Indy 500 Sells Out All 135K Tickets

If anyone was worried that COVID safety protocols would keep fans away from the Indy 500, they needn't have been. Fox News reports that every one of the 135,000 tickets that was up for grabs for Sunday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been scooped up, meaning it will be the most-attended sporting event in the world since the pandemic started. The speedway will be filled only to 40% capacity, due to social distancing requirements, but it's still a huge leap from last year's race, which didn't allow any fans in person at all.

The Indianapolis Star notes that, because it's a sellout event, the speedway will nix the TV blackout in the Indianapolis area. "With no more tickets available ... we have decided to lift the local broadcast delay for this year's race," the speedway says in a statement. "We look forward to an exciting [and] historic edition of the Indy 500 this weekend." The blackout lifting has happened only four other times: in 1949 and 1950, and more recently in 2016 and 2020. Safety measures that will be in place at the event include keeping groups apart in the stands, hand sanitizer stations scattered throughout the venue, cashless transactions, and a requirement that spectators keep their face masks on unless eating or drinking. (More Indianapolis 500 stories.)