Given that NASCAR is heavily dependent on charted flights, private aviation startup Wheels Up has decided to enter the sport’s sponsorship fray with a personal-endorsement deal with Team Penske driver Joey Logano. The one-year pact, which has an option to extend to multiple years, was completed this week and will be formally rolled out over the coming weeks. The two-year-old Wheels Up, which just secured a $115M financing round last week that was led by T. Rowe Price, Fidelity and NEA, gets rights to Logano’s likeness and promotional opportunities. In return, Logano -- who like all Wheels Up brand ambassadors had to become a Wheels Up member to cement the deal -- gets value in kind in the form of a certain amount of free hours of chartered flights. Wheels Up CEO Kenny Dichter said the brand zeroed in on Logano because he is a young yet successful driver, and the brand is trying to reach a young demographic, albeit a highly targeted one. The 25-year-old Logano won this year’s Daytona 500 and is the youngest race winner in Sprint Cup Series history. Moreover, Dichter expects that the motorsports industry could yield $10-20M annually in revenue for his company should plans turn out, so gaining a foothold to start was important. Dichter: “We want to attract young, successful people that are also known for their smarts and savviness. Joey hits that right down the middle for us.”
LEARNING TO FLY: The brand, which also has deals with Serena Williams, Erin Andrews, Rickie Fowler, J.J. Watt and Russell Wilson, is devoting the majority of its traditional advertising to print ads featuring testimonials from the brand ambassadors in publications including The Wall Street Journal. The company is planning to incorporate Logano into the testimonial strategy. Wheels Up has a proprietary app that members use to set up their flights on the company’s fleet of airlines. Dichter, who is hoping to eventually have 20-25 NASCAR drivers as customers, noted that 80% of NASCAR’s current schedule is east of the Mississippi River, which aligns well with where Wheels Up’s fleet is primarily located. Dichter: “The membership model is really resonating with the millennials. And Joey to me is a perfect example of someone being attracted to the type of model we’re putting out.”
