I think it is a very fair assessment. There is ZERO coverage from Television in the major markets within 100/150 miles of Indy. I get two small flyers a year promoting the USPG and tickets while I get maybe 5-6 for the 500 and as many for the Brickyard. I have been on the Indy ticket list since 1968.
I listened to a couple of officials of the Speedway on an after race call in show driving back from the race and one of the most interesting things heard was that the City of Indy has offered big money to help secure the USGP and the George Family has said "no thanks". Since they are a privately held entity and get NO monies from city or state for anything, it appears they want to keep it that way.
Indy ponied up $25M for a one time Super Bowl and offered that kind of monies to the Speedway.
It sounds to me, and I watched the IRL/CART silliness battles pretty close that Tony George wants it to be on HIS terms or is is willing to let it go, screw tradition or the 150,000 who have been willing to put up the monies to go to these races for the past eight years. The way they handled the debacle after the Michelin issue a couple of years ago [here is your refund check to endorse over for your free tickets IF you buy 4 new ones] showed that they were more interested in winning than supporting the fan base.
I would hope that the streets of Indy aren't safe at night for people whose last name is Hulman or George.
Bernie is a master of posturing. He's not about to let it out that the US is very important to F1. That said, SOMEONE has got to pick this series up other than Speed TV. Sundays are tough, no question about it. The Speed on-air team is fantastic, but the channel is just totally invisible to all but the most ardent race fans. Hopefully being on FOX for this four race block will help some.
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