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Being “big league” about the Colts
by David Hoppe Sep 24, 2003
Indianapolis has often been tagged as a city that’s slow to adopt new things. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking good coffee or the living wage, you can usually count on other places to try them before we do. But maybe that’s about to change. Maybe Indianapolis is about to teach the rest of the country something about what it means to be a “big league” city. Maybe, that is, we’re about figure out we can live without the Indianapolis Colts — whether they happen to be 3-0 or 0-3. As Mayor Peterson continues to negotiate with Colts’ owner Jim Irsay over what the city should give the NFL franchise to linger here a while longer, it seems we learn less — not more — about what the Colts actually bring in exchange for the tax dollars they require. Once upon a time we were routinely told about the cascade of economic benefits an NFL franchise brought to a city. Not any more. These days, what we hear again and again is that the team’s presence is a psychological benefit for us all. I guess this makes the team akin to a mass mantra: In times of trouble, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we can close our eyes, say, “Colts,” and our sense of big city well-being will be renewed. In fact, the mayor and a number of the city’s business tycoons have warned that losing the team would be a tremendous blow to our collective self-esteem. Not only that, they warn that their fellow tycoons may be less inclined to move here if there’s no NFL franchise in Indianapolis. The only problem with this line of, ahem, reasoning is that it makes the Colts sound as if they’ve been some kind of corporate magnet. If this is true, then how is it that, while the Colts have been making their annual drives to the playoffs, Indianapolis seems to be losing, not gaining, corporate headquarters? Attempts to keep the Colts have an increasingly retrograde aura. These negotiations are being driven by aging baby boomers and their elders — the people, in other words, who made the NFL the virtually unchallenged corporate powerhouse it is today. On the city side of the equation, the leaders who believe the team represents some intangible yet vital part of our sense of self are failing to take a long view. Before they commit local taxpayers to millions of dollars of annual payments of NFL tribute, they should stop looking at themselves in the mirror and check the road ahead. According to studies published in Media Life magazine, teens make up just 4 percent of pro football’s audience. This figure agrees with studies by demographers like Canada’s David Foot, who claims pro sports suffer from what he calls “imperviousness to reality.” Foot’s research leads him to predict, “The days of rapid growth, sold-out seasons and ever more lucrative television contracts are coming to an end.” No one is arguing that spectator sports are going away completely. Or that they’re not fun or, in some cases, an important part of a city’s sense of place. In cities like Chicago, with long histories of professional sports, people will line up for seats whether the Cubs or Bears win or lose. These teams are inventions — and reflections — of the community they purport to represent. But even in Chicago, as owners use the power of their respective corporate monopolies as leverage to exploit the city and the fans, the quality of these relationships has been strained. Indianapolis has no such history with the Colts. In fairness, one can argue that the relationship is young yet and that, with time, the team might become a truly organic part of the community. This, however, is just about impossible so long as the team’s relationship to the city is based on lease agreements that are, in turn, based upon public spending. And what if we buy five or even 10 more years at $10 or $15 million a year — and the Colts still bolt? How will we feel then? The only way for Jim Irsay to truly prove his commitment to this city is for him to put together a consortium of his richest pals and build a stadium. Then there will be no doubt about where he stands and little incentive for him to leave. The city would also have someone to truly negotiate related issues with. Horses will fly before this is likely to happen. So what’s left for Indianapolis is to grow up, stop worrying about our fragile self-esteem and how other people think of us and say, “Jim, it’s been interesting.” If this city’s identity hangs on a handful of Sunday afternoons each fall and winter — well, suffice it to say we’ve got work to do. Let the guys who crave Sunday in a skybox fly their jet-powered helicopters to Chicago or Cincinnati if they want. Let’s give their employees the cleanest air and water in the Midwest, and a first-rate public school system. How about the best network of pedestrian trails and parks in the country? Or neighborhoods with infrastructure that not only is maintained, but great looking, to boot. There are plenty of reasons to like Indianapolis. And there are practical things we can do to make it truly “big league” in terms of the quality of life available to everyone who lives here. The Colts, by comparison, are a distraction.
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