Lawsuits have a funny way of bringing interesting stuff to light. In this case a lawsuit has brought to light the sponsorship agreement between Farmers Insurance and Hendrick Motorsports, specifically the financial end of things. That’s the part that has gotten a lot of attention over the last couple of days because sponsor agreements are typically pretty well locked down in terms of what gets released to the public.
The bottom line is that Farmers was spending about $660,000 per race for NASCAR sponsorship. Compare that to say, an NHRA top fuel operation for a couple million per year and it looks more and more like chump change…the drag racing stuff that is. There were performance clauses, there were commitments for appearances both at the track and on film, there were rules about conduct, and basically it was like any other large sporting contract.
We got a kick out of the fact that Farmers got one complete suit per year, a small smattering of tickets, and some hard cards for their people. You’d figure there’d be more in it than that in terms of low level stuff. 2012 and 2013 were the big spending years with $12-million and $14-million thrown the team’s way. In following years the number of races they spent on shrunk and the sponsorship was worth less than $10-million per year.
A fascinating read that looks into a big money sport.
Click the image below to see the ESPN story about the lawsuit –
I hear Farmers is great at not covering claims. So yeah, they should have tons of money to blow.
I quit watching the NASCAR TOYOTA SERIES 3 years ago and only occasionally consent to an occasional stern lecture from ESPN about
why America is a dump and it’s my fault.
Now I just participate in local Drag Racing and watch College Football.
Sounds like Farmers was like me…didn’t get much for their money.
I quit watching the NASCAR TOYOTA SERIES 3 years ago and only occasionally consent to an occasional stern lecture from ESPN about why America is a dump and it’s my fault.
Now I just participate in local Drag Racing and watch College Football.
Sounds like Farmers was like me…didn’t get much for their money.
The same amount, could fund a Mid to lower level CWTRUCK team for an entire season
Wow, that is a crazy amount of money per race! I too used to watch the races on occasion but have quit in the last couple years.
Interesting. Farmers, that s a lot of dough. The picture in this article is of Pablo Escobar\’s cash stash fyi.
Sponsorships are nothing more , and nothing less than ass kissing to an art form. It’s an ego trip for CEO’s to see a suite for them at a race or a shop tour for their family’s of some idiot owner { Force } or big money team until they finally wake up one day and say it’s not worth it anymore and we can not justify spending this much money for very little if anything in return . The only winners here are people like the idiot Force who built his empire with other peoples money. Think about it .
Donny boy, Force an idiot? Um… what have you done lately? Turdbag..
If you are referring to John Force I don’t think hes an idiot, he looks like a smart business man to me, made what appears to be a good living racing.
It is a ton of cash for races. BUT! It\’s their money, they can spend it how they wish. They answer to their stockholder and customers… NOT those of us who do not use them.
Just another reason why so many fans have stopped watching. No real competitive racing, cry baby drivers, and bullshit rules changes every week.