IndyCar, Verizon Reach Sponsorship Deal

Indianapolis-based IndyCar has announced an agreement to make Verizon title sponsor of the auto racing series.

The sponsorship, reported by the Indianapolis Business Journal  to be worth $10 million over five years, aligns IndyCar with Verizon, whose technical expertise is expected to benefit fans, the series, teams, commercial partners and race venues.

The deal includes network coverage upgrades to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; short- and long-term technology enhancements to IndyCar Race Control; the addition of pit lane monitors and enhancing connectivity for spectators at each domestic race venue.

Verizon also plans to bring its LTE Multicast solution to racetracks in the future, complementing the Verizon INDYCAR 14 app and indycar.com. This emerging technology delivers multimedia content to multiple devices at once rather than sending it in a separate stream to each user.

IndyCar and Verizon also plan a multi-dimensional partnership linking sports, entertainment and technology beginning at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which kicks off this year’s 18-race season on March 30 (3 p.m. on ABC).

Verizon has been an official partner of IndyCar the past four years and the primary sponsor of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car driven by Will Power. The relationship with the team will expand for the 2014 season with Verizon as the primary sponsor of the No. 2 entry driven by 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya for at least eight races.

IZOD was the previous title sponsor of the IndyCar series, beginning in 2010. In 2012, a change in the apparel company’s management led to a decline in participation, and ultimately withdrawal from the series at the end  of the 2013 season.

Photo by Chris Owens, courtesy of IndyCar