Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles is "seeking two races for a fallow February slate and believes international venues provide the best options" for the Verizon IndyCar Series, according to Brant James of USA TODAY. Miles: "We’re not looking to do something that is radical where we aren’t racing at a great place in the States in order to go abroad, but I think February is a period where we don’t really have great choices here where there may be good choices -- great choices -- in warmer climates and where we would have reason to believe there is a receptive market. ... Whether or not we actually find two for February remains to be seen." James noted a report last month in Australia-based Gold Coast Bulletin said that local organizers were negotiating with government officials about "bringing IndyCar back" to the country. Miles "would not confirm negotiations with Australian promoters." But he said that he "hopes to release" the '17 and '18 schedules in August. IndyCar's TV ratings on NBC Sports and ABC/ESPN were up 6.5% in '16 over '15 "after nine races." Miles said, "Even 6.5-percent growth compared to other leagues is a really very positive thing. I want to get to 50 percent over three years ending with ‘16 and we’ll be close to that." Miles said the month of May "exceeded our own expectations" as roughly 477,000 paid to attend races or practices, including an Indianapolis 500 that drew in excess of 350,000 (USATODAY.com, 7/16).
WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Adam Stern notes IndyCar "says it will continue to seek out new street circuits, but will be more careful moving forward, after this year’s canceled race in Boston." The Boston incident has "sparked widespread chatter throughout the IndyCar paddock that the sanctioning body should stop trying to add new street circuits." Other recent canceled street races "include one in Baltimore that ended after three years, and a new non-points race that was slated to debut this year in China before eventually being scuttled." IndyCar VP/Promoter Relations Stephen Starks said, "We’d be foolish if we weren’t concerned about them going forward given some of the obstacles that can be presented. But we’re not going to give up on the street race concept altogether" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/18 issue).
