For years, Indy Eleven had been preparing to develop their own stadium in Indianapolis. Eleven Park was the name, and it would be a complex with a 20,000-capacity multi-purpose stadium.
Apartments, retail / office space, music venues, and other buildings were set to be included around the stadium. It would cost around $1 billion and would be 18-acres.
On Thursday, Keystone Group — the company that would be developing Eleven Park — accused that Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett was trying to walk away from the project.
According to IndyStar, “a spokeswoman for Hogsett declined to comment on Keystone’s accusations at this time”, and said that the mayor would be making an announcement later about “the future of sports in Indianapolis”.
That announcement, made at 5:30 that same day, was unexpected.
Hogsett announced that instead, the city would be pursuing a new site for the stadium, and that they’d be looking to bring an MLS expansion team there.
He stated that he met with MLS commissioner Don Garber on Monday in New York City to discuss it, and evidently, the meeting was enough to provoke an announcement.
The prospect of an MLS expansion team in Indianapolis is much more controversial than people would expect. It brings up a bigger conversation about what many call the “soccer warz”.
What is the “soccer warz”? And why does it sound so edgy?
The “soccer warz” is a term used to describe the conflicts between the American professional soccer leagues, clubs, and people. And they are very real.
In American baseball, there is only the MLB.
In American basketball, there is only the NBA.
But in American soccer, there are 5 professional leagues, all competing with their own structure and goals: MLS (and MLS NEXT Pro), USL (Championship & League One), and NISA.
These leagues have been conflicting with each other for years: creating clubs that kill existing ones, expanding in markets that already have clubs, or creating entirely-new leagues that conflict with each other.
MLS expansion has killed USL clubs, USL expansion has taken NISA clubs, and NISA expansion has tried to become involved in markets that exist in both other leagues.
These conflicts aren’t only expansion-related.
In the past six years, 3 leagues have been created in the 3rd division of the soccer pyramid. They’re all vying for control here. At one point, 2 leagues existed in the 2nd division. New, opposing leagues are always being created.
Even though all of these leagues are doing the same things to one another, there are still people who take sides.
There is a large group of soccer fans in America who want to see an open system (and more specifically, promotion & relegation) become adopted. And they despise MLS and its closed system, franchise model.
Some people, however, are in support of their local clubs in USL and MLS, and they don’t hate those leagues. They see the open system and pro-rel proponents as strange, and their ideas as unnecessary.
The people who take sides are also very much in conflict against each other, siding with their clubs, and in more rare cases, siding with leagues. So as you can tell, American soccer is very war-like.
The prospect of Indianapolis to MLS is yet another battle in the soccer warz.
There is one big elephant in the room: Indianapolis already has Indy Eleven, a professional soccer club that is one of the more recognizable ones in the USL Championship.
If Indianapolis does become an expansion club, and Indy Eleven isn’t involved, it’ll almost certainly die.
This is an all-too common phenomenon in American soccer. Because of MLS expansion in USL markets, clubs like San Diego Loyal and St. Louis FC have died, and there are more examples.
It would be huge for Indy Eleven to die. This is a club that has an established fanbase, a recognizable brand, and a decade-long history in USL. It would be one of the biggest deaths in American soccer history.
But they wouldn’t die in vain. If — and I say if because it is only in the early stages — Indianapolis does come to MLS, it won’t happen without a fight.
By taking a side on this issue, you’re effectively taking a side in the soccer warz, which have become intensely heated in recent years. You’re getting yourself involved in the conflict.
Will you side with the expansion efforts of MLS, a league that has a closed system and franchise model?
Will you side with USL, a league that is becoming increasingly open?
Or, will you take the third option: just being happy that your local area will be getting an MLS team?
We are confronted with these questions again and again, and they won’t cease anytime soon. American soccer is a ground for war, and Indianapolis is a new battleground.
