Story behind Indy 500 TV blackouts: IndyCar president explains "weird balancing act" 

The Indy 500 is called the Greatest Spectacle of Racing, but Indiana natives who don't go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway don't get to experience it. IndyCar has historically imposed a TV blackout for the race in Indiana, in an attempt to increase ticket sales at the 2.5-mile circuit that can house over 350,000 fans.

The blackout is only lifted when the IMS is entirely sold out, which happened during the 100th running of the Indy 500 in 2016 and the 109th running this year. IndyCar also lifted the blackout in 2020 and 2021, owing to COVID-19 restrictions preventing in-person attendance, and in 2024, when a lengthy rain delay forced fans to leave the circuit.

In a recent episode of The IBJ podcast with Mason King, IndyCar and IMS president Doug Boles explained the double-edged sword of imposing such a blackout for the Indy 500.

"You can argue both sides of the fence on it. There is the side that we fall on, that is, we have to protect the ability to sell the 232,000 grandstand seats because that's the financial engine that doesn't just drive the Speedway, it drives the series. That's important for us to be able to put the series on the road and go forward," Boles said, justifying the blackout.

"If we lift it, are we gonna lose a bunch of that opportunity? Are we gonna get a huge percentage of fans to say, 'Hey, we're not coming anymore'? And that impacts the rest of the year," the 58-year-old continued. "There's the flipside argument, which is, if you're live in market, you are gonna get people that pay attention that maybe hadn't before, and maybe that encourages them to go. So it's this weird balancing act."

Ahead of the 2025 season in February, US politician Ethan Manning warned the IMS officials to lift the blackout for the good of Indiana fans. If not, he would reconsider the $7 million that the circuit gets each year for developments.

For Indiana fans who don't attend the race in person, IndyCar airs the race replay later in the evening. Besides a sellout for the 2025 Indy 500, the race also garnered a record average viewership of 7.05 million and peaked at 8.4 million.

However, FOX wasn't able to ride the way into the Detroit GP on the immediate next weekend. The street race got 1.061 million viewers on average and peaked at 1.201 million.

F1's 2026 calendar reveal ignites controversy for the Indy 500

F1 recently announced its 2026 calendar. The major change in the 24-race calendar was the Canadian GP getting scheduled on the same day as the 110th Indy 500, on May 24. Historically, that spot was taken by the Monaco GP.

However, as part of its sustainability efforts and the desire to reduce its carbon footprint, F1 swapped the Monaco and Canada races. The Canadian GP would take place after the Miami GP, and then the whole spectacle would shift back to Europe, beginning with Monaco.

However, the start of the Canadian GP is 2 pm ET, which means it would overlap with the second half of the Indy 500, which began at 12:45 pm ET this year and is likely to remain the same next year.

While there was uproar among fans about F1 potentially challenging IndyCar's biggest race, IndyCar officials weren't concerned. IndyCar addressed the controversy after reporter Jeff Gluck approached it for a response on the clash.

"We’re looking forward to an epic 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2026, on the heels of a highly successful and historic event this year," IndyCar stated as reported by Jeff Gluck.

The 2026 Indy 500 will see Alex Palou enter as the defending champion, having clinched his first win at the fabled IMS oval for the first time this year.