Alex Palou Savors Spoils of '500' Victory, Big Media Interest during NYC Tour
Alex Palou gained worldwide acclaim, INDYCAR SERIES immortality and a healthy monetary prize for winning the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge last Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
But there's a good chance the Spaniard also lost something this week with his win: sleep.
Palou embarked on a hectic victory tour stuffed with media engagements and public appearances in Indianapolis and New York just hours after winning 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, his first oval victory and his fifth win in six NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season.
'It was a very busy couple of days,' Palou said. 'Went to different studios, different kinds of interviews. I had a lot of fun doing those. Got to experience some cool stuff in New York.
'Every time I was getting tired, the people in INDYCAR gave me small treats, like visiting the Empire State Building or stuff that made my day. It's been awesome. I would repeat this again next year after the '500.''
The celebrations started just a few hours after he took the checkered flag for his first career oval victory.
Palou was honored alone on the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis during Game 3 of the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks' NBA Eastern Conference Finals game. He wore the winner's wreath and a Pacers' jersey with star Tyrese Haliburton's name and number while stepping into the spotlight on the court to rapturous applause of the sellout crowd.
On Monday morning, May 26, Palou appeared remotely on morning shows 'FOX and Friends' and 'Good Morning America' in between the winner's photo shoot at IMS and on-site interviews with numerous local and national media outlets, including the Associated Press, FOX Sports and FOX Sports Radio.
Then Palou and his family flew to New York that evening for a full schedule of appearances and interviews Tuesday and Wednesday in the country's most populous city, also known as the 'media capital of the world.'
Palou appeared live in studio Tuesday morning on 'Good Day New York' on the FOX affiliate FOX 5 NYC before participating in numerous remote interviews with outlets ranging from 'The Dan Le Batard Show,' Muscle & Fitness magazine, the 'Speed Street' podcast hosted by fellow INDYCAR SERIES driver Conor Daly podcast and Spanish media.
Then Palou headed to FOX Sports' studios in Manhattan to appear live on the popular daily sports talk show 'First Things First,' which also broadcast live last week from IMS. Co-host Nick Wright proudly wore the winner's wreath and drank the winner's traditional bottle of milk during the segment with Palou.
Palou then was whisked to Citi Field in the borough of Queens, where he threw the ceremonial first pitch before the home New York Mets' game against the Chicago White Sox. Palou also gave the command, 'Mascots, start your engines,' on the field for the mascot race in the middle of the third inning.
On Wednesday, Palou posed for photos in front an image of him drinking the winner's bottle of milk on the Victory Podium Sunday displayed on the giant video board in front of the NASDAQ stock market in world-famous Times Square. He then visited the observation deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building for photos before more interviews with numerous media outlets, including CNN, SiriusXM and many other media in his native Spain.
The New York portion of the trip ended early Thursday morning when Palou flew to Detroit and participated in pre-event media activities for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, which takes place Friday through Sunday of this week as the next race on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule.
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Elle
an hour ago
- Elle
Megan Fox's Dating History Includes Whirlwind Romances Beyond Machine Gun Kelly
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. THE RUNDOWN Megan Fox has been in the spotlight since she was 15 years old, and in that time, she's had a number of high-profile relationships. The actress and writer has always been extremely open about her intense approach to romance—and she's had partners who completely match that energy. She's also shared that there were people in her dating history she can never talk about. In 2023, Fox promoted her poetry book, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous, on Good Morning America and explained that she often uses her relationships as inspiration. But some people can never be named. 'This is not an exposé that I wrote or a throughout my life, I have been in at least one physically abusive relationship and several psychologically very abusive relationships,' she said. 'I have only been publicly connected to a few people, but I shared energy with, I guess we could say, who were horrific people. And also very famous—very famous—people. But no one knows that I was involved with those people.' Here's what is known about Megan Fox's complete dating history so far. Ben Leahy Fox dated a boy from her high school, Ben Leahy, for three years before she became a star, according to a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone. They seemed to have a typical teen romance that ended when she headed to Los Angeles. 'I loved him,' she said. 'He was very sweet and wonderful, really tall and big with a perfect body, and he was a badass. I was totally drawn to him.' Fox started dating 7th Heaven's David Gallagher around 2004 after she starred in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. He joined her at the film's premiere, but they broke up after about a year of dating. Fox was linked to her Transformers co-star Shia LaBeouf briefly during one of her periods of being split from her future husband, Brian Austin Green. They were in both the 2007 movie and the 2009 sequel together and dated around 2011, per LaBeouf's claims in a 2011 Details magazine interview. 'Look, you're on the set for six months with someone who's rooting to be attracted to you, and you're rooting to be attracted to them,' he said. 'I never understood the separation of work and life in that situation. But the time I spent with Megan was our own thing.' In 2018, Fox confirmed the relationship during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, admitting they had a 'romantic relationship,' but it didn't last long. 'I mean I would confirm that it was romantic,' she said. 'I love him; I have never been really quiet about that, I love him.' In 2006, when she was only 18 years old, Fox was cast on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith across from 90210 star Brian Austin Green. 'I liked him right away,' she told New York Times Magazine in 2009. 'Everyone was around the monitor watching a scene, and Brian accidentally touched my leg. I remember literal electricity shooting through me and out me from every direction. It was like magic.' Green told KFC Radio in 2019 that he ignored his feelings for Fox at the start. 'It's funny; I kept pushing her away early on because I was like, 'I don't want a relationship,'' he explained. 'And then she was like, 'Well cool, I'm going to go date.'' He added, 'I was like, 'Wait a second, I didn't say go date, please!' So then that's when I realized I was, like 'Fuck, I must be really into this situation, [because] the thought of that kills me.'' In 2008, Fox and Green got engaged. They then called it off. A source told People that the split was was 'mutual,' and they remained 'friends.' Then they reconciled, getting married on June 24, 2010, in Hawaii. In February 2012, Fox told Cosmopolitan that Green was her 'soulmate.' 'I truly feel like he's my soulmate,' she said. 'I don't want to sound corny or cliché, but I do believe we are destined to live this part of our lives together.' That same year, Fox and Green revealed they were expecting a baby and welcomed their son Noah Shannon on Sept. 27, 2012. Their second son, Bodhi Ransom, arrived on Feb. 12, 2014. In August 2015, a source told People the pair was living separately. 'Megan and Brian's split is a classic Hollywood story of two people in different stages of life and career,' the source said. 'They will always love each other very much and are devoted to their kids. Anything could happen in the future, but for now they've decided it's best to take some time apart.' Soon after, Fox filed for divorce, according to Page Six, citing irreconcilable differences. A source told Us Weekly that August, 'They decided on it six months ago.' But in April 2016, a source confirmed to Us Weekly that Fox was expecting a third child. Green confirmed he was the father to People, saying, 'You know, nothing is planned. None of them are ever planned. You kind of just go with it. At my age, to be having three babies, is crazy. I'll be 43 this year.' Fox and Green welcomed another son, Journey River, on Aug. 4, 2016. On an episode of ...with Brian Austin Green in September 2018, via People, Green said, 'Marriage is hard. It's work, I think for anyone. I think when you get to the point like we have, where you have kids, and you've been married for a while, and we've been together for a long time, it's—you just take it day by day." He continued, 'Some people look at divorce or things not working as, like, a disappointment, and it's not. The fact that it worked at all is a positive. We have three amazing kids. We've had and we have a great relationship. We're just taking it day by day.' In April 2019, Fox filed papers to dismiss their divorce proceedings, according to E!. But by the end of 2019, they had separated again, which Green confirmed later after rumors of her relationship with Machine Gun Kelly started circulating in 2020. First, it was reported that she and Green were quarantining separately that year, leading to rumors of their split. During an episode of ...with Brian Austin Green podcast in May 2020, Green explained what happened. 'She said, 'I realized when I was out of the country working alone that I feel more like myself, and I liked myself better during that experience and I think that might be something worth trying for me,'' he shared. 'I was shocked and I was upset about it, but I can't be upset at her because she didn't ask to feel that way. It wasn't a choice she made, that's the way she honestly felt.' Of Fox and Kelly being seen together, he said, 'I've never met him, but Megan and I have talked about him. They're friends at this point, and from what she's expressed, he's a really nice, genuine guy, and I trust her judgment.' Fox filed for divorce again in November 2020. In February 2021, E! reported Green was struggling with the end of the marriage, with a source claiming, 'Brian is definitely not making it easy or doing things quickly. Megan would like to wrap it up and get it finished as quickly as possible, but Brian is not exactly working with her on that.' Shortly after their divorce was finalized in February 2022, Green announced he was expecting a child with his girlfriend, Shana Burgess, whom he started dating in October 2020. On Call Her Daddy in 2024, Fox talked about the relationship with Green, saying, 'I was not a great girlfriend to Brian. I'll be very honest. I was young and really should not have been in a relationship of that level of commitment and magnitude. I did a lot of, like, falling in love with other people all the time. I would go to work and fall in love because I was a kid.' Fox met musician Machine Gun Kelly on the set of the indie thriller Midnight In The Switchgrass in early 2020, per Deadline. The pair was seen together around Los Angeles and the Daily Mail published photos of them grabbing takeout together in Calabasas, California, in May. A source told E! that the co-stars had 'been hanging out a lot since their movie was shutdown [due to COVID-a9],' adding, 'The downtime has been good for are intrigued by each other and having a lot of fun.' A source told E! at the time, 'Megan has been working on a movie with Machine Gun Kelly and gotten close to him. They are hooking up and have been for a little while. She is separated from Brian Austin Green, and they are taking time apart as a couple. She has something going on with Machine Gun Kelly that she is excited about.' Things quickly got hot and heavy. In July, Fox and Kelly were interviewed on Lala Kent and Randall Emmett's podcast, Give Them Lala ... With Randall. Fox shared that she sensed something would come of their meeting after she heard MGK was cast in the film. After two days on set together, Fox felt a profound connection. 'I knew right away that he was what I call a twin flame,' she recalled. 'Instead of a soulmate, a twin flame is actually where a soul has ascended into a high enough level that it can be split into two different bodies at the same time. So we're actually two halves of the same soul, I think. And I said that to him almost immediately, because I felt it right away.' By January 2022, the couple was engaged. They announced the news on Instagram in a now-deleted post, along with a story about drinking one another's blood to seal the connection. MGK shared a photo of the emerald and diamond ring designed by jeweler Stephen Webster, saying it incorporated both of their birthstones. In February 2023, the couple attended a Super Bowl party that led to a dramatic turn in their relationship. Fox suddenly unfollowed Kelly on Instagram and deleted almost all their photos together. She then shared a post quoting the Beyoncé lyric, 'You can taste the dishonesty / It's all over your breath,' from the artist's 2016 song, 'Pray You Catch Me' from Lemonade, famously about Jay-Z's infidelity. A source told People that week, '[They] had a fight over the weekend,' adding that Fox is 'very upset' and wouldn't 'speak to' Kelly. 'They haven't officially called off the engagement, but Megan took her ring off,' the source said. 'They have had issues in the past, but things seem pretty serious this time.' They ultimately decided to work it out, with a source telling Entertainment Tonight, 'Megan and MGK have had ups and downs throughout their relationship, but at the end of the day, they have a lot of love for each other and a deep connection. They have very strong feelings for one another, so their emotions often come out in intense ways. They are working together with the goal of trying to mend things and move forward together.' In March 2024, Fox opened up more about the issues in her relationship with MGK on an episode of Call Her Daddy, confirming they previously called off their engagement. She also said she would be pulling back on discussing their relationship in public. 'I think that what I've learned from being in this relationship is that it's not for public consumption,' Fox said. 'So I think, as of now, I don't have a comment on the status of the relationship, per se. What I can say is that [he] is what I refer to as being my 'twin soul,' and there will always be a tether to him, no matter what. I can't say for sure what the capacity will be, but I will always be connected to him somehow. Beyond that, I'm not willing to explain. All those things you said were accurate things that have occurred [that we got engaged, called it off, and now people aren't sure what our status is]. And I could see them being confusing, or interesting to people, and them being like, 'What's up?'' In November 2024, Fox announced that she was pregnant with her and Kelly's first child. She shared a photo on Instagram, referring to a previous pregnancy loss she experienced with MGK in the caption, writing, 'Nothing is ever really lost. welcome back 👼🏼❤️' The following month, TMZ reported that Kelly and Fox had broken up while on a trip to Colorado over Thanksgiving after Fox 'found material on MGK's phone that was upsetting, and it made her want him to leave the trip early.' A source confirmed the breakup to Us Weekly, saying, 'They broke up in late November. They were trying to make it work again after the pregnancy, but they are both too hot-headed and fell back into their constant fighting. They can't get on the same page, and it's not easy for them being together.' Fox and MGK welcomed their daughter on March 27, 2025. Kelly shared footage of their newborn and wrote, 'she's finally here!! our little celestial seed 🥹💓♈️♓️♊️' Since welcoming their daughter, the couple has reportedly been doing well as co-parents, but Fox is supposedly not interested in a romantic reconciliation. A source speaking with People shared, 'It feels magical to her that she now has a baby girl too. She's doing great and over the moon about her baby girl.' They continued, 'The last few months alone have been difficult for her. At this point, she plans on co-parenting with Colson [Kelly's real name], but that's it. She won't be getting back together with him.' Shortly after, Kelly revealed the baby's name in an Instagram post. 'Saga Blade Fox-Baker ❤️🔥 thank you for the ultimate gift @meganfox,' he wrote. He later shared he picked the name during a July 2025 interview with Today. During a June 2025 appearance on Today, MGK referred to Fox's previous miscarriage, sharing how that experience influenced the name they chose together. 'Her journey, the five years of her culmination of coming, disappearing, coming back again, disappearing, coming back again, she's an epic story, and that's what Saga means,' said Kelly. 'I'm also of Norwegian heritage and so that's a Nordic goddess of storytelling, and I think she has a storytelling future ahead of her. Megan's a great mom and just killing it, and I'm so excited.'
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Bringing 'entertainment' to Penske Entertainment: How Fox's new minority stake pushes IndyCar forward
Chip Ganassi may have said it best: 'This deal brings 'entertainment' to Penske Entertainment.' And therein lies what may be the simplest aspect of Thursday's mega story in the IndyCar world. Fox Corp. – the parent company of Fox Sports – has purchased a 33% stake in Penske Entertainment, the conglomerate that includes IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMS Productions that Roger Penske and Penske Corp. took stewardship over from the Hulman George family nearly six years ago. It's a deal that, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, delivers $125 million to $135 million – that ironically mirrors and even surpasses the figures McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and former Andretti Global majority owner and found Michael Andretti have clamored that Penske himself inject into the sport's promotion, marketing and activation with an eye towards trajectory-altering growth. Andretti was all but ostracized by Penske Entertainment leadership after saying as much 17 months ago, when he first lamented to reporters that Penske Entertainment was asking team owners to purchase their charters before launching the program. He then suggested that if Penske wasn't willing to inject $100 million or more his own funding into IndyCar in pursuit of the sport's long-term health, at a time when Formula 1 and NASCAR's Xfinity series were nipping at its heels in some metrics, then he should 'sell the series.' 'There's people out there willing to do it. I think there's a lot of people on the sidelines thinking, 'This is a diamond in the rough if you do it right,'' Andretti said. 'But what you need is big money behind it to get it to that level, and if he's not willing to do it, I think he should step aside and let someone else buy it. 'I told him, 'Why don't you sell part of the series to somebody to use that money as an equity stake. You still keep that control, but take that money and invest it.' But he doesn't want any partners.' That last idea is precisely what has taken place today. From 2024: Michael Andretti to Roger Penske if he's not going to invest more: 'Then sell the series' Penske has spent more than $60 million on investments and upgrades to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – not to mention millions more to keep the series afloat during the pandemic; to purchase (and therefore save on the calendar) the Long Beach Grand Prix; to help fund the final development stages of IndyCar's hybrid technology alongside Chevy and Honda; and to promote or co-promote new or altered races at venues that have (or will) also include Iowa Speedway, the Milwaukee Mile, Nashville Superspeedway, the Detroit Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Arlington. Thursday's deal with Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks, Fox Corp., Lachlan Murdoch and the Murdoch family gives IndyCar a platform. It comes at a time when the motorsports and greater sports and media landscape has never been more crowded and competitive and where it's as difficult as ever to reach, attract and win-over the young fans and potential casual ones whom IndyCar needs to add in order to reach its potential. To be frank, this deal puts those responsibilities on the shoulders of Fox Sports that many in the paddock trust to be more capable of handling. For years as Penske Entertainment Corp. president and CEO Mark Miles has been asked about new events on the calendar, he's emphasized again and again a desire to seek out strategic partners that could share the financial risk, lend their unique expertise and share in the hopeful spoils. Though Penske had long shot down any idea he'd consider selling a stake in a sport and a track he now views as Penske family assets, it appears the prospects of an even greater strategic alliance – and perhaps a realization Penske Corp. and its subsidiary could only do so much – may have triggered a change of heart while still allowing Penske to maintain his spot as the sport's ultimate decisionmaker. As IndyCar has taken off in so many other ways – from social media impressions, to the sport's overall digital footprint, to more mainstream merchandise deals and sales, attendance at some key events, more consumer-facing sponsors trickling in and the Indy 500's overall rapid success – it's been a popular gripe among fans and legitimate question among so many in the paddock in recent years: Why can't Penske Entertainment market the sport better? There's rarely any single specific thing one can point toward, and it's clearly not a wholesale failure on helping the sport blossom, because IndyCar is undoubtedly in a better place than it was six years ago. More on today's news: Fox buying significant stake in IndyCar series owner Penske Entertainment But for a sport that has some of its veteran legends still active, a savant of a driver approaching records; not to mention a Mexican racing superstar whose throngs of fans at races often appear to be those of the day's latest boy band trend; a slew of young successful American racing talent; a host of other engaging, fiery, all-around unique personalities; the biggest race in the world; a field as deep and competitive as anywhere in racing; and names connected to the sport like Andretti, Penske, McLaren, Rahal and Foyt, it's been perplexing at the ways in which some drivers continue to not have almost any buzz and that some events still only can attract a few thousand fans on race day. And there you have IndyCar's issue of the time: How to make the sport popular enough, interesting enough, relatable enough and attractive enough to capture a more mainstream audience so that diehards don't have to continue propping up so many races' attendance figures and TV audiences alike. There was a widespread hope in November 2019 that Roger Penske would bring the answer to that longtime question – just like how he'd deliver a third engine manufacturer and oval races would magically become viable business propositions and that IndyCar would return to the east coast and have a larger presence in more major American cities. Though Penske and his charges have delivered a much-need firmer foundation and higher floor for the sport, the Penske era has not injected jet fuel into the sport's engines in the way many expected. The pandemic no doubt slowed those well-laid plans from taking off, but in Year 4 of full-fan events, that excuse has long expired, and up until Thursday's news, we seemed to be on a trajectory of getting to February 2026 amid whispers that this year – yes this one! – would be the season where IndyCar would finally realize that long-awaited exponential growth – a tune eerily similar to the one sung each of the last couple years. 'Relentless pursuit of excellence': What Roger Penske is like as a boss The working theory of many in the paddock is that for everything Penske has achieved, its greatest marketing tool has been his dominant race team that has gained mainstream name recognition. Though far and away from the only reason Penske has amassed such a fortune and how he's come to partner with so many major brands, sell so many cars and land so many truck deals, having the winningest team in American open-wheel racing team evokes an air of success, professionalism, dependability and some automotive know-how that no doubt has paid Penske dividends. But Penske Corp. never has been and never will be an entertainment-focused business in the ways in which the France family at NASCAR and Liberty Media at Formula 1 seem to view their places in the motorsports world. Over there, it's all about new venues, expansion, experimentation with in-season challenges and sprint races and well-polished, engaging shoulder programming. In those series, change, evolution and an unwillingness to become complacent rule the day, and they're sports that clearly feel as if they're looking five or even 10 years down the road and setting trends, not reacting to the ways in which the winds of the industry blow. Yes, there are millons upon millions more dollars that change hands in those sports, and at times it's unfair to say IndyCar and its shallower pockets are realistic competition, but it's the landscape nonetheless. From 2024: 'Roger Penske expects his grandchildren to own this': IndyCar growing as it enters 2024 Like it or not, NASCAR's playoffs elicit drama, tension and surpises, and even if there's not a championship battle to follow in F1, Liberty has found ways to connect never-before fans with its unique set of personalities. Whereas those two IndyCar competitors, with all their admitted flaws, function with a clear identity and as entertainment-first entities, and where IMSA attracts the gearheads with devotion to one of the series' plethora of manufacturer brands, it's long been hard to pinpoint IndyCar's niche. Is it for fans who love high-competition racing? Or those who want drivers to feel more down-to-earth and accessible? Is it for the speed, or the oval racing, or the danger? And so a sport without an identity and an owner without a marketing-first mindset has fallen to (outside the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend) the third (and strictly on non-500 TV ratings, fourth)-most popular racing series in the U.S. Enter Fox Sports, the broadcaster with an affinity for big games, bigger moments and some of the biggest personalities. Can Penske Entertainment promote races?: Failure at Iowa sparks latest 2026 IndyCar schedule question 'This opens doors that were previously closed and makes aspects that weren't there before possible,' Ganassi told IndyStar on Thursday morning. 'I think it's an on-ramp toward momentum, and then you've got (Fox) extending their commitment. 'And here's what I'll say; you've got all these words and phrases, but you know what it does? It brings 'entertainment' to 'Penske Entertainment.' And it answers a lot of questions a lot of us had that were up in the air before. To have the Murdoch family behind you is a big thing worldwide.' Count Brown, Mike Shank, Larry Foyt, Andretti Global president Jill Gregory and others among those thrilled, energized and motivated by Thursday's news – likely to represent nearly a paddock full of folks who've paid witness to Fox's impact, energy, dedication and willingness to experiment in its early days with the sport. Lingering production issues and commercial-heavy broadcasts aside, it's hard to fault a partner that had already so thoroughly put all its cards on the table in pursuit of a sport's growth. And unlike the percolating NFL-ESPN deal or Fox's partnership with the Big Ten – particularly on college football – this is a sport sorely in need of the funding influx and declaration of support that this deal represents. 'There's putting money into this sport to keep it going, and then there's playing offense, and I think we as a sport talk too much about cost containment and not growth,' Brown, the McLaren Racing CEO, told IndyStar less than two weeks ago at Toronto. 'You're never going to cut your way to success. 'I'd rather get big TV numbers and more events, better events that bring in a lot more commercial revenue.' McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown: IndyCar must remain 'commercially viable' despite team's growth So what could this deal deliver, and what questions remain unanswered – representatives at Fox Sports and Penske Entertainment declined to make decisionmakers available for comment Thursday? Here are my closing thoughts: >>The reported valuation of the Fox's deal with Penske Entertainment tells a potentially exceedingly interesting – and perhaps telling – story. Though never confirmed, several sources in the paddock have long believed Penske purchased the assets now known as Penske Entertainment for roughly $300 million more than five years ago. A 33% stake at the price of $125 million to $135 million would deem the whole package to be worth between $375 million and $405 million. Though that appears, at first glance, to demonstrate a pretty hefty profit margin for Penske, when you take into account the $60 million-plus spent on IMS alone, not to mention buying Long Beach and the other races Penske Entertainment now runs, you start to wonder if Fox was given a sweetheart deal at those figures, or if the value of IndyCar and IMS have truly risen very little in the five-plus years since the acquisition. >>When Fox was simply IndyCar's rightsholder, there was reason to wonder whether for all the 'no expenses spared' attitude paid towards the series' Super Bowl ads and the all-out-blitz production that was the Indy 500, there had to be a ceiling Fox was fast-approaching to promote a sport that for nine out of 14 races had delivered it an average audience of less than 800,000. Because you can only do so much without what would appear to be satisfactory results. And if that's the case, how long can the allure of the 500 outweigh otherwise largely lackluster viewership numbers and keep Fox interested in staying? Laguna Seca TV ratings: IndyCar maintains recent TV audience despite head-to-head battle with Brickyard 400 Thursday's news has completely transformed that mindset. No longer is Fox Sports a partner seeking enough eyeballs through which it can reap the amount in ad sales money it has put into the ownership of IndyCar's rights and production and promotion of the sport. It's now also an entity that can firsthand feel the effects of IndyCar growing as a brand and as a sport, through commercially-successful events, new partners, spikes in ticket sales and merchandise sales and Indy 500 sellout crowds. And with the structure of this deal, Fox can ensure it won't lose IndyCar to another prospective rightsholder five years down the road and lose out on reaping the benefits of what at that moment could be a far more popular, lucrative sport – the way in which Fox watched the UFC walk to ESPN years ago. So does Fox now lean-in even harder? Will we now see a weekly IndyCar talk show? A dedicated, standalone pre-race show or post-race show support on cable or streaming? Longer race broadcast windows? Funded in-car cameras for the entire field? Those are the types of things that a broadcast partner that now has a vested interest in the sport's growth beyond a short-term TV contract window could look to pursue. It's how you start to widen the scope of the sport on TV beyond Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and mid-week re-runs, how you begin to make it feel exceedingly important and how you generate the types of conversations that propel stars, fan the flames of drama and create connections with casual sports fans. >>Might we see some sort of outside-the-box shift in the start of the season, as Brown has proposed in recent months, where IndyCar could run its season-opener the weekend between the NFL's conference championship games and the Super Bowl, the same weekend NASCAR has recently held its season-opening 'Clash' that Fox broadcasts? Zak Brown's vision: Fewer cars, bigger cities, more risks part of McLaren Racing CEO's advice for IndyCar's future Could you run the Saturday of Daytona 500 weekend – or both – and therefore begin to shrink IndyCar's current six-month-long offseason? And could Fox use its influence to negotiate a shared NASCAR-IndyCar weekend at some track on the former's spring slate that Fox broadcasts? And might Fox be willing to shift the traditional thinking around IndyCar weekends as mostly Sunday afternoon races and experiment with weeknight made-for-TV races at a time on the calendar where running on Sundays against other sporting competition puts the sport at-risk of low TV numbers and week days allow it to be the event of the night? >>The biggest concern or question I have in seeing an entity that comes to the table not with the traditional sporting-first mindset, but one of entertainment and drama, is this: If entertainment, the racing product and revenue-driving are the pillars to which a successful sporting product is built upon, which becomes priority No. 1 in this new conglomerate? Not that a rethink in that area is necessarily a bad thing, but a shift toward a more entertainment-focused sport is bound to cause a rift between IndyCar's older diehards – a demographic that IndyCar's fanbase is presently overwhelmingly made up of. It will be a theme to watch closely.
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Fox acquires one-third interest in IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Fox Corporation, the broadcast giant, has acquired one-third interest in Penske Entertainment, the owner of the IndyCar racing series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Why it matters: It's unclear what the deal means for the iconic speedway that's part of the fabric of our city and a major economic driver for the region. Driving the news: The deal was announced in an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal, which estimated the price to be between $125 million and $135 million. In addition to the stake in the series track, the deal includes a multi-year extension of IndyCar's media rights with Fox Sports that was set to run through 2027. Flashback: Tony Hulman famously brought the track back from the brink of closure when he bought it in 1945 after it had fallen into disrepair during World War II, and his family stewarded it until 2019 when Roger Penske bought it. Penske has invested millions over the last few years to upgrade the fan experience at IMS, paving large swaths of the grounds, adding more viewing mounds and video boards and updating the scoring pylon. The intrigue: The track itself was hardly mentioned in the media release sent from IndyCar and IMS' joint public relations team or the WSJ article Thursday. The last line of the article mentions that Fox Sports chief executive Eric Shanks said "Fox will now look beyond television production and work with Penske on new events, more sponsorship opportunities and boosting attendance at the track." When we asked a representative at IMS what this meant for IMS, which hosts dozens of events throughout the year in addition to the Indy 500 and other races, they declined an interview and pointed us back to the WSJ article. What we're watching: Even when Penske bought the track and pledged it would "run like a business now," it was being run by someone who grew up loving racing and the 500.
