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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe company that staged the Indy 500 Maxim Party at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27 of race weekend has sued the speedway in federal court, claiming that it didn’t do enough to help publicize the sparsely attended event.
Karma International LLC, based in Long Beach, California, charges breach of contract in the lawsuit filed on Tuesday. It says it suffered damages in the amount of $817,500 in lost revenue from unsold tickets and tables at the party.
Karma anticipated selling 1,500 tickets to the party at $500 each. It also expected an additional $250,000 from table sales, bringing its total take from tickets and tables to $1 million.
However, sales were lackluster, generating only $182,500, according to the suit.
Karma contends that the IMS didn’t follow through on commitments to promote the event on its social media accounts and to send an email advertising the party to a database list of more than 425,000 race fans.
According to the lawsuit, IMS did market the event on social media channels — but only to 8,000 to 10,000 people, a fraction of its full social media reach. And while speedway officials did send a marketing email with information about the party, it was only to 15,000 people.
“Due to [the speedway’s] failure to perform the advertising for the Indy 500 Maxim Party as promised, plaintiff suffered damages in the amount of $817,500 in lost revenue,” the suit reads.
IMS officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment on Wednesday.
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