Roush Fenway Racing Shuffles Sale, Marketing Staff; Dedicates Client Teams To Sponsors

Newmark said RFR's sole goal is to exceed sponsors' expectations

Roush Fenway Racing recently reorganized its sales and marketing staff and is in the process of looking for a new sales exec. The marketing department previously was broken down into departments for licensing, sales and marketing. Those departments worked across all of the team’s sponsors. But the entire division was overhauled so that there are now client teams dedicated to the team’s sponsors. For example, there is a 3M team with a rep from licensing, sales and show car management. During the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour, RFR President Steve Newmark said the overhaul was undertaken because the team believes it will make it easier to meet sponsors' needs. Newmark said, “Our sole goal is to exceed sponsors' expectations.” In addition to those changes, RFR has added programming on NESN and struck a ROI measurement partnership with IEG. The moves come in the wake of a challenging business year that saw two sponsors, Scott’s and Crown Royal, leave the team, and several others decrease their spend, such as UPS and Aflac. The team kept eight of its 10 marquee sponsors and elevated its Nationwide Series partner, Fastenal, to the Cup series. All moves were done with an eye to retaining existing sponsors. Newmark said he hopes to hire a new sales exec before the Daytona 500, and he is concentrating his search on people outside NASCAR. Newmark: “You should always be looking at new sponsors but our focus needs to be on retaining our existing ones” (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal).

ON THE HORIZON: SCENE DAILY’s Jeff Owens noted RFR “had to contract from four to three Sprint Cup teams this season, but already is working on finding sponsors to expand back to four teams next season.” It also is “still looking for sponsors for its two Nationwide Series teams.” In addition, the organization “still needs sponsorship for about 10 races” for Cup driver Matt Kenseth. Meanwhile, Nationwide Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. does not have a sponsor yet, but the organization “has committed to running him” for the full season. Driver Trevor Bayne is “expected to run a partial Nationwide schedule, but Roush is looking for sponsorship to run him for the full season as well.” Newmark: “We are still out there talking to a number of sponsors and that will dictate whether we bump from one and a half to a full two” (SCENEDAILY.com, 1/24).