http://finance.yahoo.com/news/scheduled-indycar-race-streets-boston-canceled-024439947.htmlExcerpt:BOSTON (AP) -- First the 2024 Olympics. Now an IndyCar race is pulling out of Boston before it even began.
Organizers of the Grand Prix of Boston, which had been planned for Labor Day weekend this year and again each year through 2020, told the open wheel circuit Friday that they have scratched plans to bring a race to the city. Like the Olympics before it, the IndyCar race ran into public opposition and a wavering commitment from local leaders.
Mark Miles, the president and CEO of Hulman & Company, which owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar circuit, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the promoter "is throwing in the towel."
"It's very disappointing if that's the result," Miles said. "It certainly will be a black eye for the city. I don't blame it on the people of Boston. If it doesn't happen, it will have to do with promoters of sports events being able to make arrangements and rely on assurances given to them."
A spokeswoman for the Grand Prix of Boston did not immediately respond to an email or phone message seeking comment.
The cancellation, which was first reported by The Boston Globe , has a familiar ring to Boston residents, who saw the city nominated by the USOC as the American bidder for the 2024 Summer Olympics. That effort quickly ran into public opposition; shortly after Mayor Marty Walsh said he could not promise that the city would cover any cost overruns, the USOC pulled the bid and decided to put forth Los Angeles instead.
For the record, I also do not think that taxpayers should be on the hook to pay for these events. The idea that taxpayers should cover your cost overruns just encourages you to have more of them. It's a business for crying out loud, make your own revenue.
