Seriously... tires, brakes, suspension, blah blah blah is starting to eat into my lunch money fund

 

I have had numerous sponsorships over the years while racing NASA and attending SEMA, NOPI, One of my cars was used in a BFgoodrich ad.....

The same question comes up everytime. What do you have to offer a company......? What is the return on investment for a sponsor?

It is a quote that stands true in any industry. "If it don't make dollars than it don't make sense"

If you are a local drag racer, autocross, show car person ETC. you have little to offer some of the larger companies in terms of return on investment. There might be local shops or companies that take interest.

Now if you attend NASA finals, SCCA Solo Nationals your car will be in a magazine or at SEMA ETC you have more to offer.

There is more, But first you need to figure out what you have offer?

.....and companies have heard EVERYTHING before. the "My car will be in XX magazine" has been told so many times that companies now make some people pay for the product up front and then get a refund if/when the magazine comes out.

 

Be successful at large events and you won't go unnoticed

 

Results first; sponsorship later. That's what I've learned.

 

too complicated for a forum, but i'll sum it up for ya...

give your sponsors value.... market them...

its very very hard to get real sponsorships, & once you get them you actually have to work to give your sponsors what they need.


good luck.

 

So... I'm hearing, spend a lot of money, win a bunch... and by then I'll be able to fund a racing team on the sponsorships that companies will shower upon me?



Just making sure I had the order right!

 

Ahh no



Right now its extremely hard to get any type of sponsorship, with the racing industry in a questionable state most potential sponsors aren't willing to take the risk of an investment without a for sure return.

With that said you don't need to spend alot of money to get sponsors you just have to do well and run events that have alot of media coverage. The ability to run events and win over and over lessens the risk a potential sponsor may feel, helping out in the long run.


To sum it up, pick a series run the entire thing and win frequently. Then call potential sponsors asking for products or cash support.

 

As a start-up company we can't afford to just give our stuff away. Any relationship has to have value for both sides. For us, it's finding fast drivers. Then, hopefully, it's a natural conclusion to think that by giving our parts to these people who are already fast, they'll become even faster.

Nils is one of our "sponsored" drivers. I'm happy with his results and I hope he's happy with our products and support

 

Hahahaha! I saw your nam on the back of his Evo and wondered why it didn't say "NIL.SPEC"

 

Hah.. you were thinking the same thing as me. It would be nice to supplement the cost of about 18 AX events a year.

Forumla is simple I guess -- don't lose. Ever.

 

you can pay 50$ for the magazine car sponsors lol

 

Formula can be much more positive and simpler....



BE FAST

 

If you work really hard at it, the sponsorships are out there. Show up at the track with a uniformed crew, a clean car, and run good races. Winning isn't as important as you think...some of the best promotion I've had has been for races I lost...but you have to put in solid results in the long run and put yourself in a position to be recognized.

Parts and labor from shops looking to expand their business seems to be the most common forms of sponsorship, and can really make a big difference on your yearly budget.

Cash sponsorships are much harder to come by, and really can only be obtained with significant exposure including major magazines and television. Think of this way, a one page ad in a popular enthusiast magazines only costs a couple of grand, so don't expect a full year's racing budget from a couple of articles.

The biggest problem with cash sponsorships is that you have to deliver. Even if you do get the money, unless you can provide exposure at a fraction of what it costs to do a straight media buy, you will not be seeing another check...and this is really tough. Even IRL, with a great TV package, can't even come close to covering yearly team costs with their package. Most of the teams are funded by TG and a couple of other wealthy investors with a significant stake in the IRL itself.

Someone once told me 'take only what you need to go racing, no more.' I'll spare you the gory details, but this wise man was never so right. Work hard, save your money, hook up with a shop, and race what you can afford. Anything more really just takes the fun out of it.

 

Thanks for all the info guys!

I just spent a good bit of money and was dreaming that it would be nice to have some help either paying for the stuff or installing it (I mostly do my own installs anyway).

Maybe next year LOL.

 

Simple answer. Win races/events/shows/etc. The sponsors will come to you.

Sponsored by a hard working dude.