Frankly, the bar is set pretty low for the communications giant. A look
back at some of the other series sponsors from the Indy Racing League days to
present:
Pep Boys: Manny Moe and Jack
were to have been the title sponsors for the series for five years starting in
1998. They packed up their tool box after two. They promised, according to the
series’ 1998 media guide, “strong advertising and promotional support” as well
as a $1 million bonus for the championship-winning driver and owner as well as
contributions to the purse for each race.
Northern Light: Replacing
the Pep Boys was a search-engine company for the newfangled internet. We can
only speculate how things might be today had the IRL been able to partner with
Google instead. “Fastest cars. Fastest search.” Or something like that. Again,
digging through the archives we find that the 2000 series media guide reports a
five-year, $50 million agreement, including $1 million to the championship
winner as well as $500,000 annually for driver awards in what was called the
Northern Light Circle of Champions. The public search engine closed down in
2002, and Northern Light was bought out.
Izod: After the Northern
Light clipper ship sank, it was a long wait before Izod came aboard, first as
the official apparel sponsor starting in 2008, then as the series sponsor
starting in 2010. In the beginning, Izod did some cool commercials – both TV
and print - featuring the drivers. Some of the apparel was nice – if you could
find it.
I liked the way Izod tapped into the heritage of the Indianapolis 500
with some nice T-shirts for Ray Harroun, Wilbur Shaw, A.J. Foyt, Bobby Unser
and Mario Andretti, among others. On the other hand, a lot of the stuff was
overpriced, in my opinion. $60 for a polo? Come on. Interest cooled, and Izod
quietly packed its suitcase after the 2013 season.
Verizon: Like the others,
this will be a multi-year deal, according to Friday’s news release. As with
Izod, a specific dollar amount was not given, and also like Izod, Verizon
started a business relationship with IndyCar at a lower tier (official wireless
provider) before stepping up. Click here
for more on the announcement.
Photo credit: Jeff Majeske. Sorry
about the fence. Took this on Carb Day last year.
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