Cultivating Louisville’s Future
A Louisville-based group dedicated to cultivating, developing, and economically growing the city.
About
Who We Are
Excolo Partners is a Louisville-based group founded in 2016, comprised of Kevin Metcalf, Clark Absher, and Brian Graham. Excolo Partners is dedicated to cultivating, developing, and economically growing the city of Louisville.
The Project
Louisville Event Center
A multi-use event center anchored in Louisville's Butchertown District. Built for youth, collegiate, and professional sports, touring acts, and community events. The venue would accommodate hockey, volleyball, figure skating, concerts, curling, graduations, corporate events, and more, driving year-round economic activity for the city. Despite the range of existing venues, Louisville and the surrounding area do not have a mid-sized indoor arena of approximately 6,000 seats with modern amenities. The proposed project would fill this gap by adding a distinctive venue that complements, rather than competes with, the current mix.
“We’ve identified multiple locations that could work, but it does seem that the one that would make the most sense in the preliminary findings, is the Butchertown district.”
“We’re excited to see the possibility of expanding youth ice sports and the opportunity for the sport to grow.”
Market Data
Media
In the News
Coverage of Excolo Partners and the effort to bring a new event center to Louisville.
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Louisville arena proposal sees some progress months after announcement
It's all right there. You could catch a soccer game during the day and the hockey game at night, or vice versa.
I think the venue itself is a big part of the fan experience, so if your purpose-built facility is exactly that, then the fan experience is going to be elevated and people are going to be enjoying themselves.
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John Neace on the Butchertown arena and sports district
Others who have been in conversations with Fante are a group called Ice2Louisville (now Excolo Partners), an organization that has been trying to get an alternative facility to Iceland Sports Complex for about 10 years.
It is composed of Clark Absher, Kevin Metcalf and Brian Graham, the latter of whom is the head coach of the UofL men's club hockey team. Absher, who played for UofL, serves on the board of the Kentucky Hockey Youth Association.
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More details emerge on the Butchertown hockey arena
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Louisville eyeing new arena
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Louisville sports arena for 2028 could feature hockey, volleyball
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Post Position: How Louisville is becoming a sports business pacesetter
Neace said he would not have left his boat if he had not seen the potential for a long-term play. He has stake in several Louisville-based companies through his private equity firm Neace Ventures, and said at press time that he is "actively engaged" in talks with developers, the mayor, a minor league hockey ownership group, a professional volleyball organization and others to build an arena on the soccer stadium site...
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Members of the press: see media inquiries to reach the team directly.
Contact
Get in Touch
Whether you’re with the press, a prospective partner, or a fan who wants to see this built — we want to hear from you.
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Media Inquiries
Press, interviews, and requests for comment.
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Season Ticket Interest
Register early interest in season tickets for the Louisville Event Center.
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Join the Email List
Get project updates and announcements as they happen.
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Direct
- Clark Absherclark@excolopartners.com
- Brian Grahambrian@excolopartners.com
- Kevin Metcalfkevin@excolopartners.com