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Not just bang for the buck. I think also that you target market. Sports car people are not IRL people, for instance (there is crossover sure, but there is a divide between road course people and oval people). Lowenbrau years ago bought some good exposure with Al Holbert's Porsches. I don't think their money would have fared so well tied to an oval team. CART yes, with the combination of ovals and road courses.
Also, you can't discount that the kicker is the CEO or the Board. If they have the interest, they will make commitments for it to work, if the alternative is viable.
Without Indy, there would be NO IRL. Certainly not as it is. And even with Indy, the IRL suffers at all other locations, from what I have seen. As much as they seemingly try to crop the background shots, there are loads of empty grandstand seats at those races.
Years ago in the US, we had a CanAm and a TransAm that ran pretty consistant schedules. IMSA's Camel GT series fell into the same sort of place for while. The former Championship of Makes had a stable schedule for a while there. The best at this has been Nascar. They get a fan base that wanted to attend certain races and made plans to have vacation time set aside, cash set aside, etc. It certainly helped that they were for years a very regional circuit, so it was possible to personally attend several races in a year without major life changes.
Following the FIA Sportscar series here had a lot of humorous moments. 'Is there or is there not a race this weekend?' Imagine trying to cultivate a sponsorship arrangement, and that person can't casually follow the series. He will then have to really think long and hard about spending money for exposure. Sadly, it makes you think they next iteration may suffer from the last, in that a great deal of confidence needs to be won back.
I think there is a great opportunity for sports car racing. My hope is that it benefits. Time was a World Championship of Makes race would outdraw Formula One.
I am in a rambling mood and I am trying to figure out how to conclude and make sense to someone other then myself: my hope is that someone offers a great opportunity for the team or person with $4.5 Million to not consider going anywhere else but sports car racing.
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