In a shocking series of events, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced on Thursday that he would leading an effort to file an application with MLS to pursue an expansion team. The shocking part is that the mayor’s plans did not include the Indy Eleven and owner Ersal Ozdemir, whose company Keystone Group were in the works to build the stadium and supporting development around the stadium. This was a decade long work in progress that seemed to all fall in place when all parties involved, including Mayor Hogsett, attended the groundbreaking last May:
Speculation has run rampant:
Does Ozdemir and the Indy Eleven have the $500 Million required to get entry into the MLS? Tony asked Ozdemir directly:
Tony Katz:
This saga about Major League Soccer is not actually about soccer… This is about the city. This is about Indianapolis, and really, this about the future. Indianapolis can thrive, in my view, without MLS… Success has to come from a vision. The vision of Indianapolis has been sports. And it has been outrageously successful. They write books about what Indy has done. It cannot be denied. The success of sports comes from building a stadium without a team! That is a crazy level of faith. It’s an insane move. And yet it’s part of the Indianapolis lore. It makes sense that people would want to build upon that.
Tony sums up:
The question before us is why did Joe Hogsett do what he did? Why is the Indy Eleven seemingly being cut out? … So, now it goes back to Joe Hogsett to answer the questions: “Why did you do make this move? … What ownership group do you have? Why is it not possible at Diamond Chain? What was the point of this? This had to be done so publicly?
There will be more questions to come. Tony Katz and the Morning News will be here to bring you the answers.
Listen to the Show in Full here:
Flashback:
Flashback to Friday’s story from us:
Joe Hogsett Doesn’t Have the Brains or the Courage to Act Alone – WIBC 93.1 FM
See the full rundown from today’s show here:
Tony Katz + The Morning News Archives – WIBC 93.1 FM
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