Indy 500 on pace for another sellout and no broadcast blackout

Driving the news: Indianapolis Motor Speedway vice president of marketing Michael Kaltenmark told Axios that grandstand seats for this year's Indy 500 were about 97–98% sold as of May 7 — putting the race on pace to sell out earlier than last year.

• IMS announced a grandstand sellout on May 20 in 2025.
• He added that an earlier grandstand sellout gives them a better chance of selling through remaining general admission tickets, which nearly happened last May.
• "That would be the first full sellout since (the 100th running in) 2016, which is remarkable," Kaltenmark said.

Zoom in: The excitement for race day extends beyond the track, with the Carb Day and Snake Pit concerts tracking their best advance ticket sales since 2016, per Kaltenmark.

Yes, but: Central Indiana race fans who can't make it to the track still don't know if they'll be able to watch it from the couch.

State of play: IMS maintains a local broadcast delay to motivate in-person attendance at the world's largest single-day outdoor sporting event, which draws roughly 350,000 fans.

• Kaltenmark said it's a measure to "protect and preserve the event," saying fans may be less inclined to attend without the delay.
• "And if we were to run the race with empty grandstands, then it wouldn't be a viable event," he said.

How it works: Kaltenmark said there's no hard threshold written into policy, but the precedent is that if grandstands sell out, IMS lifts the blackout as a gesture of goodwill to fans.

• Special circumstances can also trigger a lift. IMS did so two years ago due to a rain delay that sent fans home early.

What they're saying: Kaltenmark's goal is to sell out grandstands every year so Indy fans can always watch live.

Plus: More sellouts mean more people experience the roar of the engines live.

• "It's a win-win, frankly. Because when we have full grandstands, it means those who want to come to the race or have got their ticket. And those who don't want to come or aren't able to are able to see it live," Kaltenmark said. "Everybody feels pretty good about that when it's able to happen."