Speaking of Sponsors, What Are Some The 3 Amigos Should Go After?

[Jag_Warrior]

I know Paul Tracy said Forsythe wanted a couple of solid sponsors that could be counted on for the long term, but with the smaller teams that are being (supposedly) funded by OWRS, why not sell some sidepod space at a very DEEP discount? IMO, any team asking for more sponsor dollars than what's being charged in Busch is probably making a mistake. Generate some interest and show that the fanbase demographic is different, and maybe that will change.

And wouldn't the fans like to see some consumer companies flying familiar colors? I know I would! OWRS is privately owned... no one has to know who pays what. Wouldn't that create a lil buzz and interest??? What might be some that deserve a sweet-heart deal to get them on board?

Sharper Image
Bank of America - (The Official Bank and credit card of CCWS)
Hertz
Apple Computer
Pepsi Bottling

I'm just rattling off names. The point is, if you're no longer the prettiest girl at the dance, you should ask one of the boys to dance. :gomer:

[Lizzerd]

Microsoft used to sponsor an Atlantics team a few years ago. Not that they need the advertising, though. Do I recall seeing Sun on a car in a picture last season? Like, a one time deal somewhere, I think. Dell or Gateway would be cool, too.

Would love to see a Pennzoil Yellow Submarine again, but being the official something or other of TG's league (I think?) it wouldn't fly. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this. BTW, does ELF still provide ChampCar's methanol?

Considering the typical demographic profile, some investment firms would be cool.

Hotel chains? Holiday Inn, return of Red Roof...

Ruth's Chris Steak House. Best beef on the planet if you wanna drop $100 for two.

Carnival Cruise Lines.

Rolex and TAG Heuer are probably unavailable. Who provides ChampCar's timing stuff?

Good thought provoking post, Jag.

[Wabbit]

Microsoft used to sponsor an Atlantics team a few years ago.

Dave Cutler and Mike Conte were both Microsoft employees at the time.

[RTKar]

One thing I've noticed in the last few years on the racing landscape are pharmaceutical companies and/or drugs they're producing. Pfizer and Lilly we've already seen,however there are so many more companies. Not only would public awareness of the company be enhanced but particular drugs as well.

[nissan gtp]

Dave Cutler and Mike Conte were both Microsoft employees at the time.

Is Cutler a racing fan ? (I'm an old-timey VMS guy)

[Wabbit]

Is Cutler a racing fan ? (I'm an old-timey VMS guy)

One of these days I'll get up enough nerve to send him an email and ask.

Mike Conte has been known to troll the boards. He used to post at 7G every now and then.

[Jervis Tetch 1]

You can forget about Hertz as they are a Penske product.

If you could actually find a sponsor for a team at say $4 million, which could fund one for awhile, you would be a richer especially if you got 10 percent of the cut.

[nissan gtp]

One of these days I'll get up enough nerve to send him an email and ask.

Mike Conte has been known to troll the boards. He used to post at 7G every now and then.

you got his addy ??? PM me if you do (not kiddin).... my work place was a big-time VMS shop back in the day (VAX 9000, etc)....

[Ziggy]

here's a novel idea

how about a bottled water company?

Anybody here drink water????

Ziggy

[Sean O'Gorman]

here's a novel idea

how about a bottled water company?

Anybody here drink water????

Ziggy

I think they tried this a few years ago, but Coors Light was only a one race deal for Dixon. :gomer: :)

[Ziggy]

The entire deal has to be business to business.

Tech is the name of the game for openwheel racing. While some of the sponsors may seem unknown to us, it has been my observation that most all fans find out who the sponsors are, and pronto.

This is what Champcar is after. They want to go race on the urban layouts (streets) where employee's get a chance to feel connected in some shape or form. The people in the front office get treated like kings, and why not? They are paying for it. This is the crux of the sport. High cost's means that they have to tailor the event to the sponsors. History be damned. This is what has brought the sideshow quality to the forefront in all forms of racing. You just watched a GP in the middle of nowhere, correct? Nextel paid a kings ransom for signage. The B to B aspect of Champcar (and all racing) is it's life blood. Anyone that ever got invited to one of these weekends knows what Im talking about. After going to 49 or 50 events, being a guest of FedEx's at Elkhart Lake was like my first race! I could make it a habit! Very informative (even for a life long fan) and very fun and well done.

As a side note, Im watching with great interest as NASCAR get further and further away from its traditional fan. They are dumping traditional venues, they are distancing themselves from the southern roots (mindset, persepctive, whatever) They have sugar coated zombie drivers with little or no personality. They have been running it from behind the scenes like a New York Investment House. They are now starting to bring this out in the open, and to much chagrin from long time fans. They feel they are being sold out.....

Can you hear Toby Keith yet?

How do you like me now???

Ziggy

[bdogg187]

Pepsi Bottling


Pepsi is in bed with ISC. Coca Cola would be more likely, and it tastes better.

[RaceGrrl]

For CCWS: Victoria's Secret. Sexy lingerie, sexy cars.


For Crapwagons: Tidy Cat

[Jag_Warrior]

I'm all for Victoria's Secret being in CCWS. :thumbup:

On top of the sexy aspect, Intimate Brands is also a company on the go.

As for Hertz being a Penske company, it's actually owned by our pals at Ford Motor Company. Yeah, the B2B is important. Our relationship with Ford (and the reason I have to rent Hertz cars and ship FedEx at work) stemmed from us meeting up in CART years ago.

Coke vs. Pepsi. Seems that most big companies have ties to NASCAR or NHRA these days. Pepsi has NASCAR ties and so does Coke. The race that's taken the place of the Indy 500 in TV rating on Memorial Day: The Co-Cola 600. In light of all the work going into gathering cars, I just wonder how much time is being spent gathering sponsors... even little ones, or purely regional deals (the reason I mentioned Pepsi Bottling Group).

I'm just talking about something short term, that might give the series a boost for a couple of years: low hanging fruit. Invite these companies in for a low entry fee, convince them that the CCWS fanbase is demographically different (and desirable) and GO FOR IT. Unlike the recent CART and the current IRL, do right by those sponsors and keep them happy.

And I accept that CCWS (like ALMS) will be a niche series for the foreseeable future. But there's nothing wrong with that.

A race in Korea, right? Samsung, KDS, Korea Life, Pacific Union Bank...

What are some others... international, national or regional?

[Cam]

For Crapwagons: Tidy Cat

There's no Kitty Litter to be seen on any EARL circuit right now! :p ;)

[Wabbit]

you got his addy ??? PM me if you do (not kiddin).... my work place was a big-time VMS shop back in the day (VAX 9000, etc)....

Dave works for the same company I do.

[Ziggy]

I very much agree with Jag Warrior. Korea is wide open for sponsorship.

Ziggy

[jcollins28]

For CCWS: Victoria's Secret. Sexy lingerie, sexy cars.


For Crapwagons: Tidy Cat

God could you imagine? The Tecate girls would be out of business as soon as the VS girls hit the paddock.

[Hard Driver]

I would think technology, i.e AMD, SAP, Cisco. Oracle

I would think Oil, Mobil, Sunoco, maybe Texaco again for lower $$

Maybe some banking, like Citibank or something.

[Wabbit]

I would think Oil, Mobil, Sunoco, maybe Texaco again for lower $$


Didn't you hear? The oil companies are losing money.

[manic mechanic]

[QUOTE=Hard Driver]I would think technology, i.e AMD, SAP, Cisco. Oracle/QUOTE]



I was thinking the same thing...Chip manufacturers are always bragging about speed...If Intel sponsored a car there would be an ad in motion that would go with it.

Now, with an AMD sponsored car, (the Athlon #64), they could tout the merits of being the first 64 bit processor in production.

I also see the logic of Korean companies wanting the exposure.

Kia, LG, and Lite-on seem to be good fits here.

maybe Norton/Symantec or CA/McAfee..We are fighting a "virus" here...


...contrived racing.

just a few thoughts.


manic

[L1P1]

Pabst. It's trying to make a resurgence and has an Asian market. I thought it was a natural for ASTJ, but there are still opportunities given that Miller and Bud are basically out of the OW game.

[Dougrun]

you guys need to think "event-friendly"! What do you use going to events:

Hotel chains:
Hilton
Marriot
Holiday Inn (im at one for portland)

Restaraunt Chains:
Hooters
Fridays
Chevy's
Olive Garden
etc..

Cars:
Avis
Budget
Dollar
Thrifty

Airlines:
Southwest
etc..

Scanners:
Uniden
Radio Shack
Motorola (they could tie-in with "Moto-Rock")

[pinniped]

Ya know...now that champ cars are a lot cheaper than NASCAR it might make good sense for some of those sponsors over there to reconsider or even sponsor a champ car team in addition to...certainly they wouldn't want to go crapwagoning in front of empty stands...but what a great way to get out a product, especially if its high tech...I wonder how much the sanctioning body can be involved in that but may they can assist...Think of all the airlines, software companies, tech companies, etc. that need an ad presence in the U.S....of course I include ostrich farming conglomerates in there too.. ;)

[manic mechanic]

Ya know...now that champ cars are a lot cheaper than NASCAR it might make good sense for some of those sponsors over there to reconsider or even sponsor a champ car team in addition to...certainly they wouldn't want to go crapwagoning in front of empty stands...but what a great way to get out a product, especially if its high tech...I wonder how much the sanctioning body can be involved in that but may they can assist...Think of all the airlines, software companies, tech companies, etc. that need an ad presence in the U.S....of course I include ostrich farming conglomerates in there too.. ;)

"ya got to watch them ostriches...big-a$$ birds, and they can peck you into brain damage without as much as a second thought..Come to think of it..They rarely have a second thought"

Wish I had used that quote on a certain Foster's girl..pinniped might have gotten lucky that night! :rofl:

manic

[pinniped]

Wha? I was trying to get YOU laid! Hey, some people like ostriches :rofl:

[anait]

Wish I had used that quote on a certain Foster's girl..pinniped might have gotten lucky that night!


Wha? I was trying to get YOU laid! Hey, some people like ostriches

Sheesh, guys, talk about miscommunication... :rolleyes: :rofl:

Keeping this post OT...I'll keep harping on Tim Horton's until I sees me a coffee car!! Everybody needs coffee race morning, after Saturday night...

[RichK]

Is Cutler a racing fan ? (I'm an old-timey VMS guy)

Dave raced Formula Mazdas for many years in the West Coast Star Series, and also raced Toyota Atlantics for a couple years after that.

Hey, 500th post, woohoo!

[pinniped]

Sheesh, guys, talk about miscommunication... :rolleyes: :rofl:



I'm gonna need a crash helmet friday

[Jag_Warrior]

you guys need to think "event-friendly"! What do you use going to events:

Hotel chains:
Hilton
Marriot
Holiday Inn (im at one for portland)

Restaraunt Chains:
Hooters
Fridays
Chevy's
Olive Garden
etc..

Cars:
Avis
Budget
Dollar
Thrifty

Airlines:
Southwest
etc..

Scanners:
Uniden
Radio Shack
Motorola (they could tie-in with "Moto-Rock")


I couldn't agree more, Dougrun. I'll even throw one out that NASCAR hasn't tried (yet): The ChampCar World Series Travel Agency. Why didn't they buy into, or partner with, a travel agency YEARS AGO?! TravelGal, would you have gone for something like that? No one would necessarily have to give up equity, just a branding deal.

From what I remember about the last demographic info on CART fans (several years ago), most of us are professionals, or soon to be... and most of us travel, whether on business or for pleasure. Grand Prix Tours (and several others) do NASCAR, F1, Indy 500 and Le Mans packages - they used to do Long Beach, I think. What I mean is something the sanctioning body would actually get behind, and offer discount race day tickets and the hotel and air travel that Dougrun mentioned. Give me some extra airline miles for every race ticket I buy.

After I got a credit card branded with my old school's logo, I asked CART why they couldn't do the same. I got some sort of smart-@ss reply. They couldn't ship a hat on time, I'm not surprised this was out of their league. IMO, those are the kinds of things that should have been part of that Winner's Circle Club, or whatever they called it. But since the 3 Amigos are bidness men, hopefully they'll push for some of these lil cheesy deals that delight fans like me. Yeah, I know. I'm a :gomer:

There are just SO MANY things that CART (and now OWRS) could have done to hype being a CCWS fan. It's like they were shy or bashful or something... like they were afraid to make money and get loud about their success. OWRS needs a P.T. Barnum type character.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Anyone with money please