Comments on Advance Indiana™: Irsay To Make $10-$15 Million From Big Ten Championship Without Expending A Dime

"IBJ n little anthony, r u incompetent and ir...

2011-06-07T17:58:37.232-05:00

"IBJ n little anthony, r u incompetent and irresponsible,or just plain STUPID! So eager 2 spew venom,u play the retractable fool . . ."

SPEAKING OF RETRACTABLE FOOLS!! HOW MANY TIMES HAS ***OUR*** $75MILLION$ DOLLAR RETRACTABLE ROOF THAT IRSAY JUST **HAD** TO HAVE, BEEN OPEN?

By the way Schoettle just retracted his story and ...

2011-06-07T11:36:47.098-05:00

By the way Schoettle just retracted his story and apologized

http://www.ibj.com/the-score/2011/06/07/correction-colts-wont-see-big-ten-payday/PARAMS/post/27599

That's interesting information. Again, I'm...

2011-06-07T11:34:08.940-05:00

That's interesting information. Again, I'm just working with what the lease said.

My understanding of the situation was that while the Colts wanted a new stadium (though had not overtly threatened to leave), the city also needed to build a new building to replace the RCA Dome. The Convention center needed expansion and the only way to do that was to expand into the area around the dome. That meant a new building had to be built or the city was going to lose out on valuable convention dollars. Obviously, you dispute that narrative.

I would love to hear your interpretation of how things went down.

Irsay did not pay $100 million of his own money. H...

2011-06-07T10:37:03.139-05:00

Irsay did not pay $100 million of his own money. He didn't have that kind of money laying around. The CIB was charged a $50 million break up fee even though it was Irsay who was demanding a new stadium or he might break up the lease on the RCA Dome (which still had about $70 million debt) and take the team to another city. Irsay forgave the $50 million break up fee and got credit for the more than $100 million generated from selling the naming rights on a stadium built with taxpayer dollars. If you consider that Irsay paying $100 million, then you must live in fantasyland.

Again, if I'm reading the lease correctly, the...

2011-06-07T10:31:29.511-05:00

Again, if I'm reading the lease correctly, the rational for Irsay receiving payments is that he paid $100 million of his own money to help build the stadium, and the $3.5 million annual payment reflects his portion of the investment in the building.

It's correct he pays nothing for upkeep now, it's not correct that he never paid anything.

It's fine to say the lease is too generous; that may well be. Working out whether the city will ultimately come out ahead on the project is an important piece of civic duty.

The real question should by why any non-game event...

2011-06-07T08:12:36.985-05:00

The real question should by why any non-game event revenues are shared with Irsay. The taxpayers pick up the $20 million it costs to maintain and operate the stadium; he pays nothing. He pays a very small, nominal payment that constitutes his lease payment. There are not a lot of non-game events held in Lucas Oil Stadium that generate a whole lot of revenues. You may recall some organizations that held events in the RCA Dome balked at holding them in LOS because the cost charged to them was so much higher than the RCA Dome. I would be curious to see what those revenues have been in each of the years the stadium has operated.

page 50 of the lease indicates that each year, the...

2011-06-07T06:51:50.673-05:00

page 50 of the lease indicates that each year, the Colts receive a payment of $3.5 million intended to represent 50% of revenue from non-Colts events.

If I'm reading that clause correctly, it says the Colts are not entitled to any additional payment if revenue exceeds that mark. Therefore, it's untrue that the Colts make any additional money because of the Big 10 Title game. They get a guaranteed payment that 'represents' 50% of revenue, but they 'shall not be entitled to any other portion of revenues'.

Am I reading that right? Because it makes it look like IBJ misread the clause and that's why the article was taken down.

As for the Super Bowl, the NFL rules for distribut...

2011-06-06T21:20:11.846-05:00

As for the Super Bowl, the NFL rules for distribution of the revenues trumps the normal revenue sharing agreement. Hell, the NFL makes the hotels in town kick a fee back to them for hotel bookings for the event, not to mention the special tax exemption the NFL gets for the Super Bowl under state law.

The link to the Colts' lease on Lucas Oil Stad...

2011-06-06T21:17:35.700-05:00

The link to the Colts' lease on Lucas Oil Stadium is here:

http://www.capitalimprovementboard.org/agreements/COLTS_Lease%20Agmt.pdf

Indianapolis has the Indiana Sports Corporation, a nonprofit entity that is heavily subsidized with public funds that may have kicked in something to sweeten the deal. Not sure.

I don't live in Indy, and I'd agree that i...

2011-06-06T20:41:55.076-05:00

I don't live in Indy, and I'd agree that if those are the terms, the lease sounds brutal. I can see turning over concession and parking revenues if the team is running the event, but it's amazing you guys are able to get any of the big events you get if leagues are being asked to turn over millions of dollars in ticket sales. You're talking about over $30 million in Super Bowl ticket sales being relinquished by the NFL and over $5 million by the NCAA for the Final Four. The same would go for smaller events like the concerts and high school games that fill out the schedule there. That would take a lot of subsidies on the city's part to make up. Is there a copy of the Colts' lease posted online anywhere for the public to review?

"Our elected officials should be imprisoned f...

2011-06-06T19:01:45.524-05:00

"Our elected officials should be imprisoned for allowing this fleecing of the taxpayers to take place. We pay an exorbitant tax every time we buy food and drink in this damn town to fund these operations, while this selfish man who has never had to work a day in his life piles up a massive fortune for himself."

Amen!

Schoettle accurately reported what the lease provi...

2011-06-06T18:23:27.101-05:00

Schoettle accurately reported what the lease provides. The question is what concessions the City offered to the Big Ten to win this deal--that might tell more about why Indianapolis was chosen over Chicago. Most cities simply won't subsidize these events the way Indianapolis does.

Is this really accurate? It certainly doesn't ...

2011-06-06T17:55:41.404-05:00

Is this really accurate? It certainly doesn't pass the smell test. I can't imagine that the Big Ten would have chosen Indy over Chicago if they really have to turn over 50% of their ticket sales revenue to the Colts. Seems like most other stadiums in the Big Ten footprint could hold the event at a fraction of the cost to the Big Ten. It doesn't help the credibility of your report that your source link is dead

Not to mention the free get out jail card he recei...

2011-06-06T17:25:41.659-05:00

Not to mention the free get out jail card he received for prescription drug fraud.

I suppose by now Jimmy has forgiven everyone invol...

2011-06-06T16:47:52.715-05:00

I suppose by now Jimmy has forgiven everyone involved with denying him permission to fly a helicopter between his home and the stadium/training facility.

He lost a battle but has most definitely won the war.

Bart Peterson. The gift that keeps on giving!

2011-06-06T15:40:34.451-05:00

Bart Peterson. The gift that keeps on giving!