497.5 Ticket upgrades

[RTKar]

Have you noticed how many people are bragging about receiving seat upgrades at Indy on another forum?.....If people are getting upgrades, means others aren't renewing I would think.......the ever shrinking fan base at Indy... sad really. There were plenty of empty seats last year let's see how this year compares.

[Turn7]

I read that tickets will go on sale to the public on the 30th.

If all of the people are getting upgrades, and they are very good upgrades from all reports, that must mean that long time supporters have thrown in the towel

Obviously the longer you have bought tickets, the better seats you will have. To have so many people moving up 10 - 20 rows along with going 4-5 sections closer to prime real estate only indicates that huge numbers of long standing ticket holders have said, "Screw IMS".

[Racewriter]

I'm seeing that too. Thought the same thing.

[Peter Olivola]

Even more telling, the likely cause is that the scalpers have finally tumbled to the lack of resale value of the tickets they've been buying for decades.

[Turn7]

How long before you have to buy an INDY 500 ticket to be able to purchase a Brickyard400 ticket?

Tony seems to be following the Frances leadership, it is only a matter of time before he makes you purchase a season package to get the seats you want for the USGP or BY400.

[cart7]

Even more telling, the likely cause is that the scalpers have finally tumbled to the lack of resale value of the tickets they've been buying for decades.

One of the most noticeable things over the last few years has been the decreasing number of scalpers and the price they're getting for premo seats. The concessionaires are struggling too. My friends sister had a stand at Georgetown and McCray for a number of years, in 2002 she said no more. It had gotten to the point where she was losing money everyday she was open other than race weekend. When she went to re-up in '02, she tried to just get the spot for race weekend only and they said no. She still sets up for the BY but not the 500. It seems local Indiana County fairs pay better in May than setting up across the street from J stand the same month.

[FTG]

You guys are whack. It's proof that the vison is working, just like everything else is also proof that the vision is working.

[KobySon]

It's awful early, but does anyone want to take a guess on car count for the 497.5?

[JoeBob]

It's awful early, but does anyone want to take a guess on car count for the 497.5?

It'll take a good sized chunk of the 13.5 million Tony didn't spend putting CART out of business, but they'll find a way to scrape together 33.

[Turn7]

JoeBob,

You are probably correct. There will be 33 cars with AGR having 8 entries and TCGR upping to 4 entries.

You could already argue that the series name should be changed to the AGRL since they comprise over 25% of the known entries for this season.

[Lizzerd]

There will be 33 again, but no bumping to make sure Ed Carpenter, AJ-IV, and that cute little F1-bound lady make the field.

[Steve99]

You guys are whack. It's proof that the vison is working, just like everything else is also proof that the vision is working.

It's part of the plan so that the common American man can afford good seats. No more rich, foreign seat buyers hogging all the good seats.