Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Formula E raced on an un-altered permanent road course for the first time in series history at Portland, set record average speeds, had a enthralling race and Nick Cassidy took the victory and decreased the championship deficit to one point between he and Jake Dennis with two rounds, four races remaining this season. Toyota's best driver in the World Rally Championship isn't full-time. IMSA had a chaotic weekend at Watkins Glen, and it didn't end with the checkered flag, but went through post-race inspection. Ducati is still good. Marc Márquez looks shattered. IndyCar was off, but some business decisions were on my mind.
Should IndyCar be Stupid with its Money?
Lionel Messi will be playing in Major League Soccer in less than a month. Messi, one of the greatest soccer players ever and recent World Cup winner with Argentina, will join Inter Miami. His debut is scheduled for July 21.
How did Messi end up in the American-based league? Revenue sharing from MLS partners Apple and Adidas as well as financial flexibility from the league to allow a player of this stature to join the league. One thing that separates Major League Soccer from other sports league around the world is it is single-entity, meaning the league owns all player contracts. These players do not sign for the clubs, but sign with MLS and each team owner is a shareholder.
Inter Miami isn't signing Lionel Messi and the rest of the league has to live with it. MLS is signing Messi. The league money is paying for Messi, and it is something that requires every team owner being kept abreast on the negotiations. This isn't the case of it being none of the other owners' business. It literally is all of their business and done in their best interests.
Messi's pending move had me thinking about something IndyCar did before this season even began.
Before the 2023 season even began, IndyCar announced it was reducing the payout of each Leader Circle position. With around $150,000 being taken from each of the 22 Leader Circle positions, each team lost money from the foundational payments that they have been accustomed to receive for over 15 years. The main reason for the reduction was to reallocate that money toward marketing and promotions.
The series said it would increase its marketing budget to around $17 million for 2023, over a 60% increase from the year before.
While $17 million is simultaneously a lot of money to the average person and chump change in the business world, a 60% increase in marketing is a significant move for IndyCar. This also comes as the series introduced its first docuseries following IndyCar in the build up to the Indianapolis 500. The series is making steps, and like IndyCar is known for, these are clinical moves. IndyCar is not throwing caution to wind as it hopes to grow the series and increase viewership and notoriety.
However, maybe IndyCar should do something stupid with its money.
IndyCar does not take many chances. It knows it cannot afford to set money on fire and get nothing out of it, but the series has been playing moneyball for well over a decade. It keeps hoping a small investment with reap big rewards. It is an attractive model, but it earning small gains. IndyCar might be inching ahead, but in the grand scheme of the world, an inch is practically nothing. A yard isn't much but it can at least be seen with the naked eye.
I understand IndyCar's strategy of spending more money for television ad space and increasing promotion in upcoming markets as a race approaches, but considering the gains we see with IndyCar spending the money this way, I feel like the series would be getting the same numbers, if not better, if it decided to take $10 million of that $17 million marketing budget and gave it to Daniel Ricciardo to come run IndyCar for a season.
Ricciardo has become a known commodity in American sports circles thanks to Drive to Survive leading the Formula One viewership boom. Actress Anne Hathaway told Ricciardo she was a fan on the red carpet at the Met Gala. People know who Ricciardo is and like who he is. The man was the center of ESPN2's alternate broadcast of the Canadian Grand Prix and will be doing the same thing for the two American rounds to happen this autumn. The man has a following, and it is a following IndyCar needs at its races as well.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as a reserve driver. He is pretty much just doing promotional stuff. Whether we see him boot Nyck de Vries from AlphaTauri midseason remains to be seen (2024 is more likely it appears), but at the present moment, Ricciardo is only making about $2.1 million from Red Bull (on top of the $20 million-plus he is receiving as severance from McLaren).
If you don't believe he wouldn't entertain a $10 million offer to do IndyCar, you are foolish. Ricciardo may still harbor Formula One world championship dreams, but the man understands money, and if he can make five times more and actually get to compete while also automatically becoming the face of a series in the United States, where he could live year-round, I doubt he would say no.
That seems like a big gamble for IndyCar to put most of the eggs in this one basket, but shouldn't it at least try something risky every now and then?
People are not watching Formula One for the racing, and they do not care IndyCar has better competition. You can post all the infographics you want on social media about passing, it doesn't do a damn thing. People are watching Formula One because they have made a connection with the drivers and teams. Red Bull and Max Verstappen might be curb-stomping the field every week, but the audience cares about a majority of the grid.
They care about Fernando Alonso and his renaissance at Aston Martin. They want to see if Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell can take the fight back to Red Bull and reclaim some of its glory. They cannot wait to see what Haas does and whether it will be a train wreck that sets Guenther Steiner off or possibly be something wonderful that makes everyone shout for joy. They are invested in the Ferrari melodrama as it feels like Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Jr. waste their careers. They aren't thrilled with the racing, but they aren't watching for the racing.
IndyCar has been consistency getting one-million viewers for its network races for quite some time, but that is the best it can do. The series needs to get more viewers and Ricciardo would bring more people in.
Ricciardo could be a tool to expose new viewers to those already competing in IndyCar, whether that be Josef Newgarden, Patricio O'Ward, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Colton Herta. Ricciardo would be a springboard for these drivers, and just through association they could attract new fans who came for Ricciardo but stayed because they found someone else worth emotionally investing in.
It is a risk, but it would at least be a swing for the fences and one where even if it didn't work out, we would at least get to enjoy Ricciardo in IndyCar for a season. Ricciardo would become the highest paid driver in IndyCar at that salary, but considering Colton Herta is currently the highest paid driver, making around $7 million a year and Anne Hathaway likely has no clue who Colton Herta is, $10 million for Ricciardo is sensible.
It would take cooperation from within IndyCar circles, but let's not act like there wouldn't be a spot for the $10-million investment that would be Daniel Ricciardo. He would easily have a competitive ride. Team Penske could expand back to four cars like it was nothing. No offense to Devlin DeFrancesco and the Marcus Armstrong/Takuma Sato pairing, but Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing effectively have open seats. McLaren... ok that wouldn't be an option, but if Ricciardo was getting $10 million he would be in a strong seat and in a competitive position on a regular basis.
The ship has likely sailed on Ricciardo. A move such as this one requires ambition and chutzpah, one of which IndyCar administration currently lacks. Ricciardo is watering at the mouth with at least one if not two Red Bull-related seats about to open up. The more Sergio Pérez and Nyck de Vries struggle, the more it appears Ricciardo will be back behind a Red Bull car in no time. Ricciardo bet on himself and it likes will payoff. Once he is back in Formula One, IndyCar's $10 million offer will not be enough, but that doesn't mean IndyCar couldn't make another splash.
Considering the buzz around Patricio O'Ward, IndyCar could benefit from having another Mexican driver in the series, and dropping $5-8 million on Sergio Pérez for the 2024 season could be worthwhile investment. Fuck, drop $4 million on Liam Lawson. Lawson isn't going to add any viewers, at least not the possible Ricciardo level, but Lawson is an unappreciated talent. He has a minor cult following around Formula One circuits. Investing in the grid and making it better isn't the worst thing the series could do.
IndyCar is a sporting series, but one way to grow an audience is to give the people something worth tuning in for. Nobody cares about the racing, so get a name that turns heads.
As much as Major League Soccer has done in nearly 30 years to grow the league and have teams drawing over 30,000 people, and in some cases 60,000 people to soccer games in the United States, it is still a league that struggles for attention and respectable viewership. It has not become something for people to regularly tune in for on a weekend. Enter Lionel Messi, a short-term spark, but one that will surely cause more people to tune in, (and one that is already causing ticket prices to blast through the roof), especially from around the globe. The hope is Messi introduces MLS to more people and turns more people into regular viewers. We are about five to ten years aways from knowing if it worked, but it is worth the shot.
IndyCar could use the same thing. Skyrocketing numbers normally do not come from targeted advertising. It comes from kicking the bloody door in and getting everyone's attention.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Nick Cassidy, but did you know...
Francesco Bagnaia won the Dutch TT, his fourth victory of the season. Marco Bezzecchi won the sprint race. Jake Dennis won the Moto2 race, his first career grand prix victory. Jaume Masià won the Moto3 race. Matteo Ferrari swept the MotoE races.
The #25 BMW M Team RLL BMW of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly was awarded the 6 Hours of the Glen victory after the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche of Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet was disqualified for the skid block not meeting the minimum thickness. Porsche Penske Motorsport intends on protesting the result.
The #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR of Ben Hanley, George Kurtz and Nolan Siegel won in LMP2 at Watkins Glen. The #74 Riley Motorsports Ligier-Nissan of Felipe Fraga, Josh Burdon and Gar Robinson won in LMP3, its second consecutive victory. The #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth won in GTD Pro, its second victory of the season. The #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Frankie Montecalvo, Aaron Telitz and Parker Thompson won in GTD.
Ross Chastain won the NASCAR Cup race from Nashville. A.J. Allmendinger won the Grand National Series race. Carson Hocevar won the Truck race, his second victory of the season.
Maro Engel and Ricardo Feller split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Zandvoort.
Sébastien Ogier won Safari Rally Kenya, his third victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar is at Mid-Ohio.
NASCAR has a street race around Chicago's Grant Park.
Formula One heads up to the Austrian Alps.
The 24 Hours of Spa starts July this year.
World Superbike visit Donington Park.
