expected IndyCar will drop its 2026 schedule on Wednesday with a variety of changes.
Several have already been confirmed, including the addition of a race in Arlington, Texas.
The street circuit will feature several landmarks, including the stadium at which the Dallas Cowboys NFL team and the Texas Ranger MLB team play.
IndyCar will also move its annual Ontario visit from Toronto to Markham as part of a new five-year deal.
One highly anticipated change that has not come to fruition is that of a Mexico City, south of the United States border.
IndyCar announced its plans had been thwarted by complications arising from the FIFA Men’s World Cup.
In an open letter, Brown said there was “work to be done” by IndyCar and a need to future proof the series, keep up momentum, as well as growing and attracting new audiences.
“We need to shake up our racing calendar to be more impactful,” said Brown.
“How can we bring the blockbuster energy of the Indy 500 to the rest of the schedule? What can we learn from other series?
“The new race in Arlington, Texas is going to be awesome. But we still have a gap by not having a race in the Northeast.
“We need to shift away from some of the smaller markets and trend toward bigger markets where we can turn the whole race weekend into truly unmissable events.”
IndyCar has been criticised for its relatively short season. This year’s first round took place on the first weekend of March and concluded on the last weekend of August.
It’s expected the number of rounds will not budge much from the 17-round schedule this year.
One event that could be reduced from its two-race program or scratched entirely from the calendar is Iowa Speedway.
After years of blockbuster crowds, the event has dwindled in attendance since supermarket chain Hy-Vee dropped its support.
Brown said IndyCar is too concerned with going up against the NFL, which traditionally begins in the first week of September.
“I fully get the concern over not going up against the NFL,” he said.
“So perhaps we should look at pulling the calendar forward a bit to avoid a short season with currently too much downtime from September to March.”
Brown straddles his motor racing interests across IndyCar and Formula 1. He said the former should be inspired by the latter in a bid to grow digitally.
He lauded US broadcast partner Fox Sports for its 27 percent audience increase on predecessor NBC Sports but said the online space was lacking.
“We’ve got so much room for growth in the digital space,” he said.
“We’re still far from where we need to be to attract a younger audience and are missing out on the opportunity to attract the new motorsport fandom that Formula 1 has created in North America.
“For the millions of fans who may never attend a race in person, we need to bring the sport closer by offering more engaging content across our digital platforms.
“Let’s find ways to expose this new generation of fans to our great racing in IndyCar and tap into that incredible momentum.
“All of this will help us grow our fan base and tell the incredible stories our sport has to offer.
“We’ve taken some real steps forward, and I am definitely encouraged by the direction the IndyCar Series is heading in, but let’s stay laser focused on what needs to be done.”
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