Getting paid for racing boats

[Hydro doc]

We have some sponsors that do business with the city or in our case do business with the owner of the lake. There are funds set aside for tourism as in the Arkansas race. They write a grant. We are fortunate to have a casino that supports us. It is about numbers, as you most show real growth in sales tax. We just sold a $8,000 race to the city of Claremore. Bob, you are a salesman, go sell $8,000 on a date that NBRA does not race and guys will show up. You must be talking to profitable businesses who understand tourism. Bass fisherman provide a impact study to justify their fees and they do not put on a show like ours. I want to commend Alan Owen, who like Rick and I, is the sponsor and race director. We get the money hire the ambulance and do all the advertising. I know he uses some of his own money. When you hear that the clubs got so much money, in our case it covers all of the above. With out our spectators the money dries up from the sponsors.

[Racerkyle20]

GREAT TOPIC!

While I'm pretty new to the scene of putting on races (2015 will be my 5th year) for Seattle Outboard I have learned the most on race sponsors this last year for the 2014 Moses Lake Stock/MOD/J nationals and JH Worlds. I first had great help from my club and two folks in particular, Ana Cappelletti and JW Myers.Both Ana and JW had some background in sponsorship and really helped put our sponsorship together.

One thing for Moses Lake is it was easy to sell because A) the town is a decent size (20,000) with the lake/race pits located inside the city limits and B) It was a large race and I was able to sell drivers from across the country showing up for this event (with the JW worlds I could sell a world event as well knowing the Qatar team would be showing up). We did have two major sponsors that were part of the racing family and not from in town. They gave a very large chunk of our total sponsorship. But that covered race expenses. Our town sponsorship totaled what we ended up handing out in tow money back to the racers. Here's what we did in town:

1) SOA went to the Moses Lake chamber of commerce and befriended them. We even joined as a chamber member ($100/yr).
2) Once in the chamber we were able to sell the race to potential sponsors within. We did this with great success.We went to multiple local get together s to socialize.
3) Selling the race to vendors. Beer and food were a huge part of the deal. We got a local brewery to sponsor the beer with the Chamber putting up the food. We negotiated a deal were SOA would get a % of the net profits from both. This worked out great!
4) We also sold spots to our sponsors. Like at bigger races we sold the opportunity to be in a VIP area we set up. Getting wrist bands for access and even Tshirts.
5) What sponsors got: we had all our sponsors logos on the T-shirts and were able to provide advertising for them in our beer garden, radio ads, and race program. We even sold the idea of having the radio station down at the pits 2 different days with a major sponsor fronting the money for that and making it their sponsored radio show. We did driver interviews, etc during the music breaks.
6) program; We dd not pay a dime for our program! The program was done by the local newspaper (Chamber member) and they sold vendor spots near the beer garden. Example we had a wireless company with a trailer selling their product all week. They paid the newspaper with a few others and that paid for our program. Genius idea that I cannot take credit for.
7) We sold ad space anywhere and everywhere. From the above mentioned and some others that we didn't do but are good ideas like: naming the race course/corners (Example Joe' Bar corner 2).
8) Trophies were donated by Penway media! That's a large expense out of the budget for that large of race!
9) We applied for and were approved for a Grant from the county. This had to do with tourism and we had to prove how many hotel rooms/people/different states showed up. That netted us approx $3,000! Local funding like that is everywhere!

All in all SOA was able to pay out $8,000 in tow money to the racers. My hope in APBA is this starts a trend. Is it hard? You're darn right it is. Our club sponsorship team worked really hard to make that figure happen.

It was a big race and probably tough to do for small local backyard races, but it can be done! Any questions just ask!

[Smitty]

Very interesting.

I don't know, but I'd guess that the mayor, Chamber, and other city-dads in a town being approached as a new race-site would find the experiences of mayors and Chambers of other towns to be more credible than the assertions of racers. If you could hand them a letter from the city leadership of a place like DePue, IL, saying how much their town has enjoyed and benefitted from racing for many years, that might be the best selling tool you could have. Professionals want to hear from other professionals.

[kampenracing]

One of the most overlooked aspects is to put races on only in places that want is to be there. If they want you to come they will pay. They don't expect it for free. For most of our races we try to put out the info to the drivers to patronize those business who put up the money and make sure they tell them they are boat racers

[thetrailergod]

Bob< just a question for you, but do you remember me back in the 80s when I was part of the IOA? I wanted to put on a race in Elkhart? had a sponsor for 10k, and the IOA didn't want to do it? um did we miss something there? just askin

[PROPDOC]

To add to what kampenracing said about going to cities where they want you.
For our race at Jacksboro, TX (NBRA race) I have developed a relationship with the city and we benefit greatly from it. Example, this summer will be our third race in four years there, every year we asked the city to provide the EMS services. Not only do they do that but we have a dedicated ambulance/ems crew for the weekend and they also provide the rescue boat with rescue divers from the Fire Dept. And after all of that they have asked me what else can they do for us! Ever since our first contact with the city five years ago they've welcomed us there with open arms and it has been great! They even let us local racers test at the lake including the mod 44's. As a race club we couldn't ask for a better location and relationship with a host city. And all we had to do was ask, that's it no special formula!

[Hydro doc]

Gardner has make it work, it's really a lot of developing a relation with the people that are interested in bring racing to their town. It was easier when we had a lot of racers. We are the most motivated. Most of our races are In sites where racers live or there is someone that is willing to work on the event. We are much like rodeos or circuses , a show that is entertaining. I have often said that if you keep time on the heats and give points only on the final results. This does not put on a good show because you must win by the largest margin in the first heat. If you give prizes and points by the heat then you only need to win by a inch.

[Hydro doc]

To answer Bob's question, about money flowing into the community. The chambers say that a family spends $210/day while in the community. We suggest that boat teams require two families to support one trailer with two or more boats on the average. We suggest that the average race has 40 trailers, with 80 to 100 boats. This is the numbers we find at Grove. Huntington does this with out any tow money. It does this because of the very race able water and good scheduling..

[94H]

Thank you everyone. This is the info that I'm sure boat clubs want to hear. Can you tell us if there is a typical sponsor (type of business) that the chamber gets involved.

At one time I had some support from the Huntington Chamber of Commerce but that was when I had a large $$ sponsor. When that company left the city, Huntington was in huge financial disarray and the Chamber couldn't do anything. Based on your feedback I think it's time to go back and visit.

Huntington sort of violates the rule that the city should “really” want you to be there. The site is local to hundreds of entries and a nice small extremely competitive course. That is why we have tried to keep it and is now going to be our 29 year at the site.

Jeff,
I don't know how to answer your question.

I hope you realize that a decision made 30 years ago was not made by the current IOA Board of Directors. We change directors every year. I can't remember exactly why the IOA declined racing at your site. I think there was a problem with pit space or access - I can't remember.

As some people know I quit posting on Hydro Racer a while ago. My reason for coming back was to ask for guidance to keep this sport going forward in this messed up economy. It's still really messed up!

This is a good thread!

BK

[DeanFHobart]

First of all KUDOS to NBRA........... They have their act together.

For justification of tow money to potential sponsors............ A Boat Race brings "Extra" people into an area..... just like any sporting event does. So the local businesses see a revenue from these extra people.

Again, KUDOS to the NBRA...... It would be great to see this type of thing on the West Coast. And all areas for a matter of fact.

The Best To All, Regards,

Dean Hobart............................................ ....................................

[runabout333]

I want to use the NBRA,,, Grove, Oklahoma as an example.. Great race site,,, Great promoters,, and the city of Grove prospers.
The motels fill up,, the eating establishments,, the gas stations and the convenience stores all see an influx of business. At the
race sight,,, the parking lot is full of vehicles from spectator participation.. There is always a couple of civic organizations that have
set up their food stands and making money. The tow money helps,, but no driver is getting rich. There is also a respectable about
of APBA crossovers at this race and the word crossover was used with the upmost of respect. Leonard and Rick Miller have really
done a great job with this race. Come one,, come all.. Come a couple of days early and bring your golf clubs..

[Hydro doc]

Thanks Dean and Dave for your complements. We are growing our attendance here in Grove. We plan to double our advertising, spending around $3,500. One new advertising method is two billboards in our town. My goal is 5,000 spectators. We only have so many race trailers, but a large number of people that could attend. The one thing that we are doing is trying to recognizing the drivers for their participation and their winning. We build a podium and have the winners photographic in front of a large banner. What we do as drivers need to be recognized and in our case we have had 2,000 fans there to see those awards. We do not charge and it becomes a large community event. This lake has more shore line than the coast line of California and people love boating.