IndyCar: Series increases marketing budget for 2023

Is it a day late and a dollar short? If Liberty Media had bought the IndyCar Series, it would be a huge success story right now.

Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reports that IndyCar  plans to significantly increase its marketing budget for next year, as Roger Penske’s racing series responds to calls from its industry to be more aggressive in the face of rising competition.

F1 and NASCAR are eating their lunch and with F1’s big push into the USA, IndyCar was looking increasingly irrelevant.

Once F1 announces a planned 4th USA race it could be the final nail in IndyCar’s coffin if something is not done soon.

While not revealing specifics, Penske Corp. EVP Jonathan Gibson and Penske Entertainment President & CEO Mark Miles confirmed to SBJ yesterday that they’re drawing up plans to ramp up marketing next year, with Gibson — one of Penske’s right-hand men — saying that it will be a “significant investment in our marketing plans.”

Gibson said that IndyCar leadership has been working in the second half of this year on next year’s plans and that it includes new ad campaigns and content partnerships, unscripted docuseries (copying F1), a national PR and earned media effort, a new app and other digital efforts, and influencer and sustainability strategies. Some of the new creative will be debuted during IndyCar’s pre-season testing at The Thermal Club in Palm Springs in February. SBJ

The best thing IndyCar could do for itself is put the series in front of F1 as a support race at COTA, Miami and Las Vegas.  It would be a huge boost in exposure for the series to potential sponsors and a new fan base.

Egos probably won’t allow it.