The crowd could approach 300,000, meaning more than $25 million in tickets for the track. Add concessions, merchandise, parking and hospitality, and revenue could pass $40 million.
ABC/ESPN and NBC are interested in broadcasting IndyCar Series races beyond 2018. Alternative partners such as Google and Amazon also could be in play.
Owner Chris Diasio has sunk $5 million into the private raceway since taking it over in 2012. And he says he isn’t done yet, adding members as fast as the facilities to accommodate them.
The open-wheel racing series will spend up to half of its marketing budget this year on digital and social media, up from about 20 percent last season.
Many convention visitors and business travelers staying downtown want to experience the IMS, but don’t necessarily want to travel the four miles or so west to the track to do so, said Visit Indy CEO Leonard Hoops.
The Performance Racing Industry Show has boosted its presence this year to use nearly every square inch of the Indiana Convention Center. As the event approaches the economic impact of Gen Con, organizers are looking for more space to grow.
Zak Brown, who built Zionsville-based Just Marketing International into a global motorsports marketing powerhouse, is a key hire in the restructuring of McLaren’s sputtering Formula One team.
With Thanksgiving approaching, Andretti Autosport and Ryan Hunter-Reay teamed up with two of its sponsors to give away 500 turkeys to central Indiana families in need.
Purdue racing gurus are hopeful the affiliation with the World Karting Association can hasten the development of a professional electric kart racing circuit.
Once devoted to local racing and the Pacers, IMS Productions has branched out to more than 70 clients. Its Pac-12 deal includes broadcast duties on nearly 100 events this season.
NBC Sports Network’s president of programming still says he’s eager to keep the open-wheel series on his cable channels. IndyCar’s boss hopes to start negotiating its new TV contracts next year.
Attendance for the first Red Bull Air Race at the IMS beat expectations despite less than ideal weather. National sponsors sought to grow attendance for the event.
Speedway President Doug Boles is confident attendance for the 2017 Indianapolis 500 will be higher than it was in 2015, the year before the race’s 100th running.
On the heels of Target exiting the IndyCar Series, another big retailer brightens the horizon for the open-wheel series and one of its most popular drivers.
As sponsors and fans grow antsy, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASCAR officials are looking at a number of changes to next year’s Brickyard 400. Some of them could be dramatic.
Tony George’s elevation to Hulman & Co. chairman brings up several interesting questions about what the move means for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The city of Indianapolis and Indianapolis Motor Speedway both have taken big hits with the decline of the once-vaunted Brickyard 400. The race is still profitable, but much less so than in its glory days.
Listener numbers on four Emmis Communications stations carrying the race decreased significantly from last year. It remains unclear whether advertisers will be compensated for the shortfall.
Leading up to the Brickyard 400 in July, Allison Melangton will be working 16 hours a day. Those will be relatively light days compared to the hours she’ll work in August coordinating gymnastics coverage for NBC.
Speedway officials are taking stock of the facility’s performance on Sunday. While merchandise sales surged to an all-time high, many commodes backed up. Converting the media center to hospitality space also has been discussed.
