Indy Eleven Returning to Carroll Stadium
(IIB Photo/Alex Brown)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndy Eleven Professional Soccer says the team will return to its original home at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on the IUPUI campus beginning this spring. The team had been playing at Lucas Oil Stadium since 2018 and says the move will be a short-term solution until the future Eleven Park stadium is complete.
The team says the decision to return to Carroll Stadium creates greater scheduling availability and flexibility.
“We knew late in 2020 that finding another venue for 2021 could become necessary because of pandemic-related scheduling flexibility needed at Lucas Oil Stadium throughout this year,” Greg Stremlaw, chief executive officer of the Indy Eleven, said in a news release. “Carroll Stadium provides our club the best option for success both on the field and in the front office.”
The Eleven called Carroll Stadium home from 2014-2017. The team says it became the first professional American soccer team to completely sell out its inaugural season in 2014.
“During our first tenure at Carroll Stadium, the environment our fans created gave their Boys in Blue one of the best home-field advantages in all of American soccer,” said Stremlaw. “We look forward to helping our supporters recreate that magic once again as we await the construction of the world-class home they deserve in Eleven Park.”
Plans for Eleven Park were first announced in January 2019. The $550 million project includes the 20,000-seat stadium, as well as 150,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail space, 600 apartment units and a 200-room boutique hotel.
The Indiana General Assembly passed legislation in April 2019 to create a professional sports development area, which would capture taxes to help fund the project.
The team says it plans to reveal a location for the Eleven Park stadium and neighborhood development project by the end of March.