Indianapolis-based Finish Line Inc. has signed a multi-year agreement to extend its title sponsorship
of the 500 Festival’s 5K race held each May, officials announced today.
Allstate Corp. is ending its five-year run as the lead sponsor of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR race in Indianapolis,
company officials said today. The announcement comes after this year’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
suffered a 20-percent attendance drop from last year’s event.
Marketers and grocery store insiders say The Kroger Co.’s recently announced deal to partner with the Indiana Pacers and
Indiana Fever isn’t just another sponsorship agreement.
The Indianapolis Colts have become one of the first National Football League teams to sell a corporate sponsorship patch
on players’ practice jersey.
A management shake-up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has some in the motorsports industry thinking major changes could
be on the horizon at the fabled race venue—maybe as soon as next year.
Emboldened by the deal he signed to put his company’s name on the Indianapolis Colts’ new home, Forrest Lucas has launched
an arsenal of creative-some would say unorthodox-initiatives to fortify his growing company. Many of them are designed to
help Lucas Oil Products Inc. go head to head with the oil industry’s biggest players.
Fans walking into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the First MotoGP race there Sept. 14 likely won’t recognize the place. Sponsor ads will hang on the inside walls of the track. There will be a host of companies in the hospitality area–including Yamaha, Kawasaki, Ducati and Repsol–that have never set foot inside the Speedway’s grounds. The motorcycle-specific nature of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP will permeate every facet of the event and affects all elements of the host city’s planning.
Officials for Lucas Oil Products Inc. are imploring fans and media not to refer to the team’s new stadium as The Luke,
a nickname that has cropped up on sports talk radio shows and been repeated in print and on TV. The nickname
seems to be gaining momentum, and that doesn’t sit well with Lucas brass already playing defense against
New Jersey-based Lukoil Co. California based-Lucas Oil signed a 20-year, $121.5 million naming-rights deal
for the Colts’ new stadium.
An economic dry spell may have corporate America praying for rain, but tough times have led to a bountiful year at the
Indiana State Fair. Two weeks before the fair’s Aug. 6 start date, corporate sponsorships were running 22 percent ahead of
2007, surpassing $1.5 million for the first time.
The Indiana Fever could spike this year. Ticket sales, sponsorship and the local buzz about the team are on the rise. But
perhaps most important, the Fever have key advocates in the Pacers Sports & Entertainment front office that the team simply
hasn’t had before.
The Indy Racing League will roll out category sponsorship deals with soft drink, energy drink and motor oil brands in the
next two months. IRL officials declined to divulge which companies the deals are with, but said each are multiyear, multimillion-dollar
deals.
