NTT will replace Verizon as IndyCar’s new title sponsor from 2019
IndyCar has signed a multi-year agreement with NTT, which becomes its title sponsor for the 2019 season onwards.
Updated: Forbes reports that the deal will last three to five years. It may be worth around $10m per year, as much as Verizon was paying IndyCar.
NTT is a Japanese information technology and communications company that sponsors Chip Ganassi Racing and will replace Verizon as the series’ title sponsor after the telecommunications company decided not to renew its sponsorship after 2018. It reports $106 billion in annual revenue.
“Having a strong technology partner is critically important to INDYCAR’s continued growth, so we are thrilled to welcome NTT as our new title sponsor,” said IndyCar’s parent company CEO Mark Miles.
“We have a history with NTT through NTT DATA’s involvement in the sport with Chip Ganassi Racing. We know this partnership will help us attract the next generation of fans to what remains the most competitive racing programme on the planet.”
Verizon will continue to sponsor Team Penske as it continues its long-term partnership with the squad.
Long Beach loses its sponsor, Toyota, in 2019 after 44 years with the car manufacturer, and NASCAR’s title partnership with energy drinks manufacturer Monster Energy expires after 2019.
Marcus Ericsson won out at IndyCar's Florida round in a chaotic race which ended in crashes for Romain Grosjean, Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin
IndyCar might be running semi-vintage machinery, but the racing excitement and driver pool is second to none – in his season preview Preston Lerner asks if 2023 can be its rebirth
Under Zak Brown's leadership, McLaren has once more taken an adventurous view of the motor sport world – can it have the same success as under Bruce?
Romain Grosjean has signed for Lamborghini to join the Hypercar revolution, as he looks to combine an IndyCar campaign with endurance racing. "We can still be like those drivers who used to jump from one car to another," he tells Damien Smith