Senate Leader: Indy Eleven Stadium No Priority

The leader of the Indiana Senate said Wednesday that legislation to help fund a stadium for the Indy Eleven soccer team will not be a priority for the chamber.

"I think it's a little difficult to talk about helping getting a soccer stadium built when we're talking about more funding for our schools,” said Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne. “So it would really depend on if our priorities will be able to be funded.”

But Long did not say the stadium bill would die in the Senate.

The House was expected to vote on a bill Wednesday that would capture tax revenue generated at the stadium and a hotel to be built by Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir to pay off bonds for a proposed $82 million, 18,500-seat stadium in downtown Indianapolis.

As amended on Tuesday, the bill now requires the team owner to guarantee half of the stadium’s debt.

If the bill passes, it moves to the Senate for further consideration.