26 replies to this topic

[CruzanTom]

http://jalopnik.com/...-racecar-driver

Some gems from the article in case you don't want to read it all:

"So how do you become a racecar driver? Simple. Get out Daddy's checkbook."

"With that said, no driver finds a legitimate sponsor. It is always daddy's cash, a friend of daddy's, or the cash of a company daddy is affiliated with. Because why else would a sponsor give you money to race . . .?"

"Think of racing like basketball. You have high school, college and the NBA. Imagine if you had to pay hundreds of grand just to play in the high school league. Then if you wanted to move up to college basketball, you'll need to pay the team over a million dollars. How many of the current NBA players would have still made it?"

"We wouldn't have guys like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. It'd be folk like Lord Charles Picking III and Ernest Hummingbottom, instead."

"In fact, most drivers never get the chance to show what they can truly achieve, because they run out of cash prior to landing that lucrative paying gig."

"It's not out of the question that you could defy all odds and become an uber rich professional driver. But you probably had better odds of winning the $500 million jackpot a few weeks back. Racing is political and littered with wealthy, yet talented drivers. If you can't pay, you can't play."

[LarryKing]

I read an interview with Scott Pruitt several years ago. He made a great point - combining all major professional motorsports you'll get about 100 pro rides. Not only do you need one-in-a-million talent, you have to be marketable too.

Don't get why people hate on Danica - she's just using all available resources to get a ride. Wouldn't you?

[Jamz14]

Cruzan,

I believe you are right with 95% of what you wrote. I disagree that no driver has a legitimate sponsor. We do, and it isn't what people think, nor does it work like people think.

Let me just give this one piece of advise on sponsors. People forget about why a sponsor would sponsor. Sponsors are businesses and as such sponsorships need to be about business.

So that is the secret to answer the question you posed " why would a business give money to someone to race"? Your question is the answer!!! Figure out why a business would give you money, and you have a successful sponsorship. Figure out what a business cares about and fill that need. No different than what "daddy" did in the first place to have that money to whip out the check book for jr. Daddy worked for a business that had a need, daddy filled it, and the business paid him.

[CruzanTom]

Jamz14,

I didn't write the article; it is by Alex Lloyd, a former racer and now a writer at Jalopnik. You make a good point - some sponsors WANT to be sponsors so the driver needs to figure out what the sponsor's needs are that the driver can fill. I am still looking for that sponsor who NEEDS a 55+ driver in a mid-pack car.

Tom

[Johnny D]

Jamz14,

I didn't write the article; it is by Alex Lloyd, a former racer and now a writer at Jalopnik. You make a good point - some sponsors WANT to be sponsors so the driver needs to figure out what the sponsor's needs are that the driver can fill. I am still looking for that sponsor who NEEDS a 55+ driver in a mid-pack car.

Tom

Isn't this the other way around??
The sponsor wants ad space and people to patronize his business, right? I'm I missing something??
And then for you it's open to what you get in return.

Rental Company, you get free rentals.
Restaurant, a dinner.
Dry cleaning,
Lawn care.
Not just cash to go racing, but that's the original intent and above items, you already have the racing budget.
J~

[Jamz14]

Hey Cruzan, I did see that you didn't write the article. Sorry if I came off that you were supporting their view.

Johnny,

In my opinion no. Sponsors don't care about their ad on your car unless you are at the highest levels of the sport with a guaranteed TV audience. Sponsors care about business and revenue. It is very difficult to show how a sponsor shows a return on investment by placing a logo on the car. Now if you are able to make a solid, measurable case that they will receive X dollars by putting a logo or ad on your car, then they will put a logo on your car.

People are giving you rentals, lawn care ETC because it is easy to give you, not because they are getting some measurable and large increase in the # of people walking into their business. Who attending a Thunderhill race is calling up Joes lawn care in San Francisco after seeing their name on a car? They are probably spending more on giving you free lawn service than they are profiting on new customers. But even if this level of sponsorship does yield them a couple of customers and yields you free dry cleaning, the article was trying to make a point that if you move just a few levels above SM, the dollars get crazy.......... and no amount of free dry cleaning is going to help you with an Indy Lights seat.

Now, go out and find a new corporate account for the dry cleaner that yields them substantial measurable dollars and not only will you get free dry cleaning, if you are savvy, you will get x percentage of sales for the account you brought to them and you can put those funds into an Indy Lights program.

[Johnny D]

Whatever, let me know when you land that account, I'll look for your son in indy lights.

In my case it's LeMans Karting in Fremont and yes it's easy on both of us.
http://www.lemanskarting.com/
They let me park my trailer in back so I save on storage cost. How much saved me a year?
I wear their t-shirts, jackets, etc. They say we have top drivers from SCCA/NASA/USTCC drive at LeMans which is true, and other racer, do.
Videos are posted on their FB. My WERC's trophy is in the cabinet.
I like it.
I guess i should add LeMans below.
J~

[Glenn]

Mike C has had a "real" sponser for several years. Bobby T's Green JD car was also sponsered by a "REAL" company

[Jamz14]

Johnny,

Somehow I think you misread my intent or tone. Anyway, I deleted a whole paragraph from the post above where I was saying that this all sounds easy enough, but real sponsored drivers work their tails off and real sponsorship has nothing to do with charity. That finding that deal that can pay for a long term and escalating program is hard and full of rejection.

So our plan may ultimately not pay off enough to get him in an Indy light seat. But we are trying the best we can and down the only path that I can see that a family with modest means might.......MIGHT, be able to realize the dream of a boy that wants to race with the pros. After all that was the point of the article right? That a kid like mine can never make it in top level racing because it requires you to be the kid of an Enron exec. So if you believe the article, and your kid wants to drive pro, what is your suggestion on how to do that? How do you get the ungodly amount of money to race british FF, GP3, GP2? How do you pay for the countless hours of practice?

Not sure how you saw my post as belittling of your past or your program in any way, or of any ones program or level at which they race. If we never make it, we will be just as sad as the rest of the hopeful racers that litter the road on a path to Indy. I sincerly hope though that if we don't make it, at least we walk away having had a great time together and my boy has gained invaluable experience with the business community and good business men that are found in the sport. And at the end of it all, I also hope that if we can barely afford to race, that we are just as happy racing with you guys, as we would be racing at Le Man.

[Jim Drago]

Jamz
I think what most are commenting on is that your post appears to be filled with lots of smoke and mirrors. It is in Yoda speak Maybe "x" company sponsors us and in return they get " Y" from us? I think many are having a hard time understanding what benefit a mid pack SM driver offers a potential sponsor? A factual explanation without all the hypothetical situations and riddle solving would go a long way.

[Joe (dad) Jordan]

Just thought I would chime in as a past team owner in World Challenge who did have "real partners" Circuit City, Sony, and others,and we did create real ROI for our sponsors where they could see the direct influence on our marketing efforts had. We spent more time in providing value to our sponsors then actually racing by doing special events and car shows etc. They were able to measure our effectiveness by using a secret prize on a gift card every time a customer used that card, it would have anywhere from $5 to $500 rebate, that was actually used to measure customer participation and all the purchases associated with that card and store visits. It was very detailed. I am proud of the fact that we were their #1 ROI promotion for 3 years, way above any other program. Our on the track results didn't measure up to what we wanted, but the sponsor was happy and successful until they changed their business model in the stores which caused their downfall 4 years after our program concluded.

The Jalopnik article which has some truth in it, but it was from one perspective, the perspective of a frustrated driver, if you take his attitude you will never find a sponsor. Also if you look at some of the professional road racers, although not rich by any means, they did not start with much, Randy Pobst was an autocrosser who did not have huge budgets or a sugar daddy, when he started racing in the VW cup. Charles Espenlaub also had no silver spoon or family help, they both refused to listen to the naysayers and or the many No's they got on the way and kept after it. Did they have some luck yes, but moreso they are both very likeable, easy to work with and modest about their abilities and most people want to help them.

I will enjoy watching this discussion, but Jamz is right,every business needs to sell more to pay for a sponsorship, figure out how your racing can help them sell more of their product and how it can build value in their brand and then achieve that result and you will find partners to help you while you help them.

[Jamz14]

Ok, Jim.

I also deleted a paragraph where I showed people how a sponsorship deal can help a midpack 50+ old racer. I deleted it because I thought it looked too much like an ad and that you might get upset. But........since you asked!!!

I will sponsor any driver here that has a business ( as with everything some exceptions ). I will save your business money on services you currently pay for. I will take some of the money that you still have to pay for that service and return a percentage back into sponsorship dollars for your racing program, and for my program. This is a win win win. You will save money on business services, and get sponsor dollars. And this regardless if you are 10 or 80 years old. Whether you drive mid pack or podium every week. Whether you drive SM or a 787b.

You own a business Jim. Call me and I'll show you how what I am describing benefits us little ole SM drivers.

I agree with you in a way, nothing about your driving a mid pack SM car benefits a sponsor. They don't care. It's your being a businessman that concerns the sponsor.

I'll give a more specific example. We worked a deal with a safety equipment company. We knew that they wanted to break into a new market. So we went out and found a customer in advance in that market that we had a relationship with. We brought them together for a business deal and we were able to inject ourselves into the middle of the revenue stream of that deal. The secret was putting together a deal that everyone benefited more from working together than they would have by doing it individually. They didn't really care what we were driving or how old we were. They cared about the business we brought them.

This is about as specific as I am going to get without you calling me and us putting together a deal whereby I am sponsoring your car. But take me up on it. Make me prove it. What do you have to lose?

[Jamz14]

Ryan hunter Rey too Joe!!!! Family was almost broke but now they are making it!!!!

[steve]

I will sponsor any driver here that has a business ( as with everything some exceptions ). I will save your business money on services you currently pay for. I will take some of the money that you still have to pay for that service and return a percentage back into sponsorship dollars for your racing program, and for my program. This is a win win win. You will save money on business services, and get sponsor dollars...

Let me know if I understand the proposition correctly. You have the ability that will let me pay my vendors less than I am now paying them. And then, instead of me just pocketing 100% of the savings, net of whatever your cut is for negotiating these prices savings, I get, for example, 80% of the savings in the form of lower expenses and 20% comes to me in the form of sponsorship dollars? Notwithstanding the implication that I am bad at my job and thus unable to negotiate the lowest price possible from my vendors, isn't this just shifting the savings from one (business) pocket to the other (personal) pocket? If I owned the business, what's the gain? And if I don't own the business, how do I not get arrested for taking kickbacks?

[Jamz14]

I have the ability to have you pay one specific vendor of yours less than what you are paying now. If I can't, the sponsor I work with for this deal will pay you $500 . From the money I make doing this business, it affords me the opportunity to sponsor other drivers. You pocket 100% of the savings and you don't pay that back to anyone. But the money you still have to spend on that service is where we make our money. It is up to me just like any other business what I chose to do with the profits I make by doing the deal.

Just because you don't have the lowest price possible doesn't make you a bad business man. Some people choose to do business with companies that are more expensive because they have long standing relationships with companies and it is not worth the savings to change. There are other reasons too. Let's put it to the test. If I can save you money will you guarantee you will change to the company I am referring to sight unseen?

You benefit as a business by saving money on services you are already buying. Pretty simple really. The back sponsorship doesn't even need to be part of the deal.Just take the savings and be happy if you want. Straight business deal. That extra savings helps that business owner now go out and buy a set of tires for his weekend of adrenaline rushing. And you help out a fellow racer!!!

It is shifting revenue. Which BTW is the same as how most dads do it today. They shift revenue that they earned by going to work, and place it into a racing program that they then use as a tax write off.

[Jamz14]

Also, illegal kickbacks have primarily to do with govt contracts, medical and real estate deals. As individuals,we are allowed to spend our profits on any program or charity we chose to. Kickbacks also suggest that the company paying the kickback is not offering the best service to the company receiving the kickback. This is not the case here. The proposition is that you ARE getting the lowest price for the service, with the added benefit of partnering with another company to promote both businesses in the sport of racing.

[Rob Burgoon]

By the by, I know that this isn't PC these days, but there are sponsors out there who don't expect anything in return and are just tickled pink to have their business on a race car. However, this is an easier sell if you race some fire breathing monster rather than a modest miata.

[Caveman-kwebb99]

If I owned me a buger king franchise I would sponsor you buger goon!

[Jamz14]

Rob, you are probably right. But my comments were geared more on deals that can be consistently reproduced and more appropriate for the discussion of how do you get sponsorships in order to move up the racing ladders.

There are plenty of companies that are "tickled" to put their name on a car. Just about every gentleman driver falls under this category. They are happy to put the company name that they own on the car. Take Emil Assentato and the FXDD car, Farmer and the US LED car, ETC ETC. But these guys are funding their own programs and there is little difference between them, and father son teams that put together SMs to go out and have fun. Only difference is one of scale.

The question is; how do modest income people become pro racing drivers.? There are only two ways that I know of. One, you are extremely fast. The trick with this path is how do you fund practicing in order to get extremely fast? This isn't like basketball where a poor inner city kid can go down to the local court and practice or where there is a wonderful program in our scholastic system to groom talent. Two, by some mechanism that is similar to what I am describing. Whereby the modest income person gets very creative in EARNING money to afford seat time.

[Jim Drago]

Jamz
I think what you are describing certainly can help people fund their racing.. But not sure it fits into the mold of what all of us are calling a "sponsorship" I like the thinking outside the box though.

what type of services etc are you talking about?
Jim