Last stadium sold by Indy Eleven president has been financial drain

Indy Eleven President Peter Wilt, the public face of the team's effort to build an $82 million Downtown stadium, is known for his gregarious nature and popularity with fans.

On Friday, Wilt tweeted from Marion High School, part of his self-guided tour of Indiana gyms. On Sunday, after watching soccer at a Downtown bar, he tweeted from the Indianapolis Zoo, noting that he ponied up to become a member. He is accessible and easy to like.

Yet Wilt is also the person who led the effort to build Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., which turned out to be a financial albatross on the Chicago suburb of less than 15,000 people. The stadium, which opened in 2006, is home of the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

In 2012, Standard & Poor's downgraded Bridgeview's bond rating, saying the move "reflects the significant level of stress placed on the village's finances by its underperforming soccer stadium."

One report placed the 2006-2010 shortfall in servicing the debt at $11.5 million. Property taxes in the village reportedly tripled.

Wilt said that stadium is "so dissimilar to the Indianapolis situation that it should be taken with a salt shaker full of salt." He noted that when the stadium opened he had been moved out of his position by the giant sports and entertainment company AEG. Multiple suburbs and the City of Chicago made bids to the team.

As Wilt sees it, there are more than a few differences between the Chicago stadium and Indy's proposal. Among them: The Indy stadium, presumably, wouldn't have to endure a great recession. The Indy stadium would be built Downtown. Indy is a less competitive market for events than Chicago. And, there isn't reliance just on stadium-generated tax money.

"If Bridgeview had the same (financial) backstop that is being proposed for Indianapolis, Bridgeview's Standard & Poor's rating would be fine," Wilt said.

Part of Indy's "backstop" is the capture of taxes from a hotel being built by Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir — money that could go to other government services.

Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek couldn't be reached for comment. Landek, also a state senator, has a website touting Toyota Park as part of his "vision," saying it has created "countless" full- and part-time jobs. Landek and the stadium were the subject of a 2012 Chicago Tribune story accusing the mayor of creating a "fiscal house of cards" and "unabashed political cronyism."

The skepticism of some Indiana lawmakers was reflected Monday in proposed amendments to the bill that would approve the financing structure for the stadium.

Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, has an amendment that would require the team to guarantee half of the stadium debt.

Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, has amendments that would require approval from the City-County Council before bonds for the stadium could be issued and another that would prevent stadium money going toward Ozdemir's hotel development.

Indeed, the team's sales pitch, "If you don't go, you don't pay," seemed disingenuous to many after the hotel taxes were first introduced at last week's House Ways and Means Committee hearing.

The hotel, a Hilton property called Canopy, will be in the old Illinois Building on the corner of Illinois and Market streets. Wilt defended the plan.

"This is a guy, Ersal, who's taken over a building that's been vacant for 10 years and not generating property taxes and investing in it for the betterment of the city," he said.

Wilt added that it's "more than fair" for Ozdemir to ask that the hotel's taxes become part of the financial "backstop."

The other part of the financing plan is taxes captured at the stadium, including tickets, food and beverage, merchandise and income. A feasibility study done for Indy Eleven shows escalating payments for debt service over 32 years, starting at $2.6 million and ending at $6.3 million.

The study projects a women's professional soccer team in Indy averaging 8,500 fans per game with an average ticket price of $17.

Wilt said that estimate came from the performance of the National Women's Soccer League's two teams that are owned and managed by professional men's soccer teams — Houston and Portland. Portland averaged 13,362, Houston 4,539. The rest of the league ranged from 1,640 to 3,632.

The NWSL is entering its third year after the country's previous professional women's soccer league folded. The team plays its home games at Benedictine University, not Toyota Park.

Still, Wilt said, "I've run a team in Chicago. I started the team in Chicago. I'm confident that (the estimates are) reasonable."

Another estimate was 10 concerts per year, averaging 10,000 people at $55 per ticket.

Asked if that projection is realistic, Wilt hinted at some new twist in the financing.

"There are discussions going on in regard to concerts that make us feel confident," he said.

Contact Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6311. Follow him Twitter: @markalesia. Read his bio and other stories.