Joyner-Kersee races to raise $8 million for NASCAR team
St. Louis Business Journal - by Cynthia Vespereny
Jackie Joyner-Kersee is roaring into auto racing with an $8 million NASCAR team that might be backed by local corporate sponsors.
The homegrown track star and her husband, trainer Bob Kersee, have been negotiating for months with potential sponsors, including Ralston Purina Co. and World Wide Technology Inc., said Greg McAleenan, who represents the couple.
"We are fairly close" to deals with some companies, said McAleenan, president of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Impact Management Co., a sports marketing and management firm.
He is aiming for $8 million to carry the team through its first year. It will need an additional $8 million a year to stay in gear.
The couple is entering the NASCAR circuit because auto racing is a passion of Kersee, whom McAleenan met about three years ago.
Joyner-Kersee and her husband will announce a driver and car manufacturer soon and hope to have the team in place by Sept. 1, said McAleenan, who is managing promotion and licensing programs. It hasn't been determined how much of their own money the couple will put into the venture.
Joyner-Kersee heads Elite Sports Marketing and is the chairwoman of the St. Louis Sports Commission.
World Wide Technology, a high-tech firm that is growing rapidly, is eyeing the team to raise the company's profile, President Jim Kavanaugh said.
"It's more of a visibility thing. With our e-business initiatives ... the marketplace is much broader for World Wide than it was in the past," he said.
The athletes are seeking companies that can cross-promote well, McAleenan said. He is negotiating with Ralston Purina, whose Energizer battery unit sponsored a car in the Indianapolis 500 this year driven by Robby McGehee of St. Louis.
One industry insider said Enterprise Rent-A-Car, with more than $4 billion in revenue last year, would fit well into a sponsorship team.
But the company, which advertises mainly on television, is not considering the move, Enterprise spokeswoman Christy Conrad said.
The couple's ties to the area could attract a local sponsorship group because the two are "are so vocal and excited about being from St. Louis," McAleenan said.
Others in the industry agreed.
"Her name is very recognized, and I think she can play off that very well," said Rod Wolter, general manager of Gateway International Raceway in Madison.
"She's always promoted the area. That would be a natural that she would try to find someone here," he said.
The couple's race for a NASCAR team comes amid efforts by Gateway to attract a Winston Cup by increasing its seating.
Gateway spent $3 million last year under a plan that expanded the raceway's seating to 60,000. By July, seating is expected to be 65,000. Wolter said he would up the number to 120,000 if he lands a Winston Cup.
While Joyner-Kersee is expected to be identified closely with the team, skills of the driver are crucial, noted Tom Thomson, motor-sports analyst at First Union Capital Markets in Richmond, Va. "It's the driver that's going to determine the amount of exposure the sponsor gets," he said.
The couple joins a long list of athletes with stakes in auto racing, including Mark McGwire, who last year paid $50,000 for a stake in Bobby Hillin's NASCAR Busch Series team, joining former Cardinals Danny Sheafer, Andy Benes and Gary Gaetti.
Impact Management also represents NASCAR driver Chad Little, who is sponsored by John Deere, and Chad Curtis of the New York Yankees and Brent Gates of the Minnesota Twins.
Besides a driver, team costs will include two race cars, vehicles to haul them and a crew of 15 to 20 for maintenance and repair. "Tires can run $300 a tire," Wolter said.
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