National Guard Sponsorship Explained

[BretEarl]

http://www.racer.com/index.php/component/flexicontent/52/101130?Itemid=502

[BretEarl]

I would like to know the 6 teams.

[dakinca]

Can not believe Panther bid over 17 million!!

[sejarzo]

$13MM for a single car is ridiculous. No way is that justifiable when for-profit sponsors are not coming up with anywhere close to that kind of dough.

[Grizzlor]

$17 Million dollars!!!!!! RLLR asked for 12.5, and was rated higher in several areas. Namely that RLLR could provide more exposure (I assume) via their sports car programs. Barnes argued that only he could give the Guard a presence in the IndyCar Fan Zone, which sounds dubious.

What's interesting in the wording is that it was the Docupak group that went out to other teams to get bids. Now I don't know if this has happened in the past, but I have to guess it's a result of the tightening budgets (sequester) we saw last year. That probably forced the Guard to find alternatives. I did remember hearing that Andretti and Schmidt had entered proposals as well.

[ryspy8492]

$13MM for a single car is ridiculous. No way is that justifiable when for-profit sponsors are not coming up with anywhere close to that kind of dough.

That's why there were 6 teams bidding

This contract, as somewhat discussed in the article, has a lot of promotional/advertising responsibilities that are covered by the team with the contract money. This is quite different than a lot of sponsors, who will cover this on their own, producing their own advertising or setting up their own on site hospitality at races.

[Grizzlor]

Correct, those sponsors either have their own marketing division, or they employ a 3rd party to do activation at the track. Barnes' major point of contention in his protest was that only he had a presence in the "Fan Zone," which is completely comical.

[sejarzo]

And apparently paying your driver on time wasn't part of the deal...

[Hitokiri]

$13MM for a single car is ridiculous. No way is that justifiable when for-profit sponsors are not coming up with anywhere close to that kind of dough.

I doubt all of that is going towards the racing program but even if only half of that goes to Graham's car that is still very good.

[ramberg]

Honestly, in this day and age, I am surprised that the government allows this amount of money to be used for sponsoring anything, let alone an Indycar team.

[Hitokiri]

Honestly, in this day and age, I am surprised that the government allows this amount of money to be used for sponsoring anything, let alone an Indycar team.

+1

[sejarzo]

I doubt all of that is going towards the racing program but even if only half of that goes to Graham's car that is still very good.

Agreed, but half of the Guard deal plus the $1MM LC share is all it takes to run a dominant entry. No wonder there was no way for JB to win the deal at his asking price given his poor results for years and years.

[ryspy8492]

Even in this day and age the military branches need to appeal to and draw in recruits.

I think the NG strategy is better than the other branches. Not only do they get advertising, but it provides a hospitality benefit for those already enlisted.

[Jakester]

$13MM for a single car is ridiculous. No way is that justifiable when for-profit sponsors are not coming up with anywhere close to that kind of dough.

While we're not privy to the info, only a portion of that money will actually be spent on racing itself. Much of it will be spent on various activations of the sponsorship. A general rule of thumb is a 50-50 split, making the actual money for racing closer to $6.5-7MM (still a darn good sum in today's environment).

Honestly, in this day and age, I am surprised that the government allows this amount of money to be used for sponsoring anything, let alone an Indycar team.

The armed services must do marketing just like any other organization. $13MM is 'pennies' relative to the entire National Guard budget.

[ramberg]

Perhaps, but $12 million to IndyCar? Look, I'm the biggest fan there is in the universe, but I am having a hard time seeing this - especially since the Sequester and the country's attitude about the government's wasteful spending.

Even in this day and age the military branches need to appeal to and draw in recruits.

I think the NG strategy is better than the other branches. Not only do they get advertising, but it provides a hospitality benefit for those already enlisted.