New law establishes commission to lure pro sports to northwest Indiana

When state Rep. Earl Harris Jr. championed the development of pro sports in northwestern Indiana with House Bill 1292, it wasn’t solely of his own doing.

The bill, solidified as state law back in April, establishes the Professional Sports Development Commission, a body of local stakeholders working to bring professional sports franchises to the northwest region of the state.

Harris, a state representative in East Chicago since 2016, “picked up the ball” with the legislation, but it originated in someone else’s court.

“This was my father’s idea, because he was really a big believer in northwest Indiana and growing it,” he said.

Harris’s father, Earl Harris Sr., authored the bill during his time as a representative for the state’s 2nd district, the same position his son now holds. Harris said his father believed in the district he served and wanted to see it grow.

Now, the commission could be well on their way to making that happen, taking steps to bolster the region’s tourism market by focusing on strategies and solutions to market four Indiana counties as the perfect place for professional sports teams.

Commission’s goals

For the purposes of the law, the northwest region of the state includes Lake, Porter, LaPorte, and St. Joseph counties.

The commission is comprised of 17 members, including the mayors of major cities in those four counties, as well as several stakeholders who’ve been appointed to serve for a term of two years.

The law lists several sports organizations the commission is hoping to attract, including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer.

At the time HB 1292 was moving through the legislature, Gary was still in the running to become the new home of the Chicago Bears. And while that chance fell through, Harris said the commission would welcome any professional sports team to the area.

“There’s actually a cricket league in the United States…so a gentleman came across the bill when we were still in session, so still going through the process, and we had an initial Zoom meeting, and then he actually came here to northwest Indiana, and we showed him locations and had some conversation and meeting about them bringing the seventh team here to northwest Indiana,” he said.

In addition to the cricket league, Harris said stakeholders in Mixed Martial Arts fighting have also shown an interest in establishing a presence in the area.

While the commission’s work is still in its infancy, the law offers members guideposts to develop plans to bring teams to the area.

For one, the group will come up with a master plan to entice sports organizations to plant roots in the region. The commission has already met with area experts to begin processing what that plan could look like.

Andrew Berlin, owner of the South Bend Cubs High-A affiliate baseball team and a stakeholder in the Chicago Cubs Major League team, joined the commission at one of its recent meetings.

“He kind of delved in and looked even deeper in preparation for the meeting and discussed assets and how we really are in a good position to bring a professional sports team to the area,” Harris said.

Under the law, the commission must also come up with a plan for building the proper facilities and infrastructure to sustain a professional team.

In that regard, tourism experts say the region is positioned for success.

Phil Taillon, CEO of the South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority, the official marketing organization for the region bordering the south shore of Lake Michigan, said the state’s northwest region is already developing infrastructure to bring other amenities.

The plan is for these other attractions to draw appeal to the area, enticing team owners to choose northwest Indiana as a place to call home.

Earlier this summer, the city of Gary won the bid to build a 145,000-square-foot convention center next to Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, located off I-94, Inside Indiana Business reported.

Taillon, who’s also an appointed member of the sports commission, believes the new Lake County Convention Center, as well as the region’s proximity to major highways and the South Short Line, puts the area in a better position to attract sports tourism.

“We’re adding pieces that work synergistically with pro sports teams,” he said.

Sports tourism in Indiana

Both Harris and Taillon agree that the influence of professional sports teams in proximity to the region, specifically teams in Chicago and Indianapolis, greatly influences the commission’s drive and hope that a similar team can thrive in northwest Indiana.

“We’re in the Chicago market, so we see the Bears, the Bulls, etc., in terms of sports on TV. But why not add northwest Indiana professional teams to that mix as well? And I’m confident that there’s room for it,” Harris said.

The commission is interested in bringing both professional and semi-professional teams to the region. The growth in sports across the state points to Indiana’s increasing presence as a sports-oriented state, and the northwest region’s greater chances of being a part of that.

In 2019 and 2023, northern Indiana welcomed two semi-pro soccer teams to the state, in Fort Wayne and South Bend, respectively. The city of Evansville welcomed a minor league hockey team in 2016.

And in Indianapolis, the city and surrounding regions have welcomed several semi-professional sports teams in the last 12 years, in addition to the three existing professional teams and the Indianapolis 500.

In 2023, Indiana Sports Corp, a not-for-profit sports commission that seeks to bolster the state through sports, announced its 2050 Vision, a 25-year statewide plan to solidify Indiana as the “global epicenter of sports.”

And earlier this month, the Savannah Bananas announced the addition of an Indianapolis-based banana ball team, the Indianapolis Clowns, as a competitor for the 2026 season.

“You can clearly see from Chicago and Indianapolis, which are the two largest cities by us, that these types of organizations are just so important to regions that are moving in the right direction,” Taillon said.

So what’s next? Right now, the commission is working toward creating a master plan to bring their vision to life. This not only means studying different strategies to attract teams, but also getting connected with the right people to help the group work in the right direction.

Overall, the commission is hopeful that their plans will not only bring visitors to the region but will uplift the local community and economy and encourage residents to move to the region.

“The thing with the younger generation today is they want to live somewhere where they’re going to have lots of different opportunities,” Taillon said. “And so if we want to keep the younger generation in northwest Indiana, we’ve got to add more of these types of components.” •