Feature
We're reaping benefits of sports investments 6.20.11
INDIANAPOLIS STAR By Mitch Daniels
The news that Indianapolis has been awarded the Big Ten championship football game for the next half-decade, as well as both men's and women's basketball tournaments in the even-numbered years, would be cause for giant celebration in most places. But, after a generation of hosting these and similar big events, Hoosiers could be excused for a ho-hum reaction.
That would be a huge misreading, for two reasons. First, staying on top as a premier sports venue isn't easy; it takes hard work and constant improvement to stay ahead of other cities. Second, these wins are not merely important to Indianapolis; every single Indiana taxpayer benefits from them, and has a big stake in our winning streak continuing.
It's no accident that Indy keeps beating the competition. Credit starts with the ingenious foresight of people a few decades ago who saw an opportunity in amateur sports that no other city had seized. They found ways to build first-rate facilities and, just as important, they built a matchless human infrastructure of professionals and volunteers, by now numbering upwards of 20,000, who know how to make the largest event run smoothly and the average fan feel special. When the Indiana Sports Corporation, the nerve center of this unique capability, calls, the whole community comes together to help.
So when the whistle blew for the latest Big Ten selection process, people like Bill Polian, Clark Kellogg and I came running to do our little parts. And once again, the ISC brought home first prize.
But wait, you say. Of course, Mayor Greg Ballard gets involved in these efforts, but why the governor?
The answer is, because the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium complex is a tremendous profit center for the state as well as the city. The millions of visitors it brings to town leave a lot of money behind, in state sales taxes and in the extra income that Hoosiers are able to earn and pay taxes on. This year, the sports and convention business will generate more than $30 million per year for the state. That's money we won't have to ask for from any citizen of South Bend, or Evansville, or Salem.
That's why, back in 2005, our new administration decided to take on an unexpected assignment. We had arrived with a long list of changes we had committed to bring to a bankrupt, economically struggling state. I still have a tattered list in my drawer of those first-year goals, 72 in all: sweeping ethics reforms, an entirely new jobs and economic development program, rebuilding our failing child protection and welfare systems, and much more. A new stadium and convention center for Indianapolis was not on the list.
But when it became clear that no one had a plan to pay for such a facility, we had to get involved because, although it wasn't clear from the debate at the time, a whole lot more than the Colts staying in town was at stake. (By the way, most folks are surprised to learn that more than 90 percent of stadium events are not Colts games.) It was the totality of our visitors and tourism business, all the trade shows, massive conventions, as well as the Final Fours and big-time sporting events, that persuaded us to get involved.
We found a formula that the legislature could approve. The keys were cutting back the proposed cost of the facilities, and enlisting Indy's surrounding counties to participate, voluntarily, through a 1 percent restaurant tax. No taxpayer anywhere else was asked for a nickel, and the regional counties share in the proceeds of the penny their diners pay. In return, the state every year gets tens of millions of dollars that no Hoosier taxpayer anywhere has to provide. And I get to enjoy my favorite spectator sport: watching people from out of state spend money in Indiana!
When the Super Bowl comes to town next year, it will mark the biggest thrill yet for Hoosier sports fans, and a new high-water mark for our remarkable ISC and all those who support it. But, whether you live in LaPorte or Loogootee, Claypool or Clarksville, and even if you don't know a football from a Frisbee, you should be cheering, too. Because we'll all share in another huge revenue boost that never would have happened without the new Convention Center and stadium. By itself, the game will bring some $13 million to state coffers, almost all contributed by non-Hoosiers.
And that's more than good fun. It's good business, for us all. Congratulations to Susan Williams and the whole ISC team, and thanks.
Daniels is governor of Indiana.
I’m honored to serve as Mayor of our great city. Every day I work to represent all the citizens of Marion County . . .