Back in our interview at Newfields, Ozdemir was no less gloomy. For the first time in a yearlong series of discussions, he struck me as a man who had reconciled himself to the idea that the team might fold. He admitted that he had seriously thought about shuttering the club over the last few weeks. “It was fifty-fifty,” he told me, “depending on which side of the bed I woke up on.”

Last summer, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration had floated the idea of using Lucas Oil Stadium to host home games for the Eleven’s 2018 season. At the time, Ozdemir and Wilt nixed it due to logistical and scheduling issues. But needing something to inspire confidence in the team’s future, Ozdemir was reconsidering. He asked me what I thought about the scenario. I told him that the playing surface could be problematic. (When Chelsea and Inter Milan played at Lucas Oil in 2013, the coaches and players complained about the 100,000 feet of Kentucky bluegrass sod laid over the field’s existing surface.) I also said it would lack the intimacy of Michael A. Carroll Stadium. Overall, though, I thought it could work. In fact, I wondered if, in the long term, it might work well enough to further weaken his negotiating hand for a new soccer arena. Wilt later told me that Ozdemir shared that concern. “He’s afraid it will be moderately successful and people will say, ‘Oh, you don’t need a stadium,’” he said.

In December, MLS announced that Nashville would be home to one of its four expansion teams, leaving just three open spots. Dan Courtemanche, MLS executive vice president of communications, said there was no specific timeline for announcing the remaining expansion teams, but he applauded Ozdemir’s efforts. Indianapolis, he pointed out, still ranked among 10 markets that could be selected. By January, though, friends of Ozdemir began to speculate about how the team would survive beyond this season if it’s not immediately chosen by MLS. One solution would be a huge infusion of outside cash. At the beginning of this year, rumors began to swirl that the Irsay family might be interested in investing in the team. A person close to Ozdemir posed this question to me about the developer: “Would he accept a minority stake in the team if it meant a place in MLS?”

At least as far as the Colts are concerned, no such deal is imminent. Jim Irsay declined to speak about the matter, and the team’s chief operating officer, Pete Ward, poured cold water on the rumors. “Jim Irsay has no plans at present to invest in any local sports franchise,” he said.

But it’s easy to see why Ozdemir might be interested in courting the billionaire. A recent Forbes analysis found that at least seven 10-figure fortunes are wrapped up in MLS franchises. Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen owns the Seattle Sounders, for example. New England’s Robert Kraft owns the Revolution. Backing of the Irsay family would boost Ozdemir’s chances of landing an expansion team. Ozdemir would get a lot of money behind his bid, and the Irsays would gain entry to a fast-growing sport with a millennial audience, the same audience tuning out of the NFL.

In our last interview, I asked Ozdemir whether he would be willing to take a minority stake in the team if he found a buyer like that. “Obviously, they’re a great family, and we do plan to add a few investors,” he said, pointing to some others who have expressed interest publicly. Mickey Maurer, the 75-year-old co-owner of IBJ Media and board chairman of The National Bank of Indianapolis, had initially considered putting some money in the Eleven. By February, though, that interest had waned. According to Maurer, he had yet to see a written proposal from Ozdemir, and worried about the long-term investment required. He made a point, however, to call Ozdemir “the kind of guy who could pull it off.”

In fact, Ozdemir is probably the only person able and willing to pull it off here. But in that final interview, it was clear the losses were weighing on him. Ozdemir acknowledged that the Eleven’s MLS bid was slipping. “We’re going to make one last run at it,” he said. “Something has to change. We just need a light at the end of the tunnel.”

A few days later, Ozdemir stood at a lectern inside Lucas Oil Stadium and announced to a group of fans and reporters that the team would would kick off its home season on March 31 there. Behind him, on large LED screens throughout the venue, a hopeful two-word slogan flashed. Ozdemir must have known it was overly optimistic, but the message perfectly captured his gift for selling the long shot, the thing that may not come to fruition: Eleven Forever.