Penske gave a two-hour tour of the speedway this week, showing off with dizzying detail the new landscaping, paved lots, planted trees, picnic tables, widened pedestrian paths, hand dryers in every bathroom, improved sight lines, pressure-washed buildings, freshly painted signs and LED monitors everywhere.
Team Indiana is meant to give its members—about three dozen tourism and sports organizations across Indiana—better access to resources that will get the attention of sports governing bodies that decide where to play events.
Safety precautions for the team’s season restart also will include limiting ticket sales to the lower bowl of Lucas Oil Stadium and restricting seats to every other row, with at least six feet between each grouping of four seats.
The triple-A Minor League Baseball team is sure to take a financial hit from the decision, but franchise President Randy Lewandowski said the Indians are “in a good financial position to weather this storm.”
About 175,000 tickets—most of them renewals—have been sold for the race, IMS confirmed to IBJ. Ticket requests are still being accepted, going into a queue for fulfillment after existing ticketholders have been accommodated.
Churchill Downs will institute a number of operating procedures for the Kentucky Derby, which has been moved to Sept. 5 because of the pandemic.
The NFL and its franchises are discussing a plan by which rows of seating closest to the field in stadiums this season could be covered and used to display the logos of sponsors and messaging for league and team initiatives.
Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon wasn’t healthy before the season was suspended, sitting out with a leg and hip muscle injury. But the stoppage has allowed him to recover.
Former Colts quarterback Art Schlichter has received nearly $700,000 from a national settlement with the NFL over concussions. A prosecutor says that money should go to Schlichter’s many fraud victims.
The NCAA on Friday expanded its policy banning states with prominent Confederate symbols from hosting its sponsored events, one day after the Southeastern Conference made a similar declaration.
Tickets are being sold for races July 11 and 12 at Road America, a four-mile, 14-turn road course in Wisconsin where fans can spread out. And a limited number of tickets will be available for the races at the short oval at Iowa Speedway on July 17 and 18.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s bill would protect the NCAA from being challenged in court if the association changes its rules to allow athletes to earn money for endorsement deals and personal appearances.
The International Council of Motorsport Sciences, established in Indianapolis in 1988, will relocate from Texas later this month after hiring veteran motorsports exec Tom Weisenbach as its new executive director.
Players would receive their entire salaries for the year despite playing a schedule that’s only about two-thirds the length of the 36-game one that was supposed to start May 15.
IBJ talked with IMS President Doug Boles about plans for the Indy 500, which is scheduled for Aug. 23. That’s about seven weeks after the state’s reopening plan calls for sporting events to resume.
The ban was announced before Wednesday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, where the series’ only black drive, Bubba Wallace, drove Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43 Chevrolet with a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme.
NBC Sports said Saturday night’s season-opening IndyCar telecast drew nearly 1.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched series race outside the Indianapolis 500 on any network since 2016.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials said allowing spectators would be too difficult because of possible social distancing restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the plan, the Indiana Pacers and 21 other teams would temporarily move to the ESPN Wide World Of Sports complex near Orlando in late July and play eight games to determine playoff seeding.
National Hot Rod Association drag racing plans to resume its season in July with back-to-back events at Lucas Oil Raceway.
