The IndyCar Series has "begun searching for a potential replacement for its title sponsor, Izod, three years before the sponsorship is set to end," according to Tripp Mickle in next week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. IndyCar execs have "approached current series sponsors and brands about becoming the presenting sponsor of the series in a deal that would make them title sponsor at an undetermined date." The companies already approached include Verizon and Firestone, two existing partners, and "one company outside its collection of sponsors with the proposal." IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said that the series "still has a long-term deal with Izod that runs through at least 2015," and added that the sales effort is "designed to prepare the series for the future by helping IndyCar secure long-term sponsorships in the technology and tire categories and the funding it needs to expand the number of races it holds." IndyCar’s search "follows an executive change at Izod parent company Phillips-Van Heusen Corp." Longtime President & COO Allen Sirkin, who supported the IndyCar deal, is retiring, and sources said that his replacement as COO, current PVH CFO and Exec VP/Finance Michael Shaffer, "has been less enthusiastic about the more than $60 million deal Izod signed in 2009." Sources said that Izod pays about $6M to IndyCar annually in rights fees and spends an additional $5M annually on media and activation. The company has a minimum of three years left on its deal, but Bernard "would not say whether Izod would fulfill that obligation" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/11 issue).
