Lafayette Newspaper Supports $100 Million IMS Giveaway But Wants Local Broadcast Blackout Lifted

The Lafayette Journal & Courier has a very poorly reasoned editorial backing the state legislative move to give $100 million to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to make improvements to the track. Their argument: "The state has made all sorts of provisions for sporting venues in its history. Why not help the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? In terms of Indiana icons, the speedway — home of the Indianapolis 500 for more than a century — there are few that can stake claim to the same sort of staying power." Apparently the editors see no distinction between financial assistance for a publicly-owned sports facility versus a privately-owned one.

The editorial adds that it would like Indiana legislators to convince IMS officials to lift the local TV blackout of the live broadcast of the running of the Indianapolis 500, referring to it as an "archaic rule," to benefit those who don't attend the event. A re-broadcast of the race is aired locally the evening of race day in prime time. With attendance problems already haunting the IMS, lifting the local blackout rule is the last thing the IMS is going to do, but the editors at the Lafayette newspaper can dream on.