INDIANAPOLIS — It’s that time of year, again. The IndyCar teams leave their shops on Main Street and pull into the racing capital of the world for the centerpiece of the NTT IndyCar Series calendar, the Indianapolis 500. Penske Entertainment Corp. president and CEO, Mark Miles, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway track president, Doug Boles, kicked off the Month of May at the Brickyard, Saturday, by unveiling an environmental initiative to make the 2023 edition “the most sustainable on record.”
For all that IndyCar and IMS changed for 2023, however, one tradition lingers: The Indy 500 local blackout.
Why the blackout?
While the rest of the United States sees the Indianapolis 500 live, the NBC affiliate blacks it out for its namesake city and airs it later that day, in primetime, to incentivize locals to pack the grandstands. This practice started in 1986 and continues to this day, except for 2016 (sellout for 100th Indy 500), 2020 and 2021 (COVID restrictions). Meanwhile, NASCAR doesn’t blackout races for the local markets. Not even for its crown jewel race, the Daytona 500.
So why does IndyCar and IMS continue this tradition? It’s a question Miles has had many times over many years.
“We have to get people here as they have been here in growing numbers for many, many years,” he said. “We’re really clear-minded about the fact that for us, attendance is first, and this spectacle emanates from the vibe here on race day with 300,000 plus people here. I think that’s unique.”
Unlike NASCAR, where tracks get 65% of its $6.6 billion TV deal, IndyCar doesn’t make those numbers public. How much IndyCar and the track rely on ticket sales, vs. the league’s TV deal, is unknown. And that doesn’t include how much the teams and drivers get from the TV deal the league signed in 2021.
So there might be a financial rationale to continue the practice.
“We think this is a unique event,” he said. “With all due respect, and I mean with complete respect to our friends at NASCAR, at Indianapolis for the 500, we sell as many tickets in the 500 hours after this race, renewals, as they have at the Daytona 500 in total by the time they run the race. And that is in no way meant to be — like I said, we have complete respect for them. It is meant to emphasize how important attendance is to us, to the success of this event.”
Of course, NASCAR doesn’t disclose how many tickets its tracks, Speedway Motorsports Inc., Indianapolis, Pocono Raceway or World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway sold, unless it’s a sellout. So I can’t verify the veracity of Miles’ statement on ticket renewals, compared to Daytona.
Bottom line
At the end of the day, IndyCar and IMS see a financial incentive to continue the local media blackout. Unlike NASCAR, however, IndyCar hasn’t struggled to pack the stands for its events.
“We also, I think, have demonstrated over the last few years that when getting people here is not an issue,” Miles said, “either because it’s COVID and we can’t bring anybody here, or because the number of people that could come were limited and we were definitely going to have that total here, then we do open it up. We like the idea that people can take it in, whether it’s linear or streaming.
“But for now, that’s our rationale, and it’s important to us.”
Leave a Reply