CHICAGO -- Indianapolis has reached a $164 million agreement with the Indiana Pacers that will keep the professional basketball team in town for up to 13 years.
The Capital Improvement Board, which oversees the city's sports stadiums and convention centers, voted 8-0 Monday to approve the 10-year financial package, which will cover annual operating and upgrade costs at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the team plays.
Board officials promised the deal would mean no new taxes or fees for the city, according to local reports.
"I'm not going to tell you that it's not going to get tight at times," the CIB president Ann Lathrop said, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. "But there are no new taxes planned."
The deal calls for the Pacers to manage and operate the city-owned fieldhouse under a newly created entity called Fieldhouse Management LLC. The Pacers will run the entity, but city will pay the estimated $10.8 million in annual operating costs. The CIB will also cover $26.5 million for capital improvements.
The team in exchange agreed to stay in the city through 2027, which is when the final debt-service payments on the fieldhouse are due, according to the CIB.
The Pacers and the CIB have reached earlier deals to extend the team's lease after Pacers' officials began to complain three years ago that they could not afford to continue to pay the estimated $15 million in annual operating costs.
In 2010, the CIB agreed to give the Pacers $33.5 million over the next three years. The city originally wanted to keep the team in town for at least another 30 years.
Mayor Greg Ballard supported the deal, saying the $164 million will help generate more economic activity and revenue.
CIB and Pacers officials held a press conference Monday ahead of the board vote touting the deal. An Indiana University analysis shows that the Pacers generated an average of $280 million in downtown Indy over the last five years, they said.
The board owns, operates or leases Bankers Life fieldhouse, the Indiana Convention Center, Victory Field, the Lucas Oil Stadium -- home of the Indianapolis Colts football team -- and related parking structures. All the facilities are in downtown Indianapolis.
