Pacers to stay in Indianapolis for another three years
13 July 2010 | Posted in Hosting, Basketball | By Nick Forrester
The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Indiana Pacers have signed a three-year agreement with the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board (CIB) to keep them in the city of Indianapolis for at least another three years through the 2012-13 season.
The deal will cost US$33.5 million in taxpayer money over the three years. US$10 million a year will be used to help operate Conseco Fieldhouse, which is reported to cost US$18 million to run. The city will also pay US$3.5 million for improvements to Conseco, but has the potential of increasing to US$4.7 million.
“After tough and deliberative negotiations, we have reached an agreement to preserve the viability of our downtown economic engine, keep the Pacers as the Conseco Fieldhouse prime tenant, preserve the thousands of jobs impacted by Fieldhouse activity, and maintain the millions of dollars in tax revenue generated by this same activity,” said Indianapolis Mayor Gregory Ballard. “Our charge was to preserve the city’s downtown economic vitality while protecting taxpayers across Indianapolis. The agreement we’ve reached achieves this and, very importantly, involves no additional tax increase.”
In May, the CIB released a report produced by Hunden Strategic Partners (HSP), a well-known real estate development advisory practice specializing in destination assets, which showed a Pacers net contribution to the city of US$55 million in economic activity each year. If the Pacers were to leave Indianapolis, it is anticipated that Indianapolis’ governmental bodies would be directly impacted by roughly US$18 million.
Tags: basketball, Conseco Fieldhouse, economic impact, Hunden Strategic Partners, Indianapolis, Pacers