IndyCar - IndyCar Racing

MARKETING

Super Bowl commercials about specific drivers

WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE

Sports properties have been looking to talk about themselves, their competitions and their athletes in new ways. Series like F1 Drive to Survive have helped grow audiences and popularity by highlighting the personalities within the sport while also introducing how it works, the stakes, etc. These commercials seem to be clearly inspired by that approach.

THOUGHTS & DID IT WORK?  

I am - admittedly - not the audience for this as I have no interest in car racing of any variety, but I do think the ads were reasonably effective. They do a pretty good job of giving you an idea of the racers’ personalities and backstories in just a few seconds. It doesn’t tell me anything about IndyCar itself, but I think for someone who understands the sport but doesn’t follow it that these could be very effective.

One issue I do have though is on potential ROI. The going rate for 30 seconds of Super Bowl ad time this year was $8M, so these 3 commercials cost $24M (not including production). I am guessing that Fox opted to give IndyCar that airtime for free - or heavily discounted - since IndyCar is also broadcast on Fox. I can’t help but think that for all that money a decent mini-series ala Drive to Survive could have been made instead though that would let you tell a much bigger story around the sport.