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Izod becomes IndyCar title sponsor
Thursday, November 5th 2009, 20:55 GMT



After seven years of searching, the IndyCar Series finally has a legitimate title sponsor. Izod, one of several clothing brands under the Phillips-Van Heusen umbrella, has announced a six-year, $10 million agreement to become the lead logo for the series, now rechristened the Izod IndyCar Series.

The deal brings a much-needed injection of cash and marketing to a series that lost its prime source of financial support when Tony George was forced out of his positions as head of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League earlier this year. The series also lost a large chunk of its viewing audience when a majority of its races were placed on Versus, a third-tier cable network that offers only a fraction of the audience of the series' other broadcast partner, ABC/ESPN.

Izod officials vowed to aggressively activate the sponsorship to elevate the visibility of IndyCar racing, long an issue in this form of racing. "There are great stories in these athletes that haven't been told," said Mike Kelly, marketing boss for Phillips-Van Heusen. "We're looking to market the cars and stars. We expect to be very aggressive in our spending."

Perhaps most significant is Izod's promise to contribute to the series' TEAM programme, which provides cash to full-time teams. That should be a significant boost to smaller operators on the margin, while helping mid-level squads compete with the series' strongest teams. "There is no better proof of the value in this type of partnership than when the sponsor commits to growing with the brand," said Keith Wiggins, owner of HVM Racing. "Izod is a great brand and a great partner, and the activation and business opportunities they bring will clearly be a benefit to the series and all the teams involved."

As a sidebar to the deal, Ryan Hunter-Reay - who has had a personal deal with Izod since mid-2008 - is expected to join Michael Andretti's team in an Izod-backed car in 2010, although it has yet to be officially announced. "This is what we've been waiting for; this is it," Hunter-Reay said of the title sponsorship. "This is a fresh start for the IndyCar Series. They're more a marketing company than anything else. The sky's the limit right now. It sounds cliche, but this is a great start."

Once propped up by George's money, the IRL is under orders to begin turning a profit. The TV contract with Versus - a ratings disaster but a moderate business success - is the first step in that path, and the Izod deal is a second, more significant step. The key element, aside from money, is Izod's ability to market and advertise IndyCar racing beyond its relatively small audience. "They bring a marketing expertise that we've never had," said Brian Barnhart, the IRL's president of operations and competition.

Owners and drivers reiterated the angle that Izod is outside the automotive realm, with the hope that it can sell open-wheel racing to a younger, fashion-conscious, affluent market. "Whoever is our series sponsor is, it needs to be somebody that has relevance in our business," Panther Racing's John Barnes said. "I think that Izod is a perfect fit because in a lot of ways our customers come from the same demographic, and this partnership really fits open-wheel racing and the type of people we represent. It also shows strength in the IndyCar Series because they were able to accomplish this in such tough economic times."

The economy continues to be IndyCar's anchor, but most see the Izod announcement as a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak time. "First we had unification of the two open wheel series, and now a title sponsor in Izod," said 2009 IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti. "I think you're seeing the IndyCar Series continue to head in the right direction."

The announcement isn't getting front page press attention from likes of Fox Sports, ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, etc.

it should be fairly obvious why

Is Marco Andretti doing another season with AGR?

Comcast Corp and General Electric Co are closer to a deal to give Comcast a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal and a formal announcement may be made in the coming week. Some believe this will help Versus get to ESPN level. That remains to be seen.

http://www.reuters.com/article/industry ... RM20091102

The announcement isn't getting front page press attention from likes of Fox Sports, ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, etc. It seems the media is more interested in Danica pending Nascar deal.

And like many others in open-wheel circles, he also questioned the suspect timing of this week's reports about Patrick moving to NASCAR.

"There seems to be a certain game being played - not by her or her people - to drip feed these stories to the media,'' Franchitti said.

While Patrick, 27, and her agents at IMG have refused to confirm any news about 2010, multiple IndyCar sources confirmed Thursday that she's already signed a deal to be back in IndyCar full-time at Andretti Green Racing while also making a few stock car starts next season. Sponsorship commitments and leadership changes at AGR have prevented any type of formal announcement yet.

Some feel this is an ideal time to bring the IndyCar Series to Mazda Raceway, now that there is a unified series. When I spoke recently with IndyCar officials, they said they love to race here but there were two stumbling blocks, a date and money.

Campbell says a date has been agreed upon, but the fee IndyCar wants is out of our league. Tony George, who founded and operated the series since 1994, long coveted Mazda Raceway but he is no longer in charge. Apparently, the family put the kibosh on the millions of the family fortune Tony was spending each year.

Anyway, we've got a dance date but no one to dance with.

Open wheel fans, email jlewis@indycar.com (that's john Lewis) and let your feelings be known. There is no reason for the exorbitant fee the series wants. If they can come down we can get the open wheel racing back on track.

Gil de Ferran, who announced in August that he would retire from driving at the end of the American Le Mans Series season and would seek to start an IndyCar Series team for 2010, said he remains committed to the project despite global economic conditions putting a damper on potential sponsorship initiatives.

"We're not all the way there, but our plans remain the same and I'm working hard," the 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner said before the IZOD IndyCar Series announcement. "Both Robert (Clarke, former president of Honda Performance Development) and I are travelling the world trying to secure our future. Since (the ALMS finale at Laguna Seca) we haven't had a moment's rest in an effort to put all the deals necessary together for next year."

As others in the rooms noted, the title sponsorship - and the long reach of parent company Phillips-Van Heusen - could sway potential sponsors, or at least open the door.

"This is certainly very good news for IndyCar, having a sponsor that is clearly behind it and is a sponsor that understands the sport," de Ferran said. "It's a sponsor that will increase the exposure of the series."

Robin Miller's views on the IZOD deal:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... y-of-hope/

...and hopefully a couple million for Hunter-Reay’s ride (which will be at Michael Andretti’s team in 2010).

Sources familiar with the deal said if certain metrics concerning number of races held annually, TV ratings, attendance and car count among other things aren’t met, there are triggers in the contract that will allow Izod to decrease its financial pay-out or opt out of the contract all together.

http://www.ibj.com/the-score/2009/11/06 ... post/11019

Anyone know what will happen with AGR? Will there be two teams with two cars each?