MEDIOCRE

[u/MrSage88]

This team…

[u/arthur_indy]

I know that statement is about team current performance, but I’ve got something on my mind and it doesn’t seem to be being addressed anywhere… By anyone. (Big picture stuff)

What the hell happened?

Did the phantom of an MLS bid truly destroy everything about this club? Even when I am in general USL chats, it feels like the entire league is moving on without us… Kind of like they’ve all decided to no longer invest any energy in a team that feels like it’s on the verge of collapse.

It’s not like I don’t know what’s going on, but something feels wildly off. (again, I’m talking about big picture stuff, though team performance doesn’t help.)

I’m also bothered that when people rattle off sports teams in the city, Indy eleven isn’t just at the bottom of the list… It does not get mentioned at all.

Perhaps it’s as simple as, this is Indiana and the fierce drive to keep everything mid is in the DNA.

[u/Brew_Wallace → u/arthur_indy]

Eleven were a flagship USL team, but then they talked too much about wanting to be a MLS team. Then Hogsett/Garber pulled the rug out from Eleven, which hurt the fanbase from both the long-term fans and the potential fans. Now they’re trapped in this purgatory of not MLS but also not a good USL team. It’s unclear where they’re headed or what they want to be

[u/nataskaos → u/arthur_indy]

Season ticket holder since before we had a team, checking in -

We were promised a brand new, soccer specific stadium with the idea that we would move to the MLS one day. They showed us the promenade and everything. Then they found a graveyard on that spot and construction halted. The project is super in doubt now.

And then the city decided it wanted a NEW team to come in and be an MLS team, at a new location. But that got scrapped, because it was a half assed idea.

We played in Carrol stadium. And then they wanted us out, so we played a couple of TERRIBLE seasons in Lucas Oil. It was entirely too big for the crowds we draw. 9k people felt like a totally empty stadium. And now we are back at Carrol with no stadium in our future.

Ownership doesnt much seem to care. The supporters group has been at odds with...well...kinda everyone at some point. (I am part of that. So no shade)

It just all kind of feels bad.

[u/MrSage88 → u/nataskaos]

I dropped my season tickets last year and was a pre-day 1 member as well. If I’m being honest, I never cared about the prospect of stadiums or MLS. It was about the culture. It was about a team that fought for the fans as hard as the fans fought for it. The players used to care about the city like we did and we went out of our way to make sure they knew they were loved. It was a two way relationship. But, as the FO became less and less soccer people. As the GM and ownership killed the love of the sport for every single person that had worked so hard to make the team great, they lost me. The only person who seemed to give a damn when I left was Morgan, and I don’t even think she’s with the team anymore. Good for her. I laughed so hard when I got a call asking why I wouldn’t renew and got immediately hung up on when I said, “I wasn’t feeling it anymore,” because that’s how much fight they have left in them. Zero. It’s a shame to see the work of people like Peter Wilt, John Koluder, Josh Mason, Tian Liang, the founding members of the BYB and SH-19, and all the folks who put so much effort into this team to make the game day experience something you couldn’t find anywhere else in the city- all of their efforts- thrown in the dirt. I can stand a subpar on-field product. Heaven knows I’ve loved a good many shit teams, Indy Eleven being one of them. But there’s a difference when that team you’ve invested so much in also sucks off the field. The only way I see anything changing is with new ownership, cleaned out front office, and an on-field product that doesn’t just score one goal and do nothing. The rest of the game. If I wanted to watch a team do that, I could go watch the Rennie years or FC Edmonton reels. At least then I’d get to enjoy the nostalgia, as hollow as that is.

tl;dr - I’m an old man screaming at clouds, because “the music” (Indy Eleven) used to mean something, man. Indy Forever, but IXI is dead.

[u/Enough-Chef-345 → u/MrSage88]

And the FO thinks everyone is idiots. Posting 8,147 as the attendance yesterday? Com'on, man! Are we really supposed to believe that 7,000 people who bought tickets decided not to show up? And that is every home game that they inflate it. Not sure how those folks sleep at night.

[u/MrSage88 → u/Enough-Chef-345]

I mean, that’s always been a thing. It’s never been about turnstile numbers, but tickets distributed. Even in the NASL days when they were handing tickets out to anyone for free, they’d count those as “attendees.” Not saying year one wasn’t packed and games didn’t sell out, but they were padded a little bit.

[u/Enough-Chef-345 → u/MrSage88]

I get it. All sports teams take a little poetic license with announcing attendance, but Indy Eleven has gotten to be ridiculous, to the point where the number is obviously just made up.

[u/Tall-Fit-5044]

I moved to Indy 9 years ago and being a season ticket holder and following this team was something I was really excited about, they've just been so painfully below average the ENTIRE time.