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All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by crimsonace, Feb 19, 2007.

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Page 288 of 397
  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Indianapolis Motor Speedway steps back a little -- Indy 500 will now have 25 percent fan capacity with everyone required to wear a mask (enjoy that in the August heat, race fans). Ticket sales will be cut off Friday, which could bode well for lifting the local TV blackout, which has only happened once in several decades.

    Indy 500 to be held at 25% capacity, ticket sales to end July 24
     
    playthrough, Jul 21, 2020
    #3445
  2. Driftwood

    Driftwood Well-Known Member

    NHRA has been using Indy as its canary in the coal mine. They raced there two weekends ago, got rained out this past weekend, go again in two weeks, then back for the regularly scheduled U.S. Nationals on Labor Day.
    They have a pretty defined policy for fans. I don't know how much people are following it, though.
     
    Driftwood, Jul 21, 2020
    #3446
    maumann likes this.
  3. maumann

    maumann Well-Known Member

    What a cluster this could be. I do not envy the 500 ticket folks who sent out 200,000 tickets earlier this year and now have to redo the entire thing with ever-changing rules.

    It's not like before the split, but there's still a large percentage of long-time 500 fans who have sat for decades in their same seats. I can't imagine being the person who has to tell them they didn't make the 25 percent cut. If you're in Paddock Penthouse, A Stand, B Stand or E Stand, you've either a third or fourth generation Hoosier or work for a company that sponsors the race. Those seats rarely turn over.

    On the other hand, the tickets for group/travel tours are probably mostly canceled, I would think. Before the split, I assumed at least 10-20 percent of the seats were tours (or at least we always wound up sitting next to them).

    Definitely this is NOT the year to buy tickets from scalpers unless you're certain that ticket is for the August race and a guaranteed seat, not one of the worthless May ones. Some people are going to wind up bamboozled.
     
    maumann, Jul 21, 2020
    #3447
  4. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Ticketing is crazy to think about, and of course IMS is fiercely guarding against the dreaded "r" word. They'll just have to live through 2021 with far less new money since maybe 150,000 fans will take the credit option. Brickyard 400 ticketholders had a r ... rr ... refund option, but of course that's nowhere near a 500 crowd in size and per-ticket revenue.

    I have a couple friends who work in premium sales at IMS, and that's an even more thankless job than the main ticket office. Suiteholders pay a small fortune and they've already been told they'll only get a portion of their tickets for race day, and of course pre-race access to the pits and Gasoline Alley will likely be nil. But there will be no discounts. As one friend told me, Penske is a complete hardass and believes that if a suiteholder doesn't like his deal and wants to just leave after this year, someone else will take their place. But that's a big assumption nowadays.
     
    playthrough, Jul 21, 2020
    #3448
    maumann likes this.
  5. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    The story said that they're only expecting about 25 percent of folks to go, which is why the limit was sent there. Of course that could be BS.
     
    wicked, Jul 22, 2020
    #3449
    maumann likes this.
  6. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I think it's safe to say that when they contacted all 200,000 or ticketholders to ask if they were coming in August, there were more "nos" than they expected. But to cut off all ticket sales this Friday, nearly a full month before the race, is remarkable for them. The final push for ticket sales and walk-ups in the weeks and days leading to the race was a tradition almost like the 33 cars and milk.
     
    playthrough, Jul 22, 2020
    #3450
    maumann likes this.
  7. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

     
    2muchcoffeeman, Jul 22, 2020
    #3451
  8. Jerry-atric

    Jerry-atric Well-Known Member

    Well I would hope so!
     
    Jerry-atric, Jul 22, 2020
    #3452
  9. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    The 500 is traditionally blacked out in Indianapolis and is shown in the market on Sunday night.
     
    MileHigh, Jul 22, 2020
    #3453
    maumann and Jerry-atric like this.
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    The years that the Indy 500 has aired live in Indianapolis: 1949, 1950, 2016 and 2020. And you can bet that IMS officials will run right back to the blackout if they can next year, there's just too much revenue in walk-up crowds and they don't want people making decisions knowing that live TV at home is an option.
     
    playthrough, Jul 22, 2020
    #3454
    maumann likes this.
  11. maumann

    maumann Well-Known Member

    Or getting whistled to death by a wannabe Barney Fife yellow shirt at 7 a.m. on race day.
     
    maumann, Jul 22, 2020
    #3455
    2muchcoffeeman likes this.
  12. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    My wife and I were talking yesterday about IMS' mandatory mask rule and how the hell they'll enforce that, she said "yellow shirts?" and I had a hearty laugh.
     
    playthrough, Jul 22, 2020
    #3456
    2muchcoffeeman and maumann like this.
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