IMS President Doug Boles said that the "odds aren't especially good" that the local TV blackout for the Indianapolis 500 will be lifted for a second straight year. Boles noted there is "no deadline" for the decision to be made, though Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles last year "made the announcement on the Tuesday before the race." The blackout was lifted in '16 for the first time in 65 years after the 100th running of the race was deemed a sellout (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/16).
STAYING WITH WHAT WORKS? In West Virginia, Doug Smock noted beIN Sports Dir of Marketing Juan Ochoa is "interested in continuing" the net's coverage of Conference USA and confirmed its contract with the conference "runs for three years" through '18-19. C-USA’s other TV contracts "are for two years, with new negotiations with other partners -- at least the ones who want to play ball" beyond '17-18. Ochoa: "So far, everything has been great, and we’ve got two more years on the deal. We’re looking forward to this season more than last year" (Charleston GAZETTE-MAIL, 5/15).
A REAL GAME CHANGER: ESPN's Beth Mowins will call the Sept. 11 Chargers-Broncos "MNF" game, and Gayle Sierens, the first woman to give play-by-play for an NFL game in '87, said Mowins is "as prepared as anyone." Sierens: "Beth's been doing play-by-play for 20 years." Sierens said Mowins is "so much more prepared than I was to wear that crown as the first." Sierens: "She is the real deal. There's no publicity stunt, this is not something somebody's doing for ratings. They're doing this because she knows her stuff inside out, and she will be fabulous when she does this game" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/16).
