A tweet from an ABC-affiliated meteorologist may have inadvertently disclosed that the Indianapolis 500 will end its 50-plus year broadcast run on ABC following this year’s event. Jeff Cox from Georgia-based WGXA on Saturday tweeted, “Statement from @ABC: ‘Please be advised that 2018 will be the final year of IndyCar Series races broadcast on ABC, including the Indianapolis 500. We have enjoyed our long association with IndyCar and thank you for all of your support of these races over the years.’ #IndyCar #Indy500.” Neither ESPN nor IndyCar CEO Mark Miles would comment when contacted Saturday about the tweet, which was eventually deleted after garnering more than 100 retweets. However, neither side indicated the content of the tweet was inaccurate and Miles had said in recent weeks that a decision on media rights was essentially imminent. ABC has broadcast the Indy 500 every year since ’65, including airing the race live annually since ’86. SportsBusiness Journal earlier this month reported that NBC Sports was the favorite to become the series’ sole media-rights partner starting in ’19. Miles previously has stated that IndyCar will see a meaningful increase in the number of races on broadcast TV under the new deal.
