Latest news with #EricShanks
New York Times
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Indy 500 makes history on the track — and with TV viewership
INDIANAPOLIS — Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks had major aspirations for how his network could transform the Indy 500 in its first year as partners. Fox launched a glossy ad campaign highlighting several IndyCar stars – with spots running during the Super Bowl — and put the full force of its analysts' star power behind the race (featuring Tom Brady and Michael Strahan in pre-race roles), among other moves. Advertisement It all seemed to pay off Monday, when Nielsen's Fast National ratings revealed a mammoth number of average viewers: 7.05 million, the most to watch an Indy 500 in 17 years (7.2 million in 2008). 'Great work to everyone @IndyCarOnFOX,' eighth-place finisher Conor Daly wrote on X. 'This is tremendous news!' 'Marketing is neat,' posted Alexander Rossi, who led 14 laps before retiring with a mechanical failure. Fox Sports said the race peaked with 8.4 million viewers between 4:15-4:30 p.m. ET, which is around the time Alex Palou held off Marcus Ericsson to cross the finish line for his first Indy 500 win. Ericsson was later stripped of his finish Monday when his car was found to be illegal. The Indy 500 viewership was up 40 percent compared to last year's race (broadcast by NBC), but that comes with a major caveat: Last year, the race was delayed by four hours. A similar caveat comes with another statistic. Though the Indy 500 beat the Daytona 500 in viewership this year in a battle of America's two greatest motor races, Daytona (also broadcast by Fox) had a 3.5-hour rain delay in February. The large audience saw Palou, who has won the last two IndyCar championships and five of the first six races this season, score his first Indy 500 victory. IndyCar reported Palou was awarded $3.8 million as part of a record-breaking $20.3 million total purse; the average payout for the 33 drivers in the race rose to nearly $600,000. The viewership number is a significant win for Fox Sports, given that as part of its selling to IndyCar, the company committed to an increase in broadcast TV windows for IndyCar, as well as a big marketing push. But the sell only works if you get a deliverable on the race that means the most to the racing series — and Fox delivered that on Sunday for the race that draws the highest ad rates for an IndyCar broadcast. One small caveat here is that viewership numbers for all sports will get a boost from Nielsen's new Big Data + Panel Technology, which offers better data for out-of-home viewership. But that increase is going to exist for all networks airing sports that use Nielsen for audience measurement. — Richard Deitsch, sports business reporter
San Francisco Chronicle
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Eric Shanks grew up an Indy 500 fanatic who vows to make race Fox Sports' biggest event of the year
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — As an Indiana native, Eric Shanks can't remember exactly when the rite of passage began of traveling to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His first Indianapolis 500 memory is of the 1985 race, Danny Sullivan's 'Spin and Win' 1985 victory, when Shanks was around 14 and had fully embraced the way his home state played such a role in American culture. 'I think everybody takes pride in there being a spotlight on this part of the country,' Shanks said. 'The Pacers are only in the playoffs when they are in the playoffs, the Colts aren't always in. But this is a guarantee every year.' When he became CEO of Fox Sports in 2010, Shanks had a wish list of events he wanted for the network. Always at the top was the Indianapolis 500, a property Fox Sports finally landed this year. The network is in its first year of a new broadcast deal with IndyCar and on Sunday televises its first Indy 500. Shanks from the start has vowed the production will be the biggest of the year for Fox Sports — a lofty promise for a network that also carries the Super Bowl and the World Series, among other major sporting events. 'We are going to blow the doors off of Indy. We're going to bring everything that Fox has to bear,' he said. He's been relentless in pursuing his promise and has spent the first five IndyCar races of the year working out early-season glitches that ranged from an unstable graphics package, issues delivering timing and scoring, a mid-race loss of transmission, and enough bumps to drive Shanks nuts as he strives for a perfect production. The work has gone on at the same time Fox Sports televised the first 16 races of the NASCAR season, a run that culminated last Sunday night with the All-Star race. Only four of the NASCAR races were on Fox, and even with the rain-effected season-opening Daytona 500, that quartet averaged 4,986,000 viewers. Fox promised IndyCar its entire 17-race slate will be aired on broadcast — including both days of last weekend's qualifying — but the numbers have been sporadic and unable to keep pace with NASCAR. The IndyCar ratings don't bother Shanks. 'I think you just want to be constantly showing growth in a lot of areas,' he said. 'You want to be showing growth in attendance. I'm happy to hear merchandise sales are up — you've got new sponsors coming in — you just want to show growth.' Fox Sports last week made several changes to races later this season (mainly start times) to ensure IndyCar and NASCAR do not go directly head-to-hear, something that happened several times earlier this year when the network juggled both racing series. But Shanks told The Associated Press he is not considering moving IndyCar off of Fox to Fox Sports or another property if the ratings don't improve over the next few weeks. Instead, his focus is on ensuring the glitches through the first five races don't happen during the 109th running of 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' or the rest of the season. 'In each race, it actually has been something different,' Shanks said. 'You fix one thing and then there's something else to fix. There's a lot of different systems talking to each other and we're on the receiving end of a lot of it. So we're figure it out and we're trying to do more.' New innovation Fox Sports is compensating through new innovation, including the image of a 'ghost car' graphic used in qualifying that showed how a car making a run tracked against the current leader. And he's bringing in major talent for Sunday, including Tom Brady for the ceremonial 'Fastest Seat in Sports' car, which will be driven by Jimmie Johnson; Michael Strahan, Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart and Super Bowl-winning tight end Rob Gronkowski as the Snake Pit grand marshal. Fox Sports has a ton of material to work with, including a race-consuming cheating scandal involving Team Penske, the marquee team in IndyCar. It involves two-time defending winner Josef Newgarden, who is seeking to become the first driver in history to win three consecutive 500s. The first Israeli is in the field as Robert Shwartzman stunned 33 other drivers by becoming the first rookie since 1983 to win the pole. Kyle Larson is attempting to complete the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 for 1,100-miles of racing in one day. Two-time reigning series champion Alex Palou, who has won four of the first five races this season, is trying to finally add the 500 to his resume and Pato O'Ward, the most popular driver in the series, is trying to bounce back from last year's heartbreaking last-lap defeat. Shanks has used crossover since the start of the year — Fox produced three movie-production-quality commercials to introduce three IndyCar stars and all aired during the Super Bowl, one with a Brady cameo — and is using most of its network programming to promote Sunday's race. Gambling Added to Indy 500 He also achieved a goal in adding a gambling element to Sunday, something he's wanted to do for months. 'I really want to turn the Indy 500 into more of a Kentucky Derby day from a wagering standpoint. It's hard to understand how to wager on motorsports,' he said. 'On Kentucky Derby day, even if you don't know anything about horse racing, you put down an exacta or a trifecta, you got win, place, show. How can we figure out how to get that type of broad attention around an event that honestly kind of feels a lot like horse racing that day?' The solution was a partnership with DraftKings, which will have 20 or more trifectas that people can pick from. Fox Sports analyst James Hinchcliffe will pick one trifecta that will be promoted by Fox. 'I think that's element to this event, and motorsports in general, that if we can start to kind of like add that layer of interest for people, I think it can only be helpful to viewership,' Shanks said." ___
21-05-2025
- Automotive
Eric Shanks grew up an Indy 500 fanatic who vows to make race Fox Sports' biggest event of the year
INDIANAPOLIS -- As an Indiana native, Eric Shanks can't remember exactly when the rite of passage began of traveling to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His first Indianapolis 500 memory is of the 1985 race, Danny Sullivan's 'Spin and Win' 1985 victory, when Shanks was around 14 and had fully embraced the way his home state played such a role in American culture. 'I think everybody takes pride in there being a spotlight on this part of the country,' Shanks said. 'The Pacers are only in the playoffs when they are in the playoffs, the Colts aren't always in. But this is a guarantee every year.' When he became CEO of Fox Sports in 2010, Shanks had a wish list of events he wanted for the network. Always at the top was the Indianapolis 500, a property Fox Sports finally landed this year. The network is in its first year of a new broadcast deal with IndyCar and on Sunday televises its first Indy 500. Shanks from the start has vowed the production will be the biggest of the year for Fox Sports — a lofty promise for a network that also carries the Super Bowl and the World Series, among other major sporting events. 'We are going to blow the doors off of Indy. We're going to bring everything that Fox has to bear,' he said. He's been relentless in pursuing his promise and has spent the first five IndyCar races of the year working out early-season glitches that ranged from an unstable graphics package, issues delivering timing and scoring, a mid-race loss of transmission, and enough bumps to drive Shanks nuts as he strives for a perfect production. The work has gone on at the same time Fox Sports televised the first 16 races of the NASCAR season, a run that culminated last Sunday night with the All-Star race. Only four of the NASCAR races were on Fox, and even with the rain-effected season-opening Daytona 500, that quartet averaged 4,986,000 viewers. Fox promised IndyCar its entire 17-race slate will be aired on broadcast — including both days of last weekend's qualifying — but the numbers have been sporadic and unable to keep pace with NASCAR. The IndyCar ratings don't bother Shanks. 'I think you just want to be constantly showing growth in a lot of areas,' he said. 'You want to be showing growth in attendance. I'm happy to hear merchandise sales are up — you've got new sponsors coming in — you just want to show growth.' Fox Sports last week made several changes to races later this season (mainly start times) to ensure IndyCar and NASCAR do not go directly head-to-hear, something that happened several times earlier this year when the network juggled both racing series. But Shanks told The Associated Press he is not considering moving IndyCar off of Fox to Fox Sports or another property if the ratings don't improve over the next few weeks. Instead, his focus is on ensuring the glitches through the first five races don't happen during the 109th running of 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' or the rest of the season. 'In each race, it actually has been something different,' Shanks said. 'You fix one thing and then there's something else to fix. There's a lot of different systems talking to each other and we're on the receiving end of a lot of it. So we're figure it out and we're trying to do more.' Fox Sports is compensating through new innovation, including the image of a 'ghost car' graphic used in qualifying that showed how a car making a run tracked against the current leader. And he's bringing in major talent for Sunday, including Tom Brady for the ceremonial 'Fastest Seat in Sports' car, which will be driven by Jimmie Johnson; Michael Strahan, Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart and Super Bowl-winning tight end Rob Gronkowski as the Snake Pit grand marshal. Fox Sports has a ton of material to work with, including a race-consuming cheating scandal involving Team Penske, the marquee team in IndyCar. It involves two-time defending winner Josef Newgarden, who is seeking to become the first driver in history to win three consecutive 500s. The first Israeli is in the field as Robert Shwartzman stunned 33 other drivers by becoming the first rookie since 1983 to win the pole. Kyle Larson is attempting to complete the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 for 1,100-miles of racing in one day. Two-time reigning series champion Alex Palou, who has won four of the first five races this season, is trying to finally add the 500 to his resume and Pato O'Ward, the most popular driver in the series, is trying to bounce back from last year's heartbreaking last-lap defeat. Shanks has used crossover since the start of the year — Fox produced three movie-production-quality commercials to introduce three IndyCar stars and all aired during the Super Bowl, one with a Brady cameo — and is using most of its network programming to promote Sunday's race. He also achieved a goal in adding a gambling element to Sunday, something he's wanted to do for months. 'I really want to turn the Indy 500 into more of a Kentucky Derby day from a wagering standpoint. It's hard to understand how to wager on motorsports,' he said. 'On Kentucky Derby day, even if you don't know anything about horse racing, you put down an exacta or a trifecta, you got win, place, show. How can we figure out how to get that type of broad attention around an event that honestly kind of feels a lot like horse racing that day?' The solution was a partnership with DraftKings, which will have 20 or more trifectas that people can pick from. Fox Sports analyst James Hinchcliffe will pick one trifecta that will be promoted by Fox. 'I think that's element to this event, and motorsports in general, that if we can start to kind of like add that layer of interest for people, I think it can only be helpful to viewership,' Shanks said."
Fox Sports
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Eric Shanks grew up an Indy 500 fanatic who vows to make race Fox Sports' biggest event of the year
Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — As an Indiana native, Eric Shanks can't remember exactly when the rite of passage began of traveling to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His first Indianapolis 500 memory is of the 1985 race, Danny Sullivan's 'Spin and Win' 1985 victory, when Shanks was around 14 and had fully embraced the way his home state played such a role in American culture. 'I think everybody takes pride in there being a spotlight on this part of the country,' Shanks said. 'The Pacers are only in the playoffs when they are in the playoffs, the Colts aren't always in. But this is a guarantee every year.' When he became CEO of Fox Sports in 2010, Shanks had a wish list of events he wanted for the network. Always at the top was the Indianapolis 500, a property Fox Sports finally landed this year. The network is in its first year of a new broadcast deal with IndyCar and on Sunday televises its first Indy 500. Shanks from the start has vowed the production will be the biggest of the year for Fox Sports — a lofty promise for a network that also carries the Super Bowl and the World Series, among other major sporting events. 'We are going to blow the doors off of Indy. We're going to bring everything that Fox has to bear,' he said. He's been relentless in pursuing his promise and has spent the first five IndyCar races of the year working out early-season glitches that ranged from an unstable graphics package, issues delivering timing and scoring, a mid-race loss of transmission, and enough bumps to drive Shanks nuts as he strives for a perfect production. The work has gone on at the same time Fox Sports televised the first 16 races of the NASCAR season, a run that culminated last Sunday night with the All-Star race. Only four of the NASCAR races were on Fox, and even with the rain-effected season-opening Daytona 500, that quartet averaged 4,986,000 viewers. Fox promised IndyCar its entire 17-race slate will be aired on broadcast — including both days of last weekend's qualifying — but the numbers have been sporadic and unable to keep pace with NASCAR. The IndyCar ratings don't bother Shanks. 'I think you just want to be constantly showing growth in a lot of areas,' he said. 'You want to be showing growth in attendance. I'm happy to hear merchandise sales are up — you've got new sponsors coming in — you just want to show growth.' Fox Sports last week made several changes to races later this season (mainly start times) to ensure IndyCar and NASCAR do not go directly head-to-hear, something that happened several times earlier this year when the network juggled both racing series. But Shanks told The Associated Press he is not considering moving IndyCar off of Fox to Fox Sports or another property if the ratings don't improve over the next few weeks. Instead, his focus is on ensuring the glitches through the first five races don't happen during the 109th running of 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' or the rest of the season. 'In each race, it actually has been something different,' Shanks said. 'You fix one thing and then there's something else to fix. There's a lot of different systems talking to each other and we're on the receiving end of a lot of it. So we're figure it out and we're trying to do more.' New innovation Fox Sports is compensating through new innovation, including the image of a 'ghost car' graphic used in qualifying that showed how a car making a run tracked against the current leader. And he's bringing in major talent for Sunday, including Tom Brady for the ceremonial 'Fastest Seat in Sports' car, which will be driven by Jimmie Johnson; Michael Strahan, Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart and Super Bowl-winning tight end Rob Gronkowski as the Snake Pit grand marshal. Fox Sports has a ton of material to work with, including a race-consuming cheating scandal involving Team Penske, the marquee team in IndyCar. It involves two-time defending winner Josef Newgarden, who is seeking to become the first driver in history to win three consecutive 500s. The first Israeli is in the field as Robert Shwartzman stunned 33 other drivers by becoming the first rookie since 1983 to win the pole. Kyle Larson is attempting to complete the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 for 1,100-miles of racing in one day. Two-time reigning series champion Alex Palou, who has won four of the first five races this season, is trying to finally add the 500 to his resume and Pato O'Ward, the most popular driver in the series, is trying to bounce back from last year's heartbreaking last-lap defeat. Shanks has used crossover since the start of the year — Fox produced three movie-production-quality commercials to introduce three IndyCar stars and all aired during the Super Bowl, one with a Brady cameo — and is using most of its network programming to promote Sunday's race. Gambling Added to Indy 500 He also achieved a goal in adding a gambling element to Sunday, something he's wanted to do for months. 'I really want to turn the Indy 500 into more of a Kentucky Derby day from a wagering standpoint. It's hard to understand how to wager on motorsports,' he said. 'On Kentucky Derby day, even if you don't know anything about horse racing, you put down an exacta or a trifecta, you got win, place, show. How can we figure out how to get that type of broad attention around an event that honestly kind of feels a lot like horse racing that day?' The solution was a partnership with DraftKings, which will have 20 or more trifectas that people can pick from. Fox Sports analyst James Hinchcliffe will pick one trifecta that will be promoted by Fox. 'I think that's element to this event, and motorsports in general, that if we can start to kind of like add that layer of interest for people, I think it can only be helpful to viewership,' Shanks said." ___ AP auto racing: recommended
Fox Sports
21-05-2025
- Business
- Fox Sports
FOX Sports Teams With Purple Heart Homes to Transform Veterans' Lives Ahead of Indianapolis 500 - Fox Sports Press Pass
Housing Renovations in Local Community Highlight Company's Commitment to Support America's Heroes LOS ANGELES – FOX Sports today announces a major initiative with national non-profit partner Purple Heart Homes to renovate and restore the homes – and lives – of U.S. military veterans in Indianapolis ahead of the network's inaugural coverage of the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, Sunday, May 25 , on FOX, FOX Deportes and the FOX Sports app. The initiative, powered by a charitable grant from the FOX Sports Gamechanger Fund and Fox Corporation's FOX Forward program, enables Purple Heart Homes to complete major home renovations for four local veterans in Indianapolis and highlights a shared mission to ensure veterans in the local community can age in place with safety, dignity and independence. The work includes roof and floor replacements, bathroom renovations and barrier-free upgrades designed to improve veterans' safety and accessibility and support their long-term, independent living. 'It's an honor to work alongside Purple Heart Homes to improve the quality of life for veterans in Indianapolis by providing the housing solutions they need to thrive in their communities,' said Eric Shanks, CEO and Executive Producer, FOX Sports. 'The partnership between FOX Sports and Purple Heart Homes is central to our efforts to serve the military heroes who selflessly served us.' In recognition of this meaningful work, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hegsett officially proclaimed the week of May 12-18 'Purple Heart Homes & Partners Veteran Impact Week,' commending the collaborative efforts of FOX Sports, its parent company, Fox Corporation, and Purple Heart Homes in serving the city's veteran community in the lead-up to the Indianapolis 500. The proclamation acknowledges the critical role of safe and accessible housing in supporting veterans and celebrates the public-private partnerships that made this mission possible. 'This partnership reflects the spirit of service, collaboration and community that defines the city of Indianapolis and sets a powerful example of what can be achieved when public, private and non-profit sectors work together in support of our heroes,' the proclamation reads. Last week, veterans Kevin Smith (U.S. Air Force), Gary Dean (U.S. Army), Donald Covington (U.S. Marines) and a U.S. Army veteran who asked to remain anonymous began receiving personalized home renovations thanks to this initiative. Each transformation, completed by Purple Heart Homes with support from local Indianapolis non-profit Home Repairs for Good, showcases the collective power of national funding and community action. 'This work is about restoring dignity, independence and peace of mind to the people who have given so much to our country,' said Dave Sternberg, Chair of the Purple Heart Homes Board. 'We are honored by the continued partnership of FOX Sports and look forward to what lies ahead in our growing collaboration with Home Repairs for Good.' As part of FOX Sports' coverage of the Indianapolis 500, viewers across the country will see featured storytelling across its platforms spotlighting the impact this partnership is having on veterans in real-time, reinforcing FOX Sports' deep-rooted support of military and veteran communities. During race weekend, FOX Sports in partnership with INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will welcome the veterans and Purple Heart Homes leaders to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for an unforgettable experience that includes behind-the-scenes access to FOX Sports broadcast sets, meet-and-greets with FOX Sports on-air personalities, exclusive tours of the racetrack garages and VIP tickets for race day. The FOX Sports Gamechanger Fund is a part of the company's corporate social responsibility initiatives to give back to local communities in cities nationwide. Founded in 2020 to benefit non-profit partners in its Super Bowl host cities, the fund has since expanded to further the company's mission to support and create fighting chances for our nation's military heroes through its FOX Sports Supports corporate social responsibility initiative in connection to the company's presentation of its tentpole sporting events.
