Indianapolis could apply for MLS expansion as early as late this year

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Indianapolis could submit an application for an MLS expansion team as early as the end of the year, Mayor Joe Hogsett told local reporters Tuesday night. Hogsett stressed that there are still steps to be taken — most notably getting approval from the Indiana State Budget Committee for an exclusive soccer stadium — but they’re “moving along pretty nicely in the process.”

“We want the process (of putting together a bid) to be as quick as possible, but we also want to do it responsibly,” Hogsett said.

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Hogsett and chief of staff Dan Parker were in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday to “represent ourselves and tell our own story” to current MLS owners. They attended a reception hosted by MLS Commissioner Don Garber ahead of the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, where they were introduced to some of the current owners by Tom Glick, who is leading a group of investors seeking to bring an MLS expansion team to Indianapolis. “That’s been extremely helpful and I’m grateful to Tom for that,” Hogsett said.

Hogsett said he was “pleased” with the response they received, describing the reception as “warm” and “very positive.”

“I think it’s just another step for the city of Indianapolis to do everything in their power to secure an MLS expansion club,” he continued. “I feel like (the current owners) are aware of Indianapolis’ interest (in an expansion team) and know we have a compelling story to tell.”

Hogsett had limited contact with Garber on Tuesday, but said the commissioner “could not have been more gracious and generous” in his willingness to offer the city advice as it seeks an expansion team.

The two first met on April 22 in New York, when Hogsett flew to New York to express the city’s interest in a potential MLS club.

“It’s fair to say that MLS was generally aware of the steps that we had taken and knew that we were pretty far along in the path to submitting an application for a club. So in that sense, we’ve built a good rapport with MLS,” Hogsett said. “To his credit, (Garber) knew a lot about the city of Indianapolis before I ever walked into his office. That says a lot about MLS and the process that they go through when they’re exploring the possibility of adding a new club.”

Hogsett did not provide any substantive updates on the process itself. The city’s focus has been on “checking all the boxes for approval,” he said. They took the first steps earlier this summer, the City-County Council and the Indianapolis Metro Development Commission approving designs for a city-funded, soccer-specific stadium at the Indianapolis heliport site.

“It will be submitted to the state for review shortly and I think the people of Indianapolis will know more about the local ownership group at that point,” Hogsett said, adding that the city has left coordination of the ownership group to others.

“That really hasn’t been the city’s domain,” he continued. “We’ve focused almost exclusively on the process of creating a PSDA, which would go a long way toward helping to fund the creation of a soccer-specific facility.”

Asked about the chances of a potential application being approved, Hogsett stressed there are no guarantees and that they still have “a long negotiation process.”

“We hope that we put together a proposal that will be very well received,” he said. “I think the people of Indianapolis have a lot to be excited about.”

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.