Watson boosts Crooked Stick event
Tom Watson’s near British Open Victory yesterday has sent ticket sales skyward for the U.S. Senior Open hosted by Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel July 27-Aug. 2.
Watson will be one of the headliners of…
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IUPUI rethinks track and field stadium
In its 20-year master strategy unveiled in December, IUPUI planned to tear down its track-and-field stadium along New York Street to make room for a mixed-use housing and retail development. Now IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz says those plans have been reconsidered.
Indianapolis golf course contracts up for bid
Mayor Greg Ballard’s
administration is requesting proposals to manage all but one of Indianapolis’
13 municipal courses.
Supermarket shuffle at Conseco Fieldhouse
Marketers and grocery store insiders say The Kroger Co.’s recently announced deal to partner with the Indiana Pacers and
Indiana Fever isn’t just another sponsorship agreement.
Carmel grapples with rec center finances
A new business plan is in the works for the high-end Monon Center in Carmel.
IRL TV ratings gaining speed
Indy Racing League TV ratings aren’t exactly burning rubber, but they are accelerating.
Sunday’s race at Toronto, which started at 1 p.m., earned a 1.0 rating, which equates to 1.1 million television households nationwide,…
BENNER: Mom and Lance Armstrong had cancer in common
A few years ago, when cyclist extraordinaire Lance Armstrong was in the midst of his phenomenal seven
straight Tour de France titles, those yellow Livestrong bands seemed ubiquitous. But when Armstrong left
competitive cycling, gradually those rubber yellow bands faded from view. I kept wearing mine, however, to remind me of the
courage of my mother, Emma.
NFL tough on game-day attire
The folks running the National Football League are iron-fisted guardians of the game—and apparently sticklers for details.
Most recently, the NFL mafia has dropped the hammer on the athlete formerly known as Chad Johnson,…
Danica’s next move her biggest
A Danica Patrick-Tony Stewart partnership. How long before some kind of volcanic reaction? It’s enough to make the media salivate. Sponsors are already chomping at the bit.
It’s true, Patrick was in the land…
Colts seal Farm Bureau sponsorship pact
The Indianapolis Colts have become one of the first National Football League teams to sell a corporate sponsorship patch
on players’ practice jersey.
Colts run two-minute sales drill
The Indianapolis Colts continue to be leaders in innovation—and I’m not talking about Peyton Manning’s on-field audibles or Bill Polian’s scouting and drafting system.
The Colts sales and marketing staff has done its fair…
Bob Knight, still The General
Whether he ever gets another job as a basketball coach remains to be seen, but Bob Knight is still The General.
During an exhibition softball game played in St. Louis in conjunction with the…
MainGate takes on Vikings
Indianapolis-based merchandiser MainGate Inc. continues scoring deals with National Football League teams.
On July 7, company officials announced they had signed a 10-year deal to be the exclusive retail and merchandising company
for the Minnesota Vikings.
BENNER: Time for some perspective on Tony George’s legacy
Reports of a Hulman-George family feud proved dead-on accurate when matriarch Mari Hulman-George issued a statement June
30 confirming the ouster of her son, Tony, as CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the family business empire. Shortly
thereafter, Tony George also resigned as CEO of the Indy Racing League.
BENNER: Indiana Fever are adding a little sizzle to summer
Last week’s column about the wide array of events on our July sports calendar in Indy was glaringly lacking in
one aspect: The Indiana Fever. As of this writing, they are the hottest team in the WNBA, reversing an
0-2 start and racing to six straight victories.
Corporate donors standing by $25M Super Bowl pledges
Most of the companies that agreed to help underwrite the 2012 Super Bowl are standing by their commitments even as the recession
wreaks havoc on their businesses. Of $25 million pledged by more than 80 companies before last year’s bid process, only about
$1 million is at risk, said host committee head Mark Miles.
Tony George’s successor might trade tradition for revenue
A management shake-up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has some in the motorsports industry thinking major changes could
be on the horizon at the fabled race venue—maybe as soon as next year.
Indianapolis 500 movie racing toward big screen
A locally born initiative to make a movie about the first Indianapolis 500 has cleared a major obstacle to getting its project to big screens nationwide by May 2011—in time for the race’s centennial.
IRL TV ratings lagging at Richmond
Saturday’s Indy Racing League race—the SunTrust Indy Challenge—posted the second worst national
TV rating…
Economy takes toll on golf spending, but Senior Open on course for profits
Organizers of the 2009 U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick are sinking one birdie putt after another in their efforts to meet
their budget and draw strong crowds to central Indiana later this month. In this economy, sports marketers are calling ticket
and sponsorship sales for the tournament remarkable.