View on NHRA Sponsorship (2 Viewers)

[Jimbo]

I have never believed that multi car teams were in the best interest of any form of racing.
It makes it very hard for a small or new teams to find funding to go racing.

I know one TF team owner and driver who told me how hard it is to find a sponsor and if any of the multi car teams find out who you are talking or even thinking of talking to they simply offer the sponsor a better deal like having their company name on 3 cars instead of just one.

Drag Racing and othrer forms of racing need to level the playing field for all teams.

I like the day's before multi car teams better.
Jim Hill
www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[ironpony]

As far as "true" sponsorships go, lets look at a few. This is my opinion based on B2B dealings.
Kallita
DHL Kallita Air probably flies their freight, one hand washes the other.
Mac Tools exclusive access to Kallita Air hangars
Global Electronics more than likely supplies their product for Kallita Airs supply chain, tracking
Wilkerson
I spoke to him one time and asked him who is LRS exactly, his reply was, He is my very good high school friend who made it big and is willing to pay for my racing.
Head
Self
Salinas
Self
Torrence
Self
Scott Palmer
Cat Spot, friend with deep pockets
We can go on but I think you can see it is RICH guys playing with each others money. The numbers we see as huge are really pretty small in the real world.
6 million a year, my wife is an accountant for a global company, the plant she oversees is the smallest one probably 100 employees there. They PURCHASE 10 million a month in parts and ship 40 million a month in finished product. Private, family owned company, they have sponsored and Indy car in the past. IMO none of the owners are interested in drag racing so no funding. They are considered an "automotive" supplier, actually heavy truck axles should fit perfect in NHRA.
HMMM maybe no-one has ever asked them................anyone need a sponsor lead.............
6+ billion a year company, 3 million budget, pocket change
PS if it works out I get a crew position, washing and waxing the body.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Ted, this is something I have thought about. Back in the 1990's, Prudhomme told a story about nitro almost going away, because the Chinese gained control & prices went up. That almost caused the teams to go to alky. Well, suppose that happens today. What would drag racing become? I look at all the 1/8 mile classes that are being run. They get pretty good crowds and young fans go to those races. So would drag racing become a door car sport? 1/8 mile? There are some TV shows featuring "street outlaw" type cars that are popular. Would nitro F/C teams go to a street outlaw format to stay in racing? This is just something I'm throwing out. I would personally hate to see nitro cars go away & would rather see the classes slowed down so they would cost less to run. I'm thinking of 10 years from now. Where will the sport be? What will NHRA do to keep it around? Something to think about.

Your statement about thinking 10-years down the road is where I personally think NHRA (and NASCAR, for that matter) got it wrong. Both sanctioning bodies capitalized on their respective waves of popularity without much regard for where they're gonna be 10-years down the road. And while I agree with what you and most others think about taking measures to reign in operational costs, whether that be by slowing them down, reducing the number of events, etc., I also think another hard conversation that needs to be had is within the sanctioning body itself and its own operational costs.

I would bet a fair amount of money without even knowing the details that there is plenty of fat that could be trimmed within the NHRA. I tend to think about things backwards compared to most people I encounter when it comes to the issues, whether real or perceived with professional level drag racing. I think the main focus is to figure out how to pack the stands EVERY SINGLE EVENT, and if that can be achieved, I think some of these issues start taking care of themselves. While riding the wave of popularity, the cars evolved to needing a metric f**k-ton of money to run, which was fine for a while because sponsorship was more attainable. But now it appears that much fewer companies are able to quantify spending the amount that is now needed to run a top-flight operation. Why? Because the exposure numbers apparently aren't there to be in line with what is now being proposed. So to me, it makes as much sense, or even more to create a parallel path that focuses on what it's going to take to gain more viewership along with getting operational costs in line with what advertisers are able to quantify spending in our sport. Mr. Charlet makes a great point about many of the viewership numbers being repeats, but every new person we get on the grounds at the events is one more potential, non-repeat customer tuning in Sunday night.

I know the Bader thing has been beat to death over the years, but you gotta at least have a look. I know we'll never see the day of getting into a National event for free like he does some of his Divisionals, but if that's the fictitious goal that is set, knowing you'll never get there, you might be surprised how close you can get. Can you imagine attending a National event for half the price it is now? Getting in for $30 instead of $60? New folks that have never attended a professional level drag race possibly consider trying it now? Maybe, maybe not. People more apt to purchase souvenirs and food (Where the REAL margins are) that they normally wouldn't? Maybe, maybe not. All I'm saying is that I'm confident that if that hard conversation that is being talked about is also had within the sanctioning body's own walls, the unnecessary fat is trimmed and a hard look is given to the true worth of the salaries of the folks that are left, from top to bottom, it would scare you to death how much more affordable this sport could be from a spectator standpoint. It simply cannot be put completely on the racers themselves.

Sean D

 

[Cliff]

Well said Sean. Here is something else. Most people on this forum don't like 1/8 mile racing. But, how much would it cost to run a big $ race at an 1/8 mile track compared to 1/4 mile track? Only half the track surface to "glue". Race would be run faster than 1/4 mile. Not a bad seat in the house for spectators. Less electricity used because the track isn't lighting as much area at night. Racers only running to the 1/8 = less wear & tear on the engine (altho I know that some cars are set on kill for the 1/8th). This might be something to think about 10 years down the road. Barona in the San Diego area is 1/8. The Tribe has the land to go 1/4 but has stayed 1/8, probably due to costs.

 

[mick]

while we're talking about costs and sponsorships, here is a related story. just saw it online today.

Podcast: Why FedEx says a NASCAR sponsorship is worth a billion

That's the number of brand impressions generated annually by its presence on Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[ironpony]

Well said Sean. Here is something else. Most people on this forum don't like 1/8 mile racing. But, how much would it cost to run a big $ race at an 1/8 mile track compared to 1/4 mile track? Only half the track surface to "glue". Race would be run faster than 1/4 mile. Not a bad seat in the house for spectators. Less electricity used because the track isn't lighting as much area at night. Racers only running to the 1/8 = less wear & tear on the engine (altho I know that some cars are set on kill for the 1/8th). This might be something to think about 10 years down the road. Barona in the San Diego area is 1/8. The Tribe has the land to go 1/4 but has stayed 1/8, probably due to costs.

As far as cost you answered your own question, they will figure out how to maximize and blow it up at 650 ft, just like now they blow up at 990' instead of like they used to at 1310'. What the actual savings in dollars and cents?? I think it would be minimal. In conversation I have been told the biggest yearly cost is lodging, food and travel expensive.

 

[Nunz]

As far as cost you answered your own question, they will figure out how to maximize and blow it up at 650 ft, just like now they blow up at 990' instead of like they used to at 1310'. What the actual savings in dollars and cents?? I think it would be minimal. In conversation I have been told the biggest yearly cost is lodging, food and travel expensive.

And personnel. Look at the size of the crews needed for each fuel car nowadays.

 

[Von Halen]

IMO none of the owners are interested in drag racing so no funding. They are considered an "automotive" supplier, actually heavy truck axles should fit perfect in NHRA.
[color=redHMMM maybe no-one has ever asked them................[/color]

Unless these potential sponsors are being brought out to a race, they'll never get it. The NHRA has to get them out to the track to see it in person. But they need to get the stands full too. No potential sponsor is going to be very impressed with half full stands. I realize the weather hasn't been very cooperative at most of the events so far this year.

Well said Sean. Here is something else. Most people on this forum don't like 1/8 mile racing.

I am not a fan of 1/8 mile racing. In fact, I'm not a fan of 1000' racing either. I haven't been to an event since the last 1/4 mile race at Norwalk. I am however ready to go back and will more than likely attend Norwalk this year.

 

[tom]

NHRA could DEFINITELY do more but - it's still pretty much a Do It Yourself responsibility.

Don't tell me there isn't a demand for our product that reaches down to the younger generation.
This guy has 1.3 million SUBSCRIBERS on YouTube and gets 300,000 viewers within a day of posting his videos. Much of his stuff is silly but fun...and he even runs his own "shows" at major Drag Strips.

https://www.youtube.com/user/GARRETTmitch

I just went and watched 48 Minutes of this show. I can't even tell you why it held my interest for that long, BUT IT DID. Any thoughts on this and what are they doing right that NHRA could adapt ?

 

[MFRACING]

Since ticket prices went sky high and most every track is reserved seating, potential new fans can’t experience it like we all did. Along with increased pricing for the vendors midway, the events are now somewhat boring. It’s hardcore fans that attend multiple days of an event. Change that cycle, get the vendors back into the vision and numbers will increase

 

[z28]

When Coke first came aboard with Powerade, the Worsham's had Pepsi signs on their trailers. NHRA told Chuck to remove them and he refused. NHRA backed down.

He had to remove them from the cars. When he ran IHRA they were back on

 

[Pete]

One thing everyone complains about is payouts...if you look at the bonuses paid to executives at NHRA, they can comfortably raise payouts and attract more teams.
They’re making money hand over fist

 

[Luke Nieuwhof]

I just went and watched 48 Minutes of this show. I can't even tell you why it held my interest for that long, BUT IT DID. Any thoughts on this and what are they doing right that NHRA could adapt ?

I think one area NHRA could adapt is changing their media policy to allow video. Right now they are protective because of the Fox show, which I can understand - most professional sports are the same way, because they have TV deals which demand a level of exclusivity.
That means you can't get guys like 'Cleetus' or 1320Video there, and they have a very different audience who may be interested in what is going on at a major NHRA event.
Given that the TV ratings are in the order of 600-700,000 on average per event (and how much funding goes into achieving that number), if you had 1320Video or other large automotive YouTube channels at an event, capturing it in their unique way, you could add another million people who get exposed to an event, easily. And again, it is a different audience. I don't think the TV ratings would be affected much at all.
And it isn't going to be very long before TV ratings are not the be all and end all, if it isn't already. Our house doesn't have cable (while the antenna sits in a drawer) and watching traditional TV is extremely rare, it's all streaming now. Younger audiences are consuming media differently.

 

[FABMAN]

I think GIECO would be a great sponsor, I can see Tony S wrap. Lizard on top and its campaign as the quickest and fastest lizard on the planet

 

[PJ]

I think GIECO would be a great sponsor, I can see Tony S wrap. Lizard on top and its campaign as the quickest and fastest lizard on the planet

They used to be a sponsor

 

[MHayes]

One thing everyone complains about is payouts...if you look at the bonuses paid to executives at NHRA, they can comfortably raise payouts and attract more teams.
They’re making money hand over fist!

Please share the bonuses that are paid to the NHRA executives.

 

[Pete]

Please share the bonuses that are paid to the NHRA executives.

Id have to go back and look for the article that Jeff Burk posted on it, but he usually puts the tax returns up every year. The return shows the payouts

 

[Pete]

Please share the bonuses that are paid to the NHRA executives.

This is just what I could find for a quick search. One is for the Museum and the other is from 2009. From what I understand, due to the "tax-exempt" status, they have to have close to all money put back out at the end of the year...please someone correct me if I'm wrong

 

[mick]

I think one area NHRA could adapt is changing their media policy to allow video.........

luke, check this out. you are rite on the money with your comments about allowing other media to share their experiences at nhra events.

MCMILLEN FEATURED BY YOUTUBE STAR STEPHEN SHARER | Competition Plus

During the 2nd annual Virginia NHRA Nationals Terry McMillen Racing hosted YouTube star Stephen Sharer, introducing the social media personality to the sights and sounds of NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing. McMillen, driver of the AMALIE® Motor Oil XTERMIGATOR®, became familiar with Sharer through...

competitionplus.com

this guy's video is great btw. really gets you thinking about what it would be like to see nhra nitro cars for the first time........which is the BIG sell we need desperately.

 

[Sandman]

Every time I read about how expensive it is for spectators I want to share this story, so here it is. In the last year, I've been to see my two favorite things, Oakland A's baseball and an NHRA national, both just my son and I. Oddly enough, I live 7 hours from Oakland and 7 hours from Seattle. Hotel prices were comparable, as was food and gas. At the ball game, opening day, I laid out $89 per seat for good seats behind 3rd base. At the drags, $57 for general admission. The closest I got at the ball game to one of my heroes was my seat, good luck getting an autograph or picture with a player on game day. I bought a $30 hat, about $25 worth of food and sodas and spent about 4 hours there total. We saw 11 innings of baseball, listened to a fan who was waaaaay too into baseball stats for my tastes for the last inning and a half. I feel like I got a good value for my money and luckily, my team won that day so I left happy. At the drags, we arrived at 9:00 am, wandered the pits, met all of Shumacher's drivers, my kid got to watch them warm up Matt Hagen's car as well as several others all before the races. During the day, we saw everyone we cared to, got several pictures of my son with Alex Laughlin, Tim Wilkerson, and on and on. We sat in several areas of the grandstands, met some great people and got to see great racing all day long. I saw nostalgia cars, modern cars, bought T-shirts and got enough handouts signed to wallpaper my garage behind my bench. When we left late in the afternoon, a couple nice young ladies handed us free Mello Yello for the trip back to the hotel. For my spectator dollar, drag racing is a bargain and I doubt dropping the price $10 is going to draw even one more spectator. Maybe I'm wrong, but in this day of $4 a gallon gas, going to see a day of professional drag racing is as good as it gets for a return on investment.