Sunday’s 100th staging of the Indianapolis 500, the showpiece race of the IndyCar motor racing series, will receive full national coverage in the United States for the first time since 1950 after local television blackout restrictions were lifted.
The move comes after Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday (Wednesday) announced the first complete sellout in the history of the event. With the sellout, the long-standing practice of blacking out the live television broadcast in Indianapolis has been lifted and Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV-TV will air the race live. WRTV-TV also will continue its traditional 7pm ET repeat of the race broadcast.
It will be only the third time that the race will be broadcast live on television in Central Indiana and the first time since 1950.
While IMS does not release official attendance numbers, the Indy 500 is said to be the largest single day sporting event on the planet. The Indianapolis Star newspaper said IMS targeted the sale of 75,000 general admission tickets to bring Sunday’s total attendance to about 350,000, a significant increase over recent years in part due to temporary suites being installed in certain sections of the circuit.
The ABC network is televising the Indianapolis 500 for the 52nd consecutive year and its partnership with IMS represents one of the longest-running active relationships between a network and a sporting event, with the race first airing on ABC’s Wide World of Sports in 1965. ABC’s first live broadcast was in 1986.