Indianapolis Colts shouldn't be blamed for CIB/Lucas Oil Stadium budget shortfall

Colts President Bill Polian (AP Photo) 

The Indianapolis Colts have been in the news locally and nationally lately for their role in a budget issue involving their new, state-of-the-art stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium.

The gist:

The entity that operates Lucas Oil Stadium – the Capital Improvement Board – is seeking a $47 million bailout bill to operate the stadium and the Indiana Pacers' home, Conseco Fieldhouse. It has become a major issue in Indianapolis, with parties from all sides weighing in.

The comment that has gotten the most national play came Friday from CIB President Bob Grand while speaking to 6News' Norman Cox:

If you want me to give you worst-cases, I mean the worst-case scenario is we could be out of money and the facilities would be, arguably, closed.

I get the feeling reading that quote that Grand was simply trying to answer a question as honestly as he could. What happened, of course, is it has spawned a slew of stories in the blogosphere that Lucas Oil Stadium – a $720 million facility that opened last summer – could close.

Obviously, that won't happen.

But what has happened from this is the Colts have gotten a ton of negative publicity, much of it as yet unwarranted.

Part of the proposed bill to bailout the CIB calls for the Colts to “pony up” – a pun coined in the blogosphere, not by me – $5 million a year to help with the yearly operating costs. The Colts have yet to say they will do so, with Colts President Bill Polian last Thursday saying the following during an appearance at the Statehouse:

First of all, we have a lot of skin in the game to the tune of $100 million that we contributed to this project so I think that's an erroneous statement to say that we have no skin in the game. Secondly, we made it clear that we were willing to engage in dialogue with the appropriate parties and we will continue to do so. We have our views. I'm sure others have theirs. That's what the process is all about. . . .

Polian's appearance has drawn criticism, much of which seems to have come from people in the community who assume that the Colts somehow are obligated to pay something back.

This isn't the case, a point made by Indianapolis Star sports columnist Bob Kravitz Sunday.

While the focus should be on the CIB, a lot of folks are looking at the Colts and Pacers and saying,“Let the millionaires pay their own way.”. . . That’s a knee-jerk reaction that largely misses the point. . . . While they got a sweetheart deal at the new place, the truth is, they could have stayed at the RCA Dome and continued to receive an even sweeter deal. Would it be nice if the Colts tossed $5 million into the pot? Absolutely. Is it their obligation? Not at all. They made a deal with the city. End of story.

Here’s why I appreciated Bob’s column. Not because he spoke in favor of the Colts’ position, and not because he spoke against it. Because, really, he did neither.

What he did was provide perspective that may not be particularly popular right now:

That this really isn’t a Colts issue either way.

But this is clearly one that’s not going away, and at least some popular opinion is very much against the Colts. But to me, a line in a story on IndyChannel.com Friday evening/Saturday morning seems to sum up what has caused this whole issue. The bill also assumes $5 million a year each in contributions from the Colts and Indiana Pacers. That has been what has fascinated me about this story from the beginning: how those from the Statehouse assumed that the Colts would happily cede $5 million a year in this economic time or any other.

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about Colts’ agreement with the city being a “sweetheart deal,” which perhaps it was. But the deal is signed, and I just don’t know if getting them to change that deal is the given that some lawmakers may believe.

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