From the IRL
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The IZOD IndyCar Series announced its 2010 broadcast schedule today, featuring five races with long-term broadcast partner ABC and 12 races on cable television partner VERSUS.
The schedule is highlighted by ABC’s coverage of the Indianapolis 500 in addition to VERSUS’ extensive coverage of the final seven races of the 2010 season.
“We are very excited about the return of VERSUS and ABC for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season,” said Terry Angstadt, president of the commercial division for the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series. “Having two television partners during the 2009 season assisted the growth of our sport and its accessibility to fans, and we have confidence that the 2010 season will reap even bigger gains with ABC and VERSUS’ enrichment of their already outstanding programming.”
ABC will offer high-definition broadcasts of five races in 2010 produced by ESPN, including the Indianapolis 500 on May 30 for the 46th consecutive season. ABC will air the season’s first domestically-run race on the Streets of St. Petersburg on March 28. The network will begin its month of May IZOD IndyCar Series coverage May 1 when it televises the series event at Kansas Speedway, the lead-in race to the Indianapolis 500. ABC finishes its 2010 coverage with the broadcasting of back-to-back events at Watkins Glen International and the Streets of Toronto in July.
VERSUS will televise the remaining 12 IZOD IndyCar Series events and will begin its in-depth and all-encompassing coverage with events from Sao Paulo, Brazil and Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama — two new events on the 2010 schedule. VERSUS’ live race coverage will continue following the Indianapolis 500 with the Texas Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway telecasts. VERSUS concludes its 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series coverage with the final seven races on the schedule, including the season finale, for the second consecutive year, at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 2.
All 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series events on VERSUS will be produced and shown in high definition where available.
The IZOD IndyCar Series announced multi-year multimedia partnerships with ABC and VERSUS in August 2008. The 10-year partnership with VERSUS includes at least 12 live races per year, with each telecast featuring three hours of live race action with extended pre- and post-race coverage. VERSUS’ commitment to super-serve motorsports fans with the most coverage than ever before is also extended beyond the 12 live races with a one-hour preview show the day before each race that features qualification highlights and all of the relevant IZOD IndyCar Series stories of that weekend as well as in-depth coverage of the qualification events leading up to the Indianapolis 500.
The partnership with ABC is highlighted by the network’s continued coverage of the Indianapolis 500 through 2012 as part of a four-year rights agreement between the Indy Racing League and ABC. ABC will also broadcast four other races on the IndyCar Series schedule in each year of the agreement.
The complete 2010 IndyCar Series television broadcast schedule:
Date Location Venue Television
Sunday, March 14 Sao Paulo, Brazil 2.3-mile street course VERSUS
Sunday, March 28 Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. 1.8-mile street course ABC
Sunday, April 11 Barber Motorsports Park 2.38-mile road course VERSUS
Sunday, April 18 Streets of Long Beach, Calif. 1.968-mile street course VERSUS
Saturday, May 1 Kansas Speedway 1.5-mile oval ABC
Sunday, May 30 Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval ABC
Saturday, June 5* Texas Motor Speedway 1.5-mile oval VERSUS
Sunday, June 20 Iowa Speedway .875-mile oval VERSUS
Sunday, July 4 Watkins Glen International 3.4-mile road course ABC
Sunday, July 18 Streets of Toronto 1.721-mile street-course ABC
Sunday, July 25 Edmonton City Centre Airport 1.973-mile airport course VERSUS
Sunday, Aug. 8 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 2.258-mile road course VERSUS
Sunday, Aug. 22 Infineon Raceway 2.245-mile road course VERSUS
Saturday, Aug. 28* Chicagoland Speedway 1.5-mile oval VERSUS
Saturday, Sept. 4* Kentucky Speedway 1.5-mile oval VERSUS
Saturday, Sept. 18 Twin Ring Motegi 1.5-mile oval VERSUS
Saturday, Oct. 2* Homestead-Miami Speedway 1.5-mile oval VERSUS
* Denotes night race Schedule Subject to Change