
against each other in one tournament. (In fact, Wilt is the proud owner of
four U.S. Open Cup rings – all earned with the Chicago Fire.)
With Indianapolis soccer history consisting of ill-fated franchises
like the Twisters, Blast and many others, Indy Eleven hopes to build a
new foundation and connection with fans.
“People were afraid to attach their heart to what might be another
fly-by-night team. We had to prove that this is different,” Wilt concludes.
