Lucas Oil Stadium not perfect home for Indy Eleven, but a big upgrade

There's a certain three-word alliteration that evokes a strong response in the soccer community: soccer-specific stadium. Purists love natural-grass stadiums designed especially for soccer. Artificial playing surfaces aren't just frowned upon at the highest levels, they're avoided like the bubonic plague — more on that later.

For this reason, Lucas Oil Stadium isn't the perfect home for the Indy Eleven. But it's a darn good one.

“The amenities at Lucas Oil Stadium are fabulous,” Eleven president Jeff Belskus said. “It’s a big upgrade from where we’ve been at Carroll Stadium.”

The Eleven (1-0) will play its home opener 7 p.m. Saturday against FC Cincinnati (1-0).

More: Indy Eleven 3.0? Call it whatever you want — this team is intriguing

Eleven: 'We can't wait to see you at our new venue.'

While Lucas Oil Stadium won't satisfy every caveat on a soccer fan's checklist, the move to what's now the grandest home in all lower-division soccer represents an upgrade beyond measure. It's also a trial run to show Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber what first-division soccer might look like in Indianapolis.

“We are viewing this as a big positive in our push to bring MLS to Indianapolis,” Belskus said. “It’s going to show MLS what great support we have here.

“The strength of the market is important to MLS, and we’re going to demonstrate just how strong this market is. Our previous high watermark for attendance was 11,048 set in 2014. We’re going to beat that by — I expect — 30 or 40 percent this Saturday.”

Indy originally planned to close off the lower-bowl seating on the west side of the stadium, but increased demand for the home opener led the club to announce earlier this week that the entire lower bowl will be available.

The gameday experience will drastically improve at the Eleven’s new home. Gone are the days of using portable toilets and having no answer for poor weather. IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium doesn't have suitable built-in restroom facilities for several thousand people, nor a concourse. It also requires makeshift vending setups due to a lack of permanent concessions. The nearest showers and modern locker rooms are across the street at the Indiana University Natatorium.

As for the artificial playing surface, it remains a point of contention in the soccer community.

For the Eleven, it's nothing new. Carroll Stadium featured turf. But it is a legitimate reason why Lucas Oil Stadium isn't the perfect venue for soccer — the same reason natural grass was brought into the stadium for a 2013 exhibition match between European giants Chelsea and Inter Milan. More than 41,000 fans showed up for the match. Without importing real grass, Indianapolis wouldn’t have landed a game of that magnitude.

When decorated striker Didier Drogba joined MLS' Montreal Impact in 2016, he refused to play in the first several matches scheduled for turf, claiming the surface was painful on his then-balky knee. The U.S. women’s national team has also found itself at the forefront of the turf debate in recent years. The team is forced to play on turf quite often, something its male counterparts rarely have to deal with.

For all turf’s drawbacks, Lucas Oil Stadium is a gorgeous, taxpayer-funded stadium being under-utilized in the heart of Downtown Indy, and the Capital Improvement Board and Indy Eleven collaborated to make better use of it.

While world-class players — both men and women — roll their eyes at artificial surfaces, second-division United Soccer League sides shouldn’t be held to world-class standards. The pros of the Eleven’s stadium switch far outweigh the cons.

More: Indy Eleven's first USL roster is barely recognizable

More: Indy Eleven win USL debut at Richmond, 1-0

But what about the tailgate?

The benefits of the team’s move to Lucas Oil Stadium extend to the pregame festivities as well.

"We now have a tailgate partner, (Gate Ten Events)," said Josh Mason, president of the Eleven's supporters group Brickyard Battalion. "Now we have an indoor-outdoor space. Where our indoor space when we tailgated at (Carroll Stadium) was the parking garage if it rained, now we have an indoor facility where everybody can actually come into and still continue to tailgate.

"The other nice thing about this, too, is that we have the ability to march to the stadium as a group. So, we'll be able to close the tailgate and do a direct march into the stadium. A lot of supporters' groups do it. This will be our first opportunity to give this a shot and see how it works for Indianapolis."

The Brickyard Battalion tailgate is located on the south side of McCarthy Street between Missouri Street and Meikel Street. It’s open to everyone and parking is fittingly $11.