NFL
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Big sports teams often get a bad reputation for not caring about the fans or the people who live in the area that is most affected by the appearance of one. However, a multi-billion-dollar NFL franchise, with an eye on the upcoming 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup, has plans to develop an area around its home stadium, and amongst the plans is to build a new stadium capable of hosting MLS games, with the hope of it being able to host some games during the 11th edition of the Women's World Cup, helping the area in the process.
For the last few years, attendances at MLS games have averaged over 20,000, with an all-time record average of over 23,000 in 2024, and the estimated total number of fans attending games that year hitting over 11 million for the first time ever.
The all-time attendance record at a game in the league came in 2023 when 82,110 fans attended the Rose Bowl for a Los Angeles derby between LAFC and LA Galaxy.
Given that the league formed in 1993, all the attendance records being broken in recent years show that the size of the audience that is interested in, as those Stateside call it, soccer, is growing. This evidence means that projects aiming to create new teams to fit into the professional league system in the USA, which also includes the USL Championship as division two, are becoming more worthwhile.
Should the plans come to be, Major League Soccer will be welcoming its 31st team in a state that already has a team that takes part in the second tier of professional football in the United States. With the apparent backing of an NFL franchise that has won three league championships and two Super Bowls, the state could be stepping up to the top tier, literally, in the not-too-distant future.
Also, if the new team does arrive, the state as a whole becomes particularly appealing to sporting fans, specifically those who watch football, American football, and motorsports, as the area in question holds one of the most famous races in all of racing.
Big Plans Coming to City
NFL
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Indianapolis would be the host of this new team, and the project is being backed by the NFL team that plays next to the land that is being proposed as the place where the stadium for the side will be built: the $8 billion franchise, the Indianapolis Colts, who play at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Colts COO Pete Ward, along with owner/CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon, want to turn the area into a sports haven, believing it will bring prosperity to it, having purchased nine acres of the land that neighbours the Colts' home.
The U.S. and Britain's national flags alongside the NFL logo
The U.S. and Britain's national flags alongside the NFL logo
Ward said: “We think it would be good for the city, and what’s good for the city is good for the Colts.”
Gordon added: "It’s not just the performance on the field, but it’s also what we started and finished with Lucas Oil Stadium. We want to finish what we started around that area. It’s just such an opportunity that’s so ripe.
NFL
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Good things could be on the way for the sporting scene in Indianapolis.