# XM Inks Deal with Indy Racing League



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

On Thursday, XM Satellite Radio and the Indy Racing League announced a multi-year agreement to broadcast the IndyCar Series races on the satellite radio service. The deal begins with the Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway this Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern. XM recently signed on as the title sponsor of the XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, which will air nationwide on XM and ABC television on March 19.

http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)


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## John Corn (Mar 21, 2002)

Great deal for the IRL ... 3 Million + Subscribers

About time someone cast aside NASCAR and switched to real racing.....


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## pinkertonfloyd (Jun 5, 2002)

There goes my subscription, I can't support a company that supports the downfall of open wheel racing.

No crapwagons for me!

I've been an XM subscriber since launch...


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## pinkertonfloyd (Jun 5, 2002)

John Corn said:


> Great deal for the IRL ... 3 Million + Subscribers
> 
> About time someone cast aside NASCAR and switched to real racing.....


No real racing would be F1 or Champcars... IRL is a bunch of leaf blowers that "race" around like a bunch of stockcars without fenders.

Strikes me odd, since the have problems pulling in .1 and .2 ratings on nation TV, and more than a few thousand paid "fans" in the stands.


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## mainedish (Mar 25, 2003)

From Nascar to IRL racing? The first screw up for XM.


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

- The open wheel war is over. The IRL won, and the worthless spec racer, Brazilianaire buy-a-ride series of CART/OWRS, lost. The world is better for CART having lost and when the last ghost of CART dies out, the world will be better still.

- The addition of the IRL has been in the works for months. In no way should it be considered as having any relation to XM wisely passing on matching SSR's insane overbid for future (07) NASCAR rights.

- This is a great add. IRL radio coverage is spotty and the IRL fan demographic dovetails with the XM target group.


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## pinkertonfloyd (Jun 5, 2002)

The IRL won??? whatever...

I'll be at long beach watching the "dead" series next month. With a couple hundred thousand "ghosts" along with me.


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

So how much MPH stock did you own?

Briefly, CART, founded in 1979, had by the late 80s totally run open wheel racing into the ground, with its Brazilianaire buy-a-ride no-talent drivers, unequal access to technology controled competition exhibition "races", and uncompetetive parking lot parades.

Tony George heroicly founded the IRL, to return open wheel to what it could be. CART made this and that claim, and the world ignored it. It held an "alternate Indy 500", which flopped. It cancelled a race at Texas because of "safety" (no tickets sold), it even got laughed out of its homeland of Brazil. All the time claiming to draw "hundreds of thousands" to varrious events. And took itself public. Suckers bought the stock.

Of course, the public remained loyal to sanctioned Indy Car racing as represented by the IRL. CART filed bankruptcy and the investors lost everything, which, as they say, "a fool and his money". CART's final event was held at Fontana, under court order, because there was so few tickets sold.

Then the current owners of the spec-racer CART series claimed to have a "secret plan" and were given the series, renamed OWRS. We are now in year three of the "secret plan" and the series remains bankrupt. No plan to profitability exists. More fluff.

OWRS has a parking lot parade in its spec-racer exhibition in Long Beach. It, typically, spews out claims of 100s of 1000s there, and people unfamilar with large crowds fall for the puffery. Actual paid attendence is about 40K, and that is CART/OWRS best event of the year. It papers the house with plenty of comp tickets, some of which are actually used.

The series, on TV, claims it will this year be an infomercial on the SPEED channel, or perhaps the Spike channel. Or perhaps USA. Wherever Ronco has not bought time yet.


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## Guest (Mar 7, 2005)

SamC, you sound like a hater. A case of rage may be keeping you from seeing how things really are in open wheel racing.


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

IRL is a Sham.

Bring on Long Beach!!! Bring on the Champ Cars!


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## XMProg (Mar 7, 2005)

Are you kidding SamC? The IRL won? What the hell did they win? 

TV ratings? No. 
Popularity? No.
Interest? No 
Paying fans? No.

Most of the fans of this once popular sport are long gone. Open wheel racing has been destroyed and you can lay the blame on your so-called "heroic" founder Tony George. 

Now Tony has sold his soul to the former CART team owners and manufacturers who are trying to recreate what CART once was. Except now they're trying to do it with UGLY cars, ****ty engines, drivers that people could care less about and about 100 hard core "fans".

Sorry dude, you're sipping too much of something if you think the IRL won anything. 

Most everyone who was once a fan has since moved on. You couldn't PAY me to go to one of their races...and they're getting damn close to doing it. 

The only Tony did was to help make NASCAR #1. He's a genius he is.

XM needs to flush this floater.


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

The United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Indiana. Records are right there. 

Sanctioned Championship Car racings, as represented by the IRL, still going. Brazilianaire parades as represented by CART, bankrupt. OWRS, its "secret plan" for resurection, still bankrupt and buying time on Spike channel.

CART/OWRS needs to disolve and let Mr. George get to work fixing the sport.


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## XMProg (Mar 7, 2005)

SamC said:


> The United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Indiana. Records are right there.
> 
> Sanctioned Championship Car racings, as represented by the IRL, still going. Brazilianaire parades as represented by CART, bankrupt. OWRS, its "secret plan" for resurection, still bankrupt and buying time on Spike channel.
> 
> CART/OWRS needs to disolve and let Mr. George get to work fixing the sport.


SamC, you obviously have an incredibly impressive knowledge of the history and present state of open wheel racing.   

Let's see, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you've been following racing for what, all of 6 months?


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