Professional Soccer Indianapolis

Without a professional team to call its own, soccer fans in Indianapolis have been under-served since the Indianapolis Blast played their last season in 2004. With the recent news of an ownership group desiring to bring a team here, we are in full support of the effort to return professional soccer to Indianapolis.

Indianapolis has become known as a city for sports. From the smallest high school athletic event to the worldwide Indianapolis 500, sports hold a special place in the minds of many Hoosiers. Professional tennis, minor league baseball, and racing events of all kinds have found a place within the Indianapolis sports market. The success of other sports leads one to believe soccer can find a permanent home here, too.

The first reason Indianapolis will be a successful home for soccer is that a vibrant fan base already exists here. Recently, for the United States vs. Mexico World Cup Qualifier, restaurants and bars across the city were packed with fans hoping to see their team to victory. Fans of Major League Soccer organize road trips on a regular basis to places such as Columbus, OH and Chicago, IL. Indiana University has also helped develop a rich tradition of success both on the field and in the stands. Furthermore, with youth soccer participation reaching nearly 60,000 statewide, there is an up and coming fan base waiting to embrace soccer at the professional level.

In addition to an existing fan base, Indianapolis has proven itself over time as a capable host to soccer. Kuntz Stadium, near downtown Indianapolis, served as host for the 1987 Pan American Games soccer competition. The 1997 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final, the championship game of a tournament featuring teams from all levels of the game, drew nearly 10,000 people on the campus of IUPUI. Despite many Finals since then being hosted by a team contending for the championship, the Indianapolis-hosted event has outdrawn seven of the past twelve championship games. Additionally, Kuntz Stadium hosts the Indiana High School Athletic Association's annual state championship. The city has also hosted various national teams and foreign club teams. As a candidate city for US Soccers big for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Indianapolis is poised to embrace soccer at an unprecedented level.

Also, from a business perspective, Indianapolis is an ideal location for a professional soccer team. As the city is within a days drive of more than half of the US population, travel costs would be minimized. The average household income of Indianapolis also closely resembles that of cities that are home to Major League Soccer teams and other professional sports. In 2006, a study by KPMG ranked Indianapolis as the third least-costly large city for business; while Forbes ranked the city 10th out of the 200 largest US metropolitan areas for starting a business or career. Lastly, with a current unemployment rate of 8.7\%, verses the national average of 9.7\%, Indianapolis appears to be managing the current recession as well as, if not better than, most cities.

In summation, Indianapolis possesses a vibrant soccer community, a proven record in hosting sporting and, more specifically, soccer events, and provides a solid business climate in which the team can take root. For these reasons and many more, we, the people of Indianapolis, desire to have a professional team to call our own. We ask that the United Soccer Leagues consider and support the bid to bring professional soccer to Indianapolis.