FOX's in-car graphics create a sponsor headache for some IndyCar teams

Sometimes a positive can be a negative. That’s the word from a few IndyCar Series teams who weren’t delighted to see the sponsorship logos they applied to the inside of their aeroscreens being covered by FOX Sports’ new performance data graphic overlay at St. Petersburg.

Informed of the new Formula 1-style in-car overlay that features throttle, brake, gear number, and other live info fed from the cars being applied to the inner aeroscreen ring weeks prior to the first race, the execution by FOX Sports was flawless. But the overlay also blocked the most valuable area on the car that teams sell to their sponsors.

According to IndyCar’s research, the inner aeroscreen ring is more than twice as valued as the sidepods in terms of generating screentime during broadcasts.

Unlike some series that place overhead cockpit cameras in an array of cars for the sake of the broadcast, IndyCar charges its teams $350,000 per entry to have an in-car camera for the season. To offset the cost — and profit from the steep expenditure – teams sell that space to companies who in turn expect to see their logos when their in-car feed is chosen.

The rub, as it was described, comes from having to pay for the camera, watching as its intended purpose for sponsors is erased, and receiving angry calls from sponsors asking why they aren’t receiving what they’ve paid for and had written into their contracts.

The sponsor blockage didn’t come as a surprise, but having seen it live for the first time, it has become a topic that those with sponsors to appease need to resolve. RACER was told by an IndyCar official that the series would connect with its teams after St. Petersburg to gather feedback on any changes to make prior to The Thermal Club race across March 21-23.

As a potential workaround, the logo of the car’s primary sponsor was placed in a box on the bottom right of the screen when the overlay was being used, but the solution only works for a team with a single sponsor to represent. For those with multiple sponsors to serve, problems ensued.

Moving forward, the solution could be as simple as IndyCar identifying the teams or specific entries that do not want the overlay and asking FOX Sports to make the necessary adjustments in the production trailer.