The winning bid by NBC—and its parent company Comcast Cable—to air the Winter Olympics in 2014 and 2018 and the
Summer Olympics in 2016 and 2020 is good news for the IndyCar Series.
Comcast also owns the cable channel, Versus, a fledging sports channel that some day hopes to rival ESPN. The IndyCar Series
signed a 10-year deal, which started in 2009, to air its races on Versus.
While there have been complaints that some cable systems don’t carry Versus, and the cable channel doesn’t have
the clout to attract casual sports fans to televised IndyCar events, officials for the cable channel have tried to muster
a critical mass of programming, including National Hockey League games, that will elevate the channel to a new level.
Still, Versus reaches about 20 million fewer homes than ESPN.
But the Olympics deal could help. Officials for NBC/Comcast, which paid $4.4 billion for the right to air the Olympics through
2020, are promising to use many of their channels to air Olympic events. Although Comcast/NBC hasn’t yet released any
broadcast plans for the Olympics, Versus is likely central in those plans.
That means cable systems that don’t already carry the cable channel will likely be looking to add Versus, and sports
fans may be enticed to upgrade their cable package to add it. It will certainly funnel numerous fans who already have the
channel but don’t currently tune in often over to Versus through promotions on NBC and its Web site during the Olympics
seasons.
It’s logical to conclude that all of this will raise the overall profile of Versus as a TV destination for sports fans.
And since Versus has a long-term deal with IndyCar in hand, it seems logical that Versus officials would be eager to cross-promote
open-wheel racing through its Olympics coverage.
There’s only one fear for the IndyCar Series. The growth of Versus and the continual addition of mainstream sports
to its airwaves could diminish the cable channel’s commitment to IndyCar programming and push its telecasts toward the
sidelines.
But for now, the upside appears to far outweigh any possible downside.
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Welcome to The Score, your place for hard-hitting sports business news, fast-breaking updates and fuel-injected debate. Buckle up. I'm your host, Anthony Schoettle, IBJ sports reporter.
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These higher rates Co. e about only because physicians are now hospital employees. otherwise physicians couldn't charge these rates and share the windfall with the hospital. Community/rural hospitals probably not buying physicians practices and thus weren't getting the windfall anyway.
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The incentive for poor people to get themselves off public assistance and "no longer be poor" is even with help...they're STILL POOR! Being poor, even with some assistance, isn't all that pleasant. (I speak from experience) It's a stubborn myth that poor people, who are on public assistance, are sitting in the lap of luxury. You should try living on just those "freebies" that you mentioned and see how meager they actually are. By the way, I didn't mean you had to buy/own a puppy...just pet one. :)
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As near as I can tell the minority has ZERO constitutional obligation to offer a quorum to the majority. A requirement for quorum was inserted into the constitution so that tyrannical majorities could not simply shove through odious and objectionable legislation (which is exactly what they did.) By allowing a tyrannical majority to charge fines against the minority for exercising their constitutional prerogative to deny quorum the court as made a mockery of constitutional governance in the state of Indiana.
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The voters elected the Reps to make a vote not walk out on the vote. They had to the right to exercise their opinion and vote "no" to the bill. Let me ask you this if you walked out of your job for 5 straight weeks would you get paid? Would you even have a job to go back to? If any elected official walks out on the people they should be arrested for stealing tax dollars from the public. They were elected to do a job and not leave when the job gets stuff.
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I have been to several of their locations in Pennsylvania and always go in for 1 item and leave with a basket full of things. I'm very happy they decided on Indiana, now if only they would put the other store in eastside.
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I hope NBC picks up the contract from ABC. The NBC/VS connection would make for a great team to promote Indycar.
If it's any consolation to IRL fans and speedway apologists, NBC/Comcast dumped the VerSUs website promoting the IRL series, eliminated in-season streaming coverage of the series (because they have exclusive rights) and CANCELLED a program called Indycar Weakly starring Indy's own two-face, Robin Miller.
So, I would think twice before I put any eggs in the Comcast basket....to date they have not delivered anything but the lowest ratings in Indy history, 0.22, 0.29, 0.19. Me thinks they can do what ever they want with the paltry IRL series...like shelve it for non-performance.
http://blogs.forbes.com/sportsmoney/2011/06/08/comcastnbc-overpays-for-olympic-rights-strategically-savvy-or-slightly-stupid/
As with pretty much anything related to the .1rl, I predict epic fail.
NHL is getting $2B for 10yrs....
IRL gets about $3M to 5M per season. That's $50 million for IRL's 10 years. Bwahahhahhahahhahahaha! Come on now, growing the sport?
I am certain you will keep us posted. LOL.
you might wanna get with your bestest lunch and flying buddy, RB and get your stories straight.
http://www.racer.com/q-a-with-randy-bernard-on-indycar-tv/article/201889/2/
"Racer: These figures that have been bandied about â that Versus pays IndyCar $5m per year for its 12 races â are they true?
RB: No, that's not true, and I don't know where all that came from. It's actually a very complicated deal, something that I'm not going to explain over the phone on such a poor connection! But it's much more of a co-promotion and co-ownership deal, with some revenue-sharing.
Racer: OK, but are IMS Productions' costs covered by this deal?
RB: Erâ¦no! I think it's fair to say that right now, our television deal is a very expensive proposition."
Doesn't sound like they're taking in 5 million once reported, let alone the 10 million you're claiming. He actually makes it sound like they lose $$$ after paying production costs.
Mr. Bernard calls it a 'very complicated deal.' That is an understatement. When combining the Versus deal with the Disney deal along with how the spot avails are distributed and revenue generated from sponsorships and other business component deals it is, in fact, complicated. And worth in the neighborhood of $10 mil per year all told.
Oh, I understand how those like you might think it's a money loser...after all, in your quaint little world all of you enjoyed cart and thought they walked on water even though they failed, twice, and spent millions buying their way onto television. Not everyone needs to do that. Particularly series with the Indy 500 at their center.
Glad I could help.
How despicable if true.
He also doesn't explain how the Vs. deal works.
That's just SOP for him.
You gotta tell RB not to talk with his mouth full when you have your luch dates, Grand Master d. That way you can pass on all the fabulous insider info to us "simplistic thinking naysayers".
:lol:
The IRL sold off it rights for what amounts to a measily $10M a year, and that includes the 500 and ABC's contributions.
How much more can it be devalued? And how does 200K eyeballs grow the sport? 0.22, 0.29, 0.19 won't do it. Not enough eyeballs. Lots of fishheads though...Speedway apologists have no data to supply.
Of course it is also ironic that they complain that the Indycar Series only gets x dollars for their broadcasts when the series they hold up as the pinnacle of sports but ended its life as an infomercial.
I think everyone agrees Indycar needs to work on viewership. I think most will agree that vs. offers the best programming, just not the best reach. Hosting the Olympics will help them get that reach.
Am I the only one who has noticed that Chief spends an inordinate amount of time following a series he hates? I love Indycar, but do not follow it that closely. if Indycar were a person, Chief would be considered a stalker.
You guys are so desperate to cover their tracks of AOW destruction you will go to any lengths to make it 'look' successful. It's not and it's not going to be for a long time.
As an advocate for the betterment of the sport I will continue to point out the fluff that you all want to sham the business world into believing. Flim-flam and sham artists all of you, especially the paid Speedway spokespeople like mIndyMan and Mr. "I've seen the contracts and it's NORTH of $20 Million".
AOW was not destroyed. cart was. Twice. cart does not equal AOW. IMS has always been the center of AOW, and the Indy Car Series has ensured continuing enjoyment of AOW since cart boycotted IMS and subsequently killed themselves. Twice. In other words, AOW did not experience destruction. cart did. Twice.
With what part of this reality are you having difficulty coming to grips? I prefer dealing in facts and not bluster, and once again I have laid out your facts.
It seems more like you and your buddies who "will go to any lengths to make it 'look' UNsuccessful". You ignore anything good, and emphasize and creatively invent things to make it look bad.
Only the Nattering Naybobs of Negativism could blindly ignore the largest crowd in years at all events, the most media attention, one of the most exciting races ever, the most sponsors in years, a more than full entry list with bumping and drama a plenty and desperately look for negatives.
Most Indycar fans seem grounded in reality, it is the haters who go out of their way to try to run it down. Where is the announcement that you guys touted that Mari Hulman George was going to announce a sale of IMS after the race?
Purveyors of nonsense, denyers of reality, distorters of anything positive, mongers of loads of crap, and genuinely very unhappy crybabies.
It's a shame you dudes can't find anything positive in your lives to work towards. Too bad we've already enjoyed the last space shuttle. Such a shame you couldn't have been launched into space to enjoy a real view of reality and the mortality that your views will come to face.
IMS for sale, me eye, cap'n! Oh, were you wanting and waiting for it to be turned into a trailer park so you could move in?
You dudes are the bomb......
Haven't seen any national advertising lately, what happened? Two weeks later Dave Weldone is a forgotten champion...as is the IRL. Why is that?
Dan Wheldon? I saw him on Letterman this week. And the CMT awards. And the Today Show. And Regis. Several nationally distributed sports shows have featured him. He has been doing advance publicity for upcoming races.
Perhaps you should not be so selective in what you want to read or hear young feller.
Read an article that since Penske is free of the tobacco advertising Helio will be in more commericials including Shell Oil.
So you may want to check your tv before you say Indycar is not getting national advertising.
I do not think the question should be why are we puffed up, I think the better question is why do you still think Indycar is going down in '11, '12 ,'13 or whatever year you are picking.
Before the month of May, you said attendance would be down, viewership would be down, car counts would be down, the race would not be interesting, that the family would announce the sale of the track and as usual you were wrong on all counts.
Indycar has momentum from a successful month of May, and continues that with more new sponsors, new engines for next year, new cars for next year and new body kits next year or the year after. All the things you said they needed.
So the bigger question is why are you still so negative in the face of some very promising news?
Indycar is far from where it needs to be, but it is definitely on the way up.
Whether or not death confronts them is not of importance...but the lingering misery is highly entertaining.
I see the flailing IRL had a publicity stunt where the 2nd place winner of the 500 was injured rather severely. Apparently trying to prove IRL drivers are athletes. FAIL, again.
Get well soon JR, the Speedway made sure you didn't become a Trevor Bayne.
Whether or not death confronts them is not of importance...but the lingering misery is highly entertaining.
I see the flailing IRL had a publicity stunt where the 2nd place winner of the 500 was injured rather severely. Apparently trying to prove IRL drivers are athletes. FAIL, again.
Get well soon JR, the Speedway made sure you didn't become a Trevor Bayne.
I am sure Indycar told JR to tear up his leg so he has an excuse if he does not do well in future races. I wonder where Tanya Harding is? Might they have put her hit team after JR? So I am guessing they are also putting wheel locks on Herta's car so it does not do well either? Love the conspiracy.
It was Jeff Gillooly who whacked Nancy Kerrigan. Kinda like a certain gunfight years ago and more recently what Tony George did to AOW. Which, BTW, you overwhelmingly supported. So, I guess when you have to eat soggy cornflakes you eat 'em with gumption.
JR coulda bee the next Trevor Bayne (and been racing at Texas as the 500 winner), but because the Speedway steward selectively enforces when caution flags are displayed, JR was cheated out of the "Bayne-esque" win, also in dramatic fashion.
So, even in victory, the Speedway and the IRL fails...as does the Speedway apologists who do the dirty work around here.
67% of respondents to a Baltimore Sun poll say the iRl isnt worth the hassle
By the way, saw the Pennzoil commericial a few minutes ago on ESPN.
While I am not a fan of Weldon, and rooted for JR since I work for his sponsor, there is no way he would have won that. He screwed the pooch by getting too anxious, the definition of rookie mistake. and since the rules say you cannot benefit from a yellow you caused, I am not sure how you think he should of won it.
I hope jr does better than Trevor, as I stated, he had his 15 minutes of fame, and now is back to an also ran. That was easy, Wood Brothers have not sustained a winner in decades.
Sorry Chief, Indycar is riding a wave of success, and you just can't stand it. now even you are backing off on the failure stuff. When you do that, you know Indycar is seeing success.
Daver Welsone is the peoples IRl champion. Is he racing at Milwaukee this week?
But, i saw this nugget written June 1..."Indianapolis Motor Speedway has not changed its master plan in the last century ".
Interesting. 3 of the lowest TV ratings in
Indy history in past 3 years. Yeah, thats quite a wave.
Indy and the IRL is small potatoes in a small mind.
As far as tie ins, I am guessing not too many race fans watch Hockey. Same reason you do not see much racing tie in on Glee or So you think you can dance.
600 million hits? Really? If true, very impressive. And wasn't this the stunt that Chief said no one would watch or care about?
Typical Chief.
FYI, saw another Honda Indy commercial on 60 Minutes. It was from a couple of weeks ago. Finally got to it on Tivo. Great piece on SGT Giunta. What a hero, so humble. A true American.
So, it's not so far out of the question to have two sports that share a supposed growing fanbase also share advertising time on the big network.
And that's where the IRL is small potatoes. There is NO MONEY coming out of Indy that is spent on advertising the series. The series has left that to it's marketing partners. And it's my opinion that even they are failing the series.
So, makeup all the faux viewed commercials you want but my points are valid and on target. The new Izod commercial with Weezer...what is that all about? You have a local sport with NO national exposure. And you can take that to the bank.
I'm sure that'll be the excuse some place fans will use for the lousy #s the .1rl will draw. When you see REAL TOP TIER racing, it's obvious that the .1rl is just a sad, sad joke.
That F1 and LeMans race was AWESOME! I watched both all weekend.
As for only .1rl fans being "real racing fans" and not trashing Le Mans or F1, that's because F1 and the 24 are so obviously superior to the indycentric product, that the place fans can't say a word.
Kinda like how that Hitler guy couldn't say a word about the obviously superior Jesse Owens...
Maturity and class indeed. :rolleyes:
Rotating tires on a float trailer MC'd by Bob Jenkins?
Seriously, I'm embarrassed to even have to comment on it. What a pathetic state of affairs....this sport is the laughing stock of racing in our world.
Did anyone see the footage the of pole position draw? And what happened immediately after? I must say it's the newest low of lows for the rock-bottom IRL leegue at Texas. No wonder fans left in droves.
Sooo out of the Twins and the draw and all of that, the big buzz is ... Dario bawling? Hey, take whatever pub you can get, IndyCar.
NBCâs First Belmont Stakes Broadcast Since 2005 Earns 4.8 Overnight Rating and 11 Share
Pre-Race Following VERSUS 2-Hour Belmont Access up 86%
you cant,,,,even starting from your 0% you cant do much more than 12%
Seriously, a more pathetic spectacle there as never been that the IRL...today known as izodcarz...the dawning of our brave new world. I do know where it's going, it's too late to fix it now, yeah. Pffffft.
"FOX completed a successful 13-race stint in the NASCAR Nielsenâs Tuesday, posting a 3.9 overnight for the inaugural Sprint Cup Spring race at Kansas Speedway. It put the exclamation point on the largest year-to-year increase in viewership since FOX took over the TV package in 2001; for the season, the audience increased nine percent to 8.6 million from 2010 numbers. While those final tallies are somewhat deceiving after a disastrous 2010 â the final ratings average in 2011, a 5.0 is still two percent lower than the 5.1 FOX posted just two seasons ago â virtually every demographic suggests signs of recovery. Among Men 18-34, ratings increased 20% (1.8 vs. 1.5), while among adults 18-49 numbers were up 4%."
Doesn't it just figures? Apparently AJ FOyt (hisownself) called it a joke.