Discount chain Target has sponsored an IndyCar team for 27 years, one of the longest-running such sponsorships in all of sports. While it’s weird to see drivers with literal bullseyes on their backs, the partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing has led to lots of publicity and lots of wins. However, Target announced that it will end at the end of this season.
Why? Is it because Target is chasing upscale customers who aren’t interested in car racing as a sport? No: the chain’s hometown paper, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, reports that Target will continue sponsoring a NASCAR team, so it isn’t that the company wants to sever its ties with racing and stop advertising to its fans.
Ultimately, sponsoring a team is expensive, and having teams in both major auto racing series is doubly expensive. A Target spokeswoman told the Star-Tribune that the change is “really about injecting some newness around our approach to sports marketing.” The company does have its name on two sports arenas in the Minneapolis area, and has a deal with snowboarder Shaun White.
Target to end long-running IndyCar sponsorship as it changes sports marketing approach [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist