IndyCar has some of the best racing on the planet. The problem is that years of confusion and infighting have either left fans confused or sent them running. But Verizon just made a huge investment in the series to become the title sponsor. This could be IndyCar's return.
For the last four years, IZOD was the title sponsor of IndyCar. Have you seen any commercials for IZOD that involved IndyCar in the last two years? No. IZOD stopped caring and became a sort of lame duck sponsor. They didn't have the reach to effectively promote the series and the tie in was just never there. It hurt IndyCar because IZOD didn't let them out of the contract, so they just kind of had to sit there and not have the promotion they were promised. It hurt.
But Verizon. It's a gigantic national company with a huge advertising presence. They are already sponsors of Team Penske and use IndyCar in national ads. It's already more than IZOD ever did. Now they have an investment in the series that is rumored to be $100 million over 10 years. For IndyCar, that's monumental.
Especially because the series still isn't popular in the mainstream. Verizon is taking on a huge challenge here, but it'll also be a referendum on IndyCar. If the clout of Verizon cannot help make the series popular, maybe it never will be popular.
The Verizon sponsorship is simultaneously some of the best news for IndyCar in the last 15 years and IndyCar's final chance to prove it has just needed a sponsor and huge exposure to grab the public's attention.
This is a make or break deal. Nobody screw it up. Please.