IRL could have large audience in China

IRL could have large audience in China

The Indy Racing League is taking
a serious look at holding a race in China as early as 2011. Series officials said there are several good reasons why the league may want to head to the nation of 1.33 billion people.
“Obviously it’s a very big market, and I love the interest that they are showing,” said Terry Angstadt, president of the Indy Racing League’s commercial division,
who toured China late last month. “We are clearly interested.” Angstadt told IBJ before the trip that he would be
meeting with a number of Chinese government officials to hash out the possibilities of bringing the IRL to China. Fourteen of the IRL’s 17 races this year are in the U.S., with two excursions into Canada and one to Japan comprising the series’ international outreach. Angstadt said a race in Brazil next year is a strong possibility. The talks are preliminary, but Angstadt said Chinese officials are thinking big. “We’re looking at one existing and one new facility,” Angstadt said. “Chinese officials said they want a venue that will hold 500,000 people.” That exceeds by more than 100,000 the capacity of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500. Such a massive audience, Angstadt said, could open the door to new league and team sponsorships in Asia and elsewhere. But Angstadt said the move into China would be about more than appealing to a mass audience. “A lot of our corporate partners and team sponsors have a serious interest in being in China,” Angstadt said. (A story about the IRL appears on page 13.)