Finding Motorsports Sponsorship to Go Racing Is About to Get A Lot More Difficult
As costs increase, the cost for teams to make it to the track will increase. As this happens, it follows that the cost for a seat will increase as well.
Imagine that you had a plan to secure an amount to fund a season, and all of a suddent, that cost goes up 10%-20%, perhaps more.
How would you approach that?
More critically, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of sponsors. Whereas they might have been inclined to provide sponsorship to a driver or race team, are they as likely to scale - or even maintain - that support in a case where, for instance, their business has been greatly disrupted by the implementation of tariffs?
How Tariffs Could Re-Shape the (Already Stressed) Economics of Racing and Motorsports
One might not think that tariffs would come up often in paddock conversations, but increasingly, it appears that they should. For the last several decades, the motorsports industry has operated under a globalized paradigm, but geo-political developments are such that trade policies and cross-border regulations could play a significant role in shaping budgets, logistics, and long-term planning.
From international freight to spare parts and raw materials, tariffs are set to become a hidden cost driver—one that’s easy to overlook until it begins impacting performance or squeezing cash flow. Whether you compete domestically or internationally, understanding how tariffs affect racing operations is now a must for anyone managing a program.
This article breaks down how tariffs could affect motorsport, who’s most exposed, and what teams and drivers can do to stay resilient in the face of economic and geopolitical volatility.