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NBC interested in staying with circuit

IndyCar won’t start formal media-rights negotiations until next year, but the top programming executive from NBC Sports, one of the series’ two TV partners, says his company is “very interested in going forward” after its deal expires.

IndyCar’s current media deals with ABC/ESPN and NBC run through 2018. Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Co., which owns the series, said it’s 10 months away from starting formal negotiations. IndyCar is consulting with Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures in the lead-up to negotiations.

NBC Sports markets itself as the “home of motorsports” in the U.S. with rights to NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One and Red Bull Global Rallycross. Jon Miller, NBC Sports’ president of programming, said that while IndyCar’s ratings don’t approach NASCAR’s, the company wants to retain America’s top open-wheel series because NBC is focused on serving all stripes of motorsports fans.

“We’re very happy with the product — if you talk to them, they’ll tell you that they’re happy with the partnership — and we certainly will talk with them when the time is right,” Miller said. “Mark Miles and I have had several conversations about when that timing will be, but we’re very interested in going forward. We think they’ve got a real home as part of the NBC Sports Group and hope it continues for a long time.”

In May on the day of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, Dan Ochs, ESPN’s director of content strategy and acquisition, said it was too early to say if ABC, which has a small motorsports presence these days but has broadcast every Indy 500 since 1965, wants to renew.

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