Wahoo ATV

Reading another thread got me thinking.

Many of us are business owners so I ask, what would you expect from an Offshore Race Team for your marketing investment at each of these price levels? What would be the probability of you actually following through with the partnership if your expectations were met?

$500
$1000
$2000
$5000
$10,000

Would you rather sponsor an event or an entire series than an individual team?

HabanaJoe

Wahoo,

This is an intelligent question, because if you read what I posted, I'm just trying to figure out how much it cost and for what?

The answers and PM's range from $2,000 a race to well into 6 figures and for a Geico type boat - it might be worth it as they bring so many other facets to the program.

Also, some people are saying we race 3 races here and 2 races there and so forth. I guess I never really looked at it from this side of the fence before eventhough I knew the answer as to why this sport will stay the "sport of kings" forever.

BUT, some of you gave me such great insight into other motorsports and the cost and what you get for it that boat racing seems like if you just want to throw money away - come here.

Having been in the sport years ago when it was just APBA for the most part and then being there on day one of the OPT, I can understand the problems - you guys have got to get together under one umbrella good or bad to race and promote that organization only - in my opinion.

Everyone will jump up and down and say NASCAR has Bush series and yada yada yada but how many cars so up and don't quailfy to race - we/you/us can't even get enough boats to have 1st, 2nd 3rd place trophies in some classes. Hell, some of you can't even come together enough to be on 1 website, you had to go off and do a seperate website and now neither site has enough people to be a real enitity let alone get advertisers that aren't friends somehow!

You guys need to get together, put ego/differences aside hire one person to run it like APBA had and just suck it up and go there to put on a show, racing comes second - that is if you want sponsors and crowds again my opinion only.

I also think Gino's idea of a Poker Run boat for a sponsor might be a better idea at this point because you can take people out on it, you can take it to events (like import car shows or trade shows) easier and just have it there and people go crazy for it. You can probably get some great press because you can take it and run it anywhere?

Guys you need unite and maybe boat sponsors is not the answer for the sport, maybe it is "event" sponsors that you need to push for - don't be selfish and like auto racing every boat has all the event sponsors on it as well? You guys don't need sponsor money to race, or else you wouldn't be doing it in the first place. The money helps you pay a couple bills but you blow a drive or engine and it's 5 times the sponsor money you got!

Maybe, if you took the sponsor moneys and pooled them together to have events at the races that brought in a crowd like a carinval (rides), concerts or something you could get more going. I've read on here the days of Celebs racing and how some of you thought that was terriable - well I sat next to Don Johnson and Kurt Russell etc and it drew a crowd, people flocked just to take pictures!!!

Face it 99.9% of the people don't want to come see an offshore style boat race, if you gave them some other reasons to come you might get a better showing?

Don't take any of this wrong because you won't see Habana Joe or Joe Gere on 10 other boat sites or car sites etc, my love and passion is for this sport, you can tell how I write sometimes, I've invested and lost many dollars in this game because I love the sea and thrill of open ocean running - I said what I said from the heart and would love this sport to be back to 1988 or 1989 when 100 boats show up to race!!!!

2 Trick Rick

$500.00 = Sticker placement on boat for single event

$1000.= Larger sticker placement on boat for Season

$2000.= Large sticker on boat in a couple spots and name on shirts

$5000.= Large sticker on boat in a couple spots, name on shirts, hats and posters

$10,000.= Team name of boat, Logo on all shirts, hats, crew wear, posters and LARGE NAME on boat. use of boat for promotional events

How's that?

Sean H

In todays economy especially, I believe corporate sponsors want to see action for their dollars more than ever. A sticker may be good for a local event sponsor; marina, bar, etc, but a corporate sponsor wants to see action. How are you going to promote thier name? They can purchase a billboard at the race site that does the same as stickers on a boat and reach many more people who will never go in the pit or watch the actual race.

I believe you have to offer media coverage (tv, radio, internet, magazine, team websites, newspaper), appearaces outside races (trade shows, boat shows, poker runs, corporate functions, employee get togethers, charity functions, etc) and finally, a winning or competive team. Nobody wants to sponsor the guy who finishes last, politically correct or not.

I think in this sport, just expecting to get money for stickers isn't going to work. Actually, that is the reality of it. You may get the sticker trade for the $500 dollar range, but for more than that, you are going to have to offer more than stickers.

Obviously at the bigger end, you have teams like Geico and Bud that build special boats just for boat shows and apperances... but that same action can be had by smaller sponsorships. The miami boat show was giving away space to race teams, there was more people at the miami boat show than probably all the races combined. Those are the actions that marketing partners want to see.

2 Trick Rick

Those are all great points Sean and people need to be sure when approaching potential sponsors to tell them about the "extras" that they receive for there advertising dollar and it’s not just racing. I just jammed a 2 page answer into 5 lines so allot was left out..

Wahoo ATV

Personally, I would not pay for a sticker on anything. I would however pay for interaction with my market. I mean bring the boat to events, be in the communities I do business in, do charitiy events in my corporate name and oh yeah win some races.

So what is this stuff worth?

Joe/Sean,

You guys are right on track. Most race sites are now like Carnivals and bring alot of people to the venue for many reasons other than just the race. So why not sponsor an entire racing series?

With OPA I am tring to bring many unique sponsors in smaller dollar amounts to support the entire series. Kinda like the fender on a NASCAR. Say One prop company, one battery company, one parts vendor etc each with relatively modest participation in exchange for recognition as an exclusive vendor to the OPA. If we had so 20 of these it would be something to build on.

AppSysCons

It is really hard to pull them in.

Back when we were world champions, we had put together a 24 page, sponsor information package, for potential sponsors. It contained

Color photos
Team member bio’s
Equipment bio’s
Titles, wins and record
Previous years supporters and sponsors
Advertising/sponsor rate guidelines
The race schedule, with dates and locations
Information regarding the sanctioning body
Information about our magazine
Letters of intent from the sanctioning body
Letters of intent from the video productions company
Letters of intent from the TV coverage network
Extensive demographic (for previous year) and economic studies
Documented/verified race attendance numbers, by venue
Documented/verified spectator expense
Documented/verified TV viewer ship
A professional economic and demographic study
Trust in sports apparel and products
Spectators
National sponsor list

Our rates went from $1,500 for a 1-2 foot long, on one side of the boat

to

just cracking 6 figures for a total package sponsor.

BlackJack58

As anyone can see, that's a very comprehensive package. It also points to the fact that advertisers don't listen to "anecdotal" stories about how many spectators there are, or how much "excitement" there is. Hard dollars always require hard numbers.

At it's most basic level, advertising is based on "impressions"...real numbers of people who will be able to see an ad (or a decal, sticker, poster, etc.) - how many are at the race, see it on TV, see the boat pic in a magazine, etc. You might even toss in an estimate of how many people see you towing the boat through the streets. In this aspect, you treat it like a billboard. But you can get a billboard next to the the interstate where 50,000+ cars a day drive by - for a couple grand a week.

Then there's demographics of the spectators/viewers. This is one area where I think there's a lot of potential...as I think offshore fans/participants have a fair amount of disposable income, and represent a valuable [and targeted] demo. You just have to get some numbers on this, but they should be out there.

Then there are all the ancillary factors--product mentions, outside exposures, team appearances, giving sponsors/clients "rides" -- these can have a distinct value of their own. In some cases, they can be of very high value--that pit pass or ticket to a post-event party can be worth a lot to a sponsor trying to win or impress clients.

I'd think the energy-drink deal would be a natural, based on the demo. But there are a lot of products/services out there who would be attracted to the offshore fan base. Reaching out beyond "what's been done before" is what's needed - and trying to "grow" the sport is what will help in the long run. How that's done is the question everybody wants to have answered.

Hauling Trash

You can sponsor one of our races ECBRCNJ for $500.00 a race. We get about a 1000+ people per race . We have about 12 races this year in NJ and 3 with the OPA.

Mike

www.ecbrcnj.com
myspace.com/ecbrcnj

dreamer

with no disrespect intended u guys are sooooooooo far off base with what is involved in a real marketing partnership

first there r no packages or packets..... each deal must be individualized to the needs of the company

what is there $$$$$$ return and how r u gonna produce it?
why u and not someone else? what do u bring to the table?