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Wealthy Fort Wayne businessman Chuck Surack has joined the Indy Eleven soccer team as a co-owner and financier amid a fight between franchise leaders and city officials to secure a Major League Soccer club for Indianapolis.
Surack, who sold a controlling stake of his $1.6 billion company Sweetwater Sound in 2021, joins Indy Eleven majority owner Ersal Ozdemir and eight other wealthy individuals and families in funding the United Soccer League Championship team as part of its efforts to develop the $1.5 billion Eleven Park project and move to MLS.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said on April 25 that the city planned to pursue a bid for the league, but would do so not with the Eleven’s ownership group, but a new set of investors who have not been identified. Longtime soccer executive Tom Glick is leading that effort on the city’s behalf.
Surack’s addition is set to bolster a group of investors that already includes the Ricker and Traylor families, Jeff Laborsky of The Heritage Group and Fred Merritt with LFM Investments, among others. He is also being touted by the club as the first “billionaire” to join the team’s ownership ranks, although his net worth wasn’t revealed.
Financial terms of Surack’s involvement were not disclosed.
“Chuck Surack has changed our state for the better by consistently identifying opportunities for growth and investing his tireless energy into seizing those moments,” Ozdemir, founder and owner of Keystone Group and Indy Eleven, said in written remarks. “That is why we are thrilled by his personal commitment to the growth of professional soccer through the Indy Eleven and to the vision of Eleven Park as a neighborhood investment.”
In addition to owning a portion of the team—the exact amount was not made public—he will also be an investor in the Eleven Park project and is expected to provide access to billions in capital for that development and other future projects.
Surack founded and led Sweetwater for more than three decades before selling a portion of the company to a private equity firm in 2021. He continues to serve as its chairman.
The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Surack, who also owns Fort Wayne-based Sweet Helicopters, told IBJ last week that he was opposed to the city’s effort to attract an MLS team on its own—in particular, its plan to close the heliport in hopes of using the land for its stadium project.
He also said he was frustrated by what he sees as unfair dealings with Keystone Group.
“I’d like to think that, when you’re dealing with politicians, their word you can count on,” Surack said of the city’s approach. “And at least from everything I’m seeing, it looks pretty political right now and not real honest.”
Surack owns a 10-story building directly east of the heliport, which he acquired in 2022 as a “strategic move” in hopes of stopping the city from decommissioning the heliport for other redevelopment opportunities.
He said in written comments that joining ownership of the Indy Eleven and Eleven Park offers an “unprecedented opportunity for downtown Indianapolis to finally embrace the kind of riverfront development that is transforming Fort Wayne and other cities across the country.
“As a proud Hoosier, I am committed to investing my resources to support Indiana’s growth with like-minded people who have our state’s best interests at heart,” he said.
The Salin and Hageman families, Don Gottwald and Brian Bauer also own a stake in the Indy Eleven and Eleven Park.
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You can always count on the mayor to mess things up… this drama is going to be fun to watch!
Or: we Indy taxpayers can count on the Mayor to guard against unwise investments. If the 11’s investor group continues to add sufficient pledges to increase the club’s bottom line, to meet the required threshold, that’s great.
What this story doesn’t say, and only a few likely know: how much of these individual investors’ net worth is pledged to the 11’s bottom line? For example: if you’re worth a billion, but you pledge one million to the club, that’s not a huge lift. If you pledge enough to lift the 11’s net worth to the required level–everyone wins.
The devil’s in the details.
And: it’s probably not a smart move, to sign on to an investment group and on the same day, publicly slam the city’s approach as “not honest.”
Rick S the Mayor is a two faced coward for what he is doing here. Nothing that any government entity gets into that involves the private sector is well advised. JH only has his best interest in mind period.
The Indy Eleven group is positioning itself to potentially do this without one penny of government money, including any from a PSTD. Can Hogsett give us the same assurance? (Rhetorical question). Hogsett’s next move will be to try to destroy the project through blocking moves by the Metropolitan Development Commission. BTW, the Hogsett Administration says that the City Council cannot hold closed door negotiations regarding Eleven Park. Maybe so. But aren’t all of his closed door? Get the job done or get out of the way.
The plot thickens….
With their wealthy new investor, it seems like Indy Eleven could forge ahead without pubic funds.
+1 Do it on your own then…
So how does this guy help the MLS powers at be change the fact that they have said no twice to the key owner of the Eleven Indy deal?
If Indy 11 have such good backing, pay for the stadium, and add ons yourself. Mostly they won’t because they give away a lot of free tickets to put more fans in the stands.
Oh wow, Chuck is complaining about his rich friend losing free money from the tax payers of Indiana. I feel soooooo sorry for them. Good luck going up against an ownership group that looks like it includes the Simon’s! I hope you fail and get your big billionaire ego bruised.
The issue is the mayor not acting in good faith. Doing backroom deals for an MLS franchise while also dragging Indy Eleven along as they are literally constructing their stadium.
Grant: 11’s inability to meet minimum investment thresholds, is likely not a new development. If they can garner additional investors to meet the threshold, it’d be great. It’s not the mayor’s job to sell prospectus details to investors.
Their stadium isn’t under construction. It’s an empty lot. There was a demolition project, but that’s it.
POPCORN!
Get your POPCORN here!
This is going to get interesting…
Do something else! We have to go Major!!! No discussion about it! Just build your project elsewhere Downtown!!! We have to be Major!!!
I looking in my crystal ball and seeing the Indy 11 moving to Ft. Wayne in the future…
Glad to see Surack in here trying to save our city’s heliport. Once it’s gone, you’ll never get another one. Please, Hogsett administration, quit systematically degrading our city’s transportation infrastructure.
This new Eleven alliance may be enough to thwart the lame, backstabbing efforts of Hogsett and his confederates. I hope so. On top of everything else the Hogsett 11th hour manipulations would likely derail not only the Keystone’s MLS aspirations but likely a great development. What are they thinking? Oh, they’re not.
I think the City and mayor have it clear what they’re thinking – the deal that Keystone wants is too expensive for the City. Instead of bringing in individuals to thwart the City’s alternative efforts, Keystone should find investors that support their 11 Park development. If that’s not possible, doesn’t that tell you something?
Why hasn’t Ozidmir gotten a major league team so far? He is a big talker and operates with taxpayer for his success. He has sucked politicians dry to get tens of million taxpayer dollars for his projects. The guy finally got his just dessert. Do it with your money buddy not mine.
This is the guy who wants the heliport to remain open at public expense because he owns a helicopter company and flies to Indy once a year for the 500.