How are people getting sponsored?

[clay payton]

how are people getting sponsored when there's only been a handful of events.

It feels like people are showing up for their first competition with a list of sponsors on their car.

[TougeDorifuto]

Well it's simple...a lot of the events have company scouts looking for talent. So if they like what they see they'll usually talk to you about sponsorships. Also, some people make videos of what they can do, (both touge and track) and then sometimes the company will accept or reject it. You also a lot of the time have to just apply for the sponsorship in the first place.

If you have talent. Scouts will find you, whether it be by word of mouth or by seeing you in action. If you're not at that point or just starting to drift, you dont need to worry about things like this.

[ACDSupra7]

Talk to a company. Write a proposal. But make sure you talk about what they're getting out of it, and their name on a car won't cut it these days. If they're sales don't increase from the sponsorship, there won't be a sponsorship.

[malcolm]

exactly. Half the time the company would be more interested in having the car for displays at shows, or for the driver to take out the top five employees drifting on a track for a promotional day. The possibilities are endless. Just think of what would have made you jump with excitement before you could drive (ie. seeing a nice car on display, being taken for a ride in it, talking to the owner about it, etc), and that would be good suggestions of possible activities that you would work into the sponsorship deal to make it more appealing for them. I don't have sponsorships for drifting, but I have more than a few for racing, and that's the stuff that keeps my sponsors happy.

[swifty949]

http://cars.ign.com/articles/511/511318p1.html

i wrote it...hope it helps.

[clay payton]

thanks for the article.

[feintmotion86]

how are people getting sponsored when there's only been a handful of events

There have been a handful of events YOU'VE heard about. There have been events happening in southern california for the better part of three - four years, so its no suprise most of the drivers are from southern california.

Just cause YOU've either never heard of someone or didn't know there were events going on, doesn't mean they didn't happen or don't exist.

[clay payton]

so are you implying that companies have been attending these small events for the last three years, and have scouted drivers, even though drifting just recently gained the attention of most companies.

also, i guess my original post should have stated "sanctioned/regulated" events.

drift days and such weren't really part of what I was mentioning.