Local blackout on Indianapolis 500 lifted for first time since 1950
Residents in the Indianapolis television market will be able to watch Sunday's 100th Indianapolis 500 live.
The local blackout on the race was lifted Wednesday morning as Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials said the event had been sold out. Much like previous NFL blackout rules, the Indianapolis 500 hasn't been shown live if there were seats available for purchase. Since there aren't any seats left, a 56-year streak has been broken.
It's the first time since 1950 that the blackout hasn't happened. The race is traditionally shown on tape delay in Indianapolis later Sunday afternoon. From the Indianapolis Star:
It’s believed 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 the Turn 1 infield and on the backstretch. Grandstand seats previously removed have been reinstalled to meet demand.
Until Sunday, 1949 and 1950 had been the only two years without a local blackout.
The 500 is traditionally the most-attended single-day sporting event in the United States. 350,000 people showing up only increases the gap that the race has on every other event.
The speedway announced earlier in May that all reserved seats had been sold. The track said it was bringing staffing in from out of state to help accommodate all the fans.
The tape-delayed broadcast will also be shown after the race to give fans who attend the race a chance to catch it on television like they have in previous years.
James Hinchcliffe, who was seriously injured in a practice crash before the 2015 Indianapolis 500, is the polesitter for Sunday's race.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
