The Pacers and the city of Indianapolis have agreed to a 25-year deal that commits roughly $800MM in public spending to keep the team there, Chris Sikich of the Indianapolis Star reports. The agreement will run through the 2043/44 season and include extension options for another three seasons.
The Marion County Capital Improvement Board, which owns and manages the city’s professional sports stadiums, voted unanimously in favor of the agreement on Friday. The terms include $295MM to upgrade Bankers Life Fieldhouse and approximately $362MM to operate the facility. Another $120MM will be spent on technological upgrades.
A large outdoor plaza and upgraded suites are part of the renovations. Construction is expected to begin next year after the Pacers season ends, according to an Associated Press report. Construction will be suspended ahead of the NBA All-Star Game there tin February 2021. The final phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2022. The WNBA’s Indiana Fever will play their home games from 2020-22 at another facility.
The terms are still contingent on the Indiana General Assembly creating a way to pay for most of that deal, according to the Star’s report. The contract includes clauses to protect the city from the team making any effort to leave before the agreement expires, including a penalty of as much as $750MM.
The new deal will supersede the Pacers’ current one, which was set to expire in 2024.
Can we please pass legislation preventing leagues from using public money.
No. If cities want to spend their tax dollars on a pro sports franchise, why should anyone stop them? I would love it if my town spent tax dollars to lure a pro franchise here and bring tourism dollars with it. What’s the alternative? It goes for roads? That won’t exactly create a lot of excitement.
Stupid roads
Where we’re going, we don’t need roads
The city owns the arena, they can do whatever they want.
Like spend money on things that create jobs – or literally give $800 million to the citizens of greater Indianapolis instead of upgrading basketball stadiums for billionaires.
Things that create jobs? You mean like basketball stadiums? There are lots of vendors, custodians, ushers, parking lot attendants, and many more people that would be out of work without those basketball stadiums for billionaires.
“Literally give $800 million to the citizens” so I assume you have never heard of inflation? If everyone just found themselves with a close to a million dollars each, prices of goods and services would just skyrocket.
That’s a very cheap deal for the city, in 25 years time they will look back & realize they made billions out of a deal that cost them a miser 0.8 billion, so probably is the best money that the city will ever spend.
Also, not in defense of trickle-down economics, but a lot of that money will come back to the city. $700 million is for construction and operation, which will flow back into the city’s economy.
One other impact I think is overlooked is that you are forcing 15 millionaires to spend 8 months a year in your city. That has to have some economic effect.
Man thinking about 2043. Should be Blade Runner-esque.
It will be about the same, except for spectacular phones, possibly surgically implanted into our heads, directly pestering our brains with simple binary data and soft drink ads.
Oh, and Old America will still be adjusting to the big split-up.
But at least the Pacers will still be in Indy.