Rick Ware, owner of Rick Ware Racing, has offered his insights into the sponsorship landscape in NASCAR. His comments painted a picture of a market that is full of opportunities, but still not without its challenges.
Smaller teams, like his own, are seeing more interest from potential sponsors compared to what they have seen in previous years. However, the process of transforming interest into a signed deal isn't always straightforward, largely due to the highly competitive media and marketing outlay.
Sponsorship dollar values have declined, and as a result, the once-common full-season primary sponsorships have become rare. Teams now often have to rely on shorter, segmented sponsorships throughout the racing season.
"I'd say the marketing side of it is very bullish right now. We're obviously one of the smaller teams and we're having dramatically more conversations than we typically have had in the past," Ware said via a press release.
"That doesn't mean that we close them all, but the interest is there. I think that's what's important across the board. I think there's so much competition out there in media and marketing opportunities that the dollar figures aren't quite what they used to be. I think we've all seen that.
"So, I think you see even some of the cornerstone cars that it's tough to see primary sponsors all year anymore, so you see people doing blocks of sponsorships."
Rick Ware Racing, a team that has been in NASCAR since 2000, has found ways to adapt to these changes by expanding and leveraging a diverse motorsports network. Rick Ware commented on this by stating how the platform his team has built aids in attracting and retaining sponsors.
By branching out into various racing formats such as Supercross, flat track, top fuel, and NASCAR, the team can offer a wider range of benefits to potential sponsors. This flexibility and variety stand as a strong incentive that other teams might struggle to compete with.
"For ourselves to be able to get some of the sponsors that we've grown over the last three and four years – to expand them – I've been able to survive based on the platform, our motorsports platform.
"It allows me to do a value add and Arby's was a perfect example. We put together a test market with our global Supercross program, our flat track program, our top fuel program and the NASCAR program to weigh out the benefits. My opinion is that every sport has benefits that some other sports don't.
"Obviously, the Cup Series is the 800-pound gorilla. That's the cornerstone of motorsports, especially in this country, and I think we're gonna expand that globally here in the years to come, but as a sponsor they have different needs at different times and some forms of motorsports are more user-friendly than others for different kinds of things, so that's what has allowed us to keep growing."
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He then shared an example of his partnership with Arby's. This partnership serves as an illustration of how RWR uses its multi-platform approach to increase value for sponsors. This diversified, cross-format approach makes it difficult for competitors to "steal" sponsors, a benefit he admitted is crucial for the team's strategy.
"It also helps in that it's a little bit harder to steal those sponsors when you have more to offer, so that's always been very important, but I know we're getting the kind of response and inquiries with where we are in motorsports, so it's got to be even better the farther up you get to the top."
There are, however, struggles that small teams face when they come up against larger organizations. Teams like Hendrick Motorsports have the luxury of running extra cars and have different capacities for securing sponsorships.
"If you're a Hendrick or something and you decide to run an extra car for a program, that's a little bit different ask, but I think it shows where people are perceiving the NASCAR Cup Series right now."
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