Toy manufacturer Toy State entered NASCAR as a team sponsor this season, but the company has already made significant business-to-business progress, recently signing a licensing deal with Hendrick Motorsports and closing in on another with the sanctioning body.
Toy State, which is a long-standing licensee of the likes of Caterpillar, Mattel (Hot Wheels, Barbie, Thomas & Friends), Warner Bros. (DC Super Friends), James Bond and WWE, will produce light-and-sound and radio-control car models in the likenesses of Hendrick’s stable of four cars and drivers, plus NASCAR-branded ones once that deal closes.
Details on the lines, prices and timing of when the products will roll out — either by this year’s holiday shopping season or next year — are still being determined, according to Andy Friess, president of Toy State. NASCAR declined comment because the deal is still being completed.
But Friess said the company, which is completing its first year sponsoring Tommy Baldwin Racing’s No. 7 Chevrolet driven by Alex Bowman in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, will make cars that largely resemble the ones seen on track and include drivers’ vocal phrases.
“A huge part of our business just in our general product line — even outside of motorsports — is the licensing component,” Friess said. “Having the ability to become a NASCAR licensee and work more deeply with NASCAR corporate on how do we build their business, use those marks and work more deeply with the teams and the sport in general … it perfectly aligns with the children initiatives and it’s bringing in that next generation of fan.”
Friess said discussions with NASCAR began during Daytona 500 weekend in February, when Bowman’s car crashed during qualifying and then didn’t have the requisite owner’s points to make the race.
The company is in discussions with other NASCAR teams about becoming a licensee, and Friess said that, without much if any category competition currently in NASCAR, he foresees an opportunity to own the space.
The company also is in discussions with other motorsports series domestically and internationally about licensing opportunities, Friess said. And it is talking with other sponsors in NASCAR about striking deals that could improve the company’s distribution efforts. It also is open to signing activation opportunities with some of the sport’s track operators.
Toy State, which originally signed on just for the Daytona 500 to push its Nikko R/C brand but eventually grew that to 10 races as a primary sponsor, is not yet ready to release sponsorship plans for the 2016 season, Friess said.
