IndyCar signs renowned Super Bowl insider for the Indy 500; FOX promises to "blow the doors off”

FOX will take over exclusive broadcasting rights for IndyCar from NBC starting in 2025, including the broadcast of the Indy 500. The FOX network has been all hands on deck with the IndyCar project, releasing three big promos featuring Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, and Pato O'Ward earlier this year.

As per the latest reports, IndyCar and FOX have signed the renowned NFL reporter and Super Bowl insider Tom Rinaldi for the Indy 500 coverage. Motorsport reporters Jenna Fryer and Nathan Brown spoke with the FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Shanks promised to make the broadcast of the 109th running of the Indy 500 a worthwhile experience for the viewers as it will be the first broadcast of the greatest spectacle in racing under the new contract deal with IndyCar.

The FOX Sports CEO also suggested that along with the existing crew of Will Buxton, James Hinchcliffe, and Townsend Bell, Tom Rinaldi will also feature in the broadcast team.

According to the reports, Eric Shanks plans to “blow the doors off” with the Indy 500 coverage and have fans of all ages “burned in memories” of the broadcast of the 2025 Indy 500.

The FOX Sports CEO also spoke about the betting proposition on the Indy 500 as Jenna Fryer uploaded a tweet on the social media platform X that detailed his statement. Shanks said,

“It's hard to understand how to wager on motorsports, but on Kentucky Derby Day, even if you don't know anything about horse racing, you put down an exacta or a trifecta, you got win, play, show…,” said Shanks as quoted by Fryer.

“So like, how can we figure out how to get that type of broad attention around an event that honestly kind of feels a lot like horse racing right that day,” he added

The 2025 Indy 500 will take place on Sunday, May 25, with the qualifying action taking place on the previous weekend. According to reports, FOX has also replaced VICE and CW, who previously collaborated with IndyCar for the “100 Days to Indy” docuseries released on Netflix. FOX Nation will premiere the series on May 22 and revamp its format.

US State Representative details the plausible $7 Million setback for Indy 500

The Indianapolis 500 is only broadcast in Indiana if the race is sold out, otherwise, it doesn't air live. There are conditions where a pandemic or weather-affected race is broadcast, irrespective of whether it is sold out.

However, State Representative Ethan Manning recently came out and detailed how the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gets a $7 million grant from the state for the Indy 500 following a bill passed in 2013. He asked the IMS owners to air the race live, irrespective of whether it is sold out, to get the $7 million. Manning said,

“So right now we're giving $7 million per year to the Indiana Motorsports Commission and that's to pay off a bond based on a bill we passed I think in the 2013 session. And so IMS used that to do improvements to the track. All good things but part of that was adding seats,” Manning told in a video uploaded by FOX59 News on YouTube (0:32 onwards)

“And so my contention is that I don't like taxpayer dollars going to make improvements when we're adding seats and then if they don't sell out they have a media blackout. So all I'm saying is the Motorsports Commission would have to determine that there's no media blackout between May15 - June 15 each year and if there's no blackout then we continue to pay that $7 million,” he added

Manning also proposed an amendment to the bill passed in 2013, but has currently put it on hold, and will pursue the same in the near future. The IMS responded and highlighted the $1 billion economic impact that the Indy 500 has on the state of Indiana in response to Manning's statement.