Pacers to Remain in Indianapolis
After much deliberation, the Indiana Pacers have decided to stay in the city of Indianapolis for the next three seasons at the very least. According to sources close to the negotiations, the Pacers would have to cough up a whopping $30 million should they opt out of the deal prematurely.
That amount will be decreased if the Pacers stay through the 2019-2020 season. Should that happen, the team is not liable for any further payments.
In the meantime, they will have to pay smaller fee of $3.5 million a year to help with the upkeep of the facility. Then again, it entails that the city of Indianapolis will have to spend at least $33.5 million to help the team owners run the arena and pay for improvements to the Pacer's home.
Also under the agreement, Indianapolis' Capital Improvement Board will pay the team $10 million for each of the next three seasons to help maintain and operate the 18,000-seat arena, located in downtown Indianapolis.
Prior to the settlement of the deal, critics have questioned the agreement’s benefit to the taxpayers of the city, and are insisting that it is nothing but a glorified bailout of the aforementioned professional team.
However, city mayor Greg Ballard was quick to counter with the argument that this will have a positive economic impact, aside from the civic pride the team brings to the city every season.
Ballard further reasoned that by making the Pacers stay, it will bring about 900 jobs and $55 million in annual economic impact on Indianapolis businesses at the end of the day. According to Ballard, those jobs and business opportunities would vanish along with $18 million in annual tax revenue should the Pacers set up camp somewhere else.
"It's a vital link that keeps all of these people employed downtown in the convention and hospitality areas. It does affect us — our neighborhoods, everyone would be affected by the loss of that revenue," said the mayor during a news conference.
Robert Vane, the city mayor’s spokesman, echoed Ballard’s sentiments saying the deal is a good one because the city would have to pay up to $20 million a year to run the 11-year-old Fieldhouse if the Pacers left.
Meanwhile, Herb Simon, the Pacers' billionaire owner, has always said that he wants to keep the team housed in Indiana. After all, the Pacers have called Indianapolis their home dating back to the ABA days. However, they simply could not afford to pay for the Conseco Fieldhouse’s $15 million annual operating costs because they are losing too much money.
According to Pacers Sports and Entertainment president Jim Morris, the team has had numerous difficulties in running a pro sports franchise in a small market like Indianapolis—and that has translated into their arena problems.
He also stated that the team expected help from city officials but the negotiations went on for too long—while the team continued losing money. He even went as far as saying that the negotiations between the Pacers, the city, and the Capital Improvement Board was the most difficult he's ever been involved in. And how could you not believe the man?
Nevertheless, the Pacers can still call themselves “happy campers” in Indianapolis at least for 3 more seasons. Hopefully, this will turn the tide in favour of the Pacers and the citizens of Indianapolis. So far, times have been terrible for both parties, after Indiana finished with a 32-50 record, its worst record since 1988-89, and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Last season, the Pacers ended up with the third-worst slate in the 30-team league, with a lowly average attendance of 14,202.
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