Value of IRL Sponsorships Grow, According to Report

INDIANAPOLIS — According to a year-end Sponsors Report conducted by Joyce Julius and Associates, IRL IndyCar Series sponsors saw a 33 percent increase in the comparable value of their sponsorships during the 2004 IndyCar Series season.

The report, which tracks exposures for all event telecasts during the season, found that the overall exposure value during the season was $303,536,815, up $76 million over 2003. It also found that overall television time increased by 7 hours, 13 minutes and 55 seconds, a 15 percent increase, while overall sponsor mentions were up 413, a 17 percent increase.

The Sponsors Report provides comprehensive documentation of in-broadcast brand exposure during sports, special event, and entertainment television programming. The annual report contains year-end exposure for all entities. During each broadcast, all clear, in-focus exposure time was monitored and tabulated in the Sponsors Report. In addition, mentions of a sponsor’s or entity’s name or product were counted and valued. To determine a dollar value for each sponsor’s exposure, on-screen time and mentions were compared to a network’s estimated cost per 30-second commercial rate for each particular telecast.

Team sponsors accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total in-focus exposure time and nearly 30 percent of all verbal recognition. The top-25 team sponsors averaged $800,000 more in exposure value for the season than they did in 2003.

Leading the team sponsors in exposure was 7-Eleven, the primary sponsor of 2004 IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan. The company received $11,730,880 in exposure through its use of in-car cameras, driver uniform, car identity, crew member uniforms and shirts. Overall, 7-Eleven and its Big Gulp brand generated a combined $15,782,765 in comparable value, according to the report.

Target, the primary sponsor of Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Darren Manning, received $8,745,205 in exposure in 2004 through its use of in-car cameras, driver uniforms, verbal references, car identity and crew member uniforms.

Pioneer, which served as co-sponsor of Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice’s car, and primary sponsor of Tora Takagi received $7,781,640 in exposure.

“Marketing partnerships are an integral part of the league’s success and we are very pleased to see the results of league, team, driver and event sponsors in this report,” said Ken Ungar, senior vice president, business affairs for the IRL. “With the benefit of long-term television stability with ABC Sports and ESPN we look forward to continuing to maximize benefits to sponsors via the IndyCar Series.”

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