The military services formerly sponsored auto racing as a recruiting tool.\u00a0 In particular, they used to sponsor NASCAR racing.<\/p>\n
But in some years ago the Army, Navy, and Coast Guard all cut their ties with NASCAR.\u00a0 Their sponsorship programs were expensive, and the services felt they simply weren’t getting sufficient benefit from the money spent to justify continuing the programs.<\/p>\n
For some reason, the National Guard didn’t.\u00a0 They retained their NASCAR sponsorship program.<\/p>\n
The National Guard spent approximately $88 million from 2011 to 2013 to sponsor NASCAR teams.\u00a0 An additional $38 million was spent to sponsor Indy car racing.<\/p>\n
So, how did that work out?<\/p>\n
Detailed numbers are available for 2012.\u00a0 That year, the National Guard spend $26.5 on it’s NASCAR sponsorship.\u00a0 From that, they got approximately 24,800 contacts who indicated the NASCAR connection prompted them to seek more information about signing up.<\/p>\n
Of those 24,800, how many even qualified to enlist?\u00a0 20.<\/p>\n
None did.<\/p>\n
In 2013, the number of contacts showing NASCAR as what prompted them to inquire about enlisting dropped to about 7,500.<\/p>\n