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May 29

500 Mile Race

When I was younger I use to come to the time trials and the race. Now that I am older it's harder for me to get around however I am still a 500 mile race fan. I'd like to know why it isn't televised? The tv stations are at the track and get the viewing area all up beat ready to watch the race then at noon BAM!! they are off the air. Why isn't the race televised??? I know there are other people that would like to watch it on TV. I do hope you will consider it for the next year and beyond. Thank you for your time.

I believe the Indianapolis 500 is blacked out in the Indianapolis area on TV; the race is shown later on tape-delay. NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 05:12, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I can remember a time when nobody got to see it live on TV. The only real-time option was either going there or listening to it on the radio (or both). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:19, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Is crowd attendance a problem? Would a live telecast threaten that? HiLo48 (talk) 06:22, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The capacity is 400,000 (1/6th the population of the metro area) and Formula 1-looking racing is not popular in the US. Many Olympic sports aren't spectated much except for the top event too, even some that Americans are good at. Fun fact: This race is so traditional they race on the original 1.1 century old bricks at c. 240 mph (unless they slow down for that part which I don't know since I've never watched the race. 2 wheels should be completely on bricks since it's 91cm wide)). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 15:43, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The race does draw a lot of spectators. The crowd on Sunday was estimated at 300,000 [1]. It's just that the capacity of the venue is so huge, it's never going to sell out completely (although some claim it was sold out the year before, when it was the 100th running of the race). There were some years in the late 1990s when there were serious attendance problems because most of the top-notch racers avoided the race, as a result of the conflict between CART Racing and the Indy Racing League, but it's hard to find the numbers as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is privately owned and does not release attendance figures. On the issue of the bricks, they only form one yard of the 2.5 mile circuit; when Formula One briefly used the circuit in the early 2000s, there were concerns raised about what effect that one yard would have on adherence, but it's nothing compared to other quirks of the race, particularly the extremely high-speed turns in heavy traffic, which are the cause of most on-track problems. --Xuxl (talk) 17:39, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

It seems crazy, but that's it.[2] If someone knows Indy, maybe they could inform us whether there's a cable pay-per-view option. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:27, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note that the article blackout, linked above, has a section specifically addressing the case of the Indy 500 and explains the situation. --Xuxl (talk) 12:58, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

WOW!!!!! I never realised Indy 500 racing live TV broadcasting was something that started after ~1982. I always assumed it was much older than that. Perhaps the 1950s like Formula 1. Nil Einne (talk) 20:05, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure where you got that 1982 date. The race has been broadcast live since the 1950s, with ABC holding the rights since 1965. See the article linked by Baseball Bugs above. Xuxl (talk) 20:27, 29 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

It wasn't shown live on TV until well after the 1950s. During the times I remember it (the 60s and at least part of the 70s), it was shown on delay. The only live broadcast was on radio. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:36, 30 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Baseball Bugs I remember the listening radio broadcast as well. They had a person reporting from each corner as well as the main straight. Not only was the TV broadcast delayed (and no it wasn't live in the 50s or 60s) I think there was a time when it wasn't even on the same day - though that did change towards the end. MarnetteD|Talk 01:33, 30 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Your memories match my recollections. You reminded me of the guys at the corners of the track. I don't know that they were called up for each circuit, but for key moments, especially when the presumed winner was taking his last lap. And the original delay was at least into the evening, possibly the next day, possibly even the following weekend. It gradually got closer to real time (except in the Indy vicinity) and as far as I know it has been running live for some years now - though I also haven't watched it in some years. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:25, 30 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Well BB said and has repeated that they have "memories" and "recollections". Since they were born in the early 1980s, I assumed this meant broadcasting only started after then. I didn't realise until now they were referring to memories of what they've read or been told or whatever. Nil Einne (talk) 10:13, 31 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Beware of making assumptions about editors' ages. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:23, 31 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Nil Einne's "assumption" is probably based on your statement a few years ago that you were then 33¹/₃ years old. Can't be arsed to dig for the original post, but remember it well because I and others remarked before and afterwards that you were coming across as a grumpy oldster (or words to that effect). We must therefore conclude that you're not a reliable source about yourself ¦:¦¬) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.202.160.23 (talk) 19:35, 31 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Fascinating. What user ID were you editing under at that time? And did you forget that I qualified it by saying it's in "rabbit years"? :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:44, 31 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

What user ID? Whatever my dynamic IP address was that day, because as I've explained several times before I don't care to open an Account, and my previous, static-IP ISP (UK Online, with whom I had "87.81.230.195") was closed down in 2011 by its owners (then-called) BSkyB who provide only dynamic IPs. Since then, however, I've always appended all of my edits (except in Articles, obviously) by the one you see above and below.

If you were going to obfusticate, what was the point of stating a figure in the first place? Any road up, this is drifting rather far from discussion of the Indy 500's televising schedules. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.202.160.23 (talk) 03:27, 1 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

My apologies. You've been a pretty good user over time. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:44, 1 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies accepted. I never come here to seek out conflict: despite sometimes disagreeing with your approach I try to judge every post or edit on its own merits (as I hope others do with mine), hence I've spoken up for you on occasion when I thought you were being unfairly criticised. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.202.160.23 (talk) 21:03, 1 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I appreciate your "having my back" on occasion, and I will try to keep that in mind and reciprocate if it ever becomes necessary. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:36, 1 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I actually assumed, as I think most people here (Wikipedia talk:Reference desk/Archive 123#Protection template), that you were much older. But you stated that you were younger [3] so I accepted this as the truth as I should have. Nil Einne (talk) 15:57, 1 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]