Rick Ware, owner of Rick Ware Racing, has offered his insights into the sponsorship landscape in NASCAR. His comments painted a picture of a market that is full of opportunities, but still not without its challenges. Smaller teams, like his own, are seeing more interest from potential sponsors compared to what they have seen in previous years.
However, the process of transforming interest into a signed deal isn't always straightforward, largely due to the highly competitive media and marketing outlay. Sponsorship dollar values have declined, and as a result, the once-common full-season primary sponsorships have become rare. Teams now often have to rely on shorter, segmented sponsorships throughout the racing season.
"I'd say the marketing side of it is very bullish right now. We're obviously one of the smaller teams and we're having dramatically more conversations than we typically have had in the past," Ware said via a press release. "That doesn't mean that we close them all, but the interest is there.
I think that's what's important across the board. I think there's so much competition out there in media and marketing opportunities that the dollar figures aren't quite what they used to be. I think we've all seen that.
"So, I think you see even some of the cornerstone cars that it's tough to see primary sponsors all year anymore, so you see people doing blocks of sponsorships." Rick Ware Racing, a team that has been in NASCAR since 2000, has found ways to adapt to these chan.
