Exclusive negotiation period ends between Roush Fenway, Office Depot

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Friday, May 16, 2008

RSS Feed
Email to a Friend
Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size RESIZE
Share
- Facebook
- Del.icio.us
- DIGG This
- Reddit
- Newsvine
- Stumbeupon
0 Comments

CONCORD, N.C. - The exclusive negotiating period between Office Depot and Roush Fenway Racing in regards to sponsorship of Carl Edwards beyond his season has expired, Office Depot Public Relations Director Mindy Kramer confirmed Friday afternoon.

"We're looking at options for 2009, including Carl and other things at Roush nothing to report yet," Kramer said at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Edwards signed an extension, believed to be three years, with Roush Fenway Racing a couple of weeks ago.

"When you're talking about a significant investment, it's difficult to get those things done in a short period of time," said Kramer, who declined to say whether Office Depot had started talking to other teams
besides Roush Fenway. "Carl was not signed until almost the very end of our period of exclusive talks, so that was a hindrance to us being able to have some meaningful discussions.

"How do you have meaningful discussions with a team when he may have ended up somewhere else?"

Office Depot started with Edwards in 2005, signing up for eight races and increasing to 16. By the next year, it was the main primary sponsor as Edwards' Cup career flourished. Roush Fenway obviously can ask for more money from a sponsor than it did three years ago for Edwards, who has 10 career wins and finished in the top 10 in points in 2005 and 2007.

"We were really fortunate that our entry into the sport coincided with really the beginning of his real Cup career and his success," Kramer said. "We were there as part of it. That's an amazing accomplishment, and it's rare."

The company, which has official NASCAR status as well, wants to stay in the driver sponsorship side of the sport.

"We like this sport; we don't want to drag this out," Kramer said. "It's an important decision, and there's a lot to go into it. We don't pay attention to the rumors and speculation out there. ... We just try to focus on what's going to be right for our business in 2009 and beyond.

"Obviously we've had a great four-year relationship with Carl and have had tremendous success."

Office Depot sponsors the car for 23 races, and other companies, including some Office Depot business partners such as Aflac, fill out the rest of the schedule.

With the high cost of race teams and drivers, many car sponsorships consist of multiple companies. But having a significant number of races is key to consistency in the program and also helps consumers and employees identify the company with the driver.

"We're looking for the driver that fits our brand and that our customers can relate to," Kramer said. "Carl's background is he treated his career like a small business that was perfect for us.

"That connection to our customer is extremely important. There's no point in working with someone and putting our name all over them if it's not a personality our customers are going to relate to. That is one of the most important things looking at the future."