Roush Fenway has landed Kohler as a new sponsor with an eight-race primary deal that will start at the Daytona 500 and be based around the Wisconsin company’s generator products. Length and financial terms of the deal are unknown. Kohler Generators will get at-track hospitality assets plus digital/social co-branded content opportunities and the paint scheme positions. The deal took around a year to set up and might have started last year had it not been delayed by the pandemic. Kohler will handle the partnership in-house. Fenway Sports Group, which co-owns RFR, has helped the team land some sponsors over the last year, but this deal was prospected by RFR’s internal sales team, who identified that the generator category was essentially open in NASCAR. Kohler Generators Dir of Marketing Larry Teeling said that a significant portion of his division’s sales comes from areas where NASCAR has a strong fanbase, including the South and Southeast, because a lot of generators are sold in places where there are hurricanes. Kohler has had a presence before in motorsports, including an IndyCar race title sponsorship at Wisconsin's Road America course. RFR President Steve Newmark said that the two companies had significant alignment in their core values and that they are both in the industrial space, which also helped lead to the deal. Kohler Generators’ main goal is to grow brand awareness.
PLANNING AHEAD: Kohler’s eight primaries will be on RFR’s No. 6 Ford driven by Ryan Newman, who is returning for another season in NASCAR after his crash at last year’s Daytona 500. Kohler will be the primary for this year’s 500 and its other seven primaries include the new Road America race in its home state that will take place on 4th of July weekend. Kohler Generators sells many of its products through dealers, and it will use some of its hospitality assets this season to host those key business partners. As for RFR, Newmark said the team’s two cars are mostly, but not entirely, sold out of primary positions for the upcoming season -- but he feels the organization is in a good position sponsorship wise. NASCAR teams rely on sponsorship for about 75% of their annual revenue. Other team partners include Oscar Mayer, Progressive, Guaranteed Rate, Fifth Third Bank and Fastenal. Teeling told SBJ that Kohler Generators is also looking at striking new partnerships in other sports.
