Indy Racing League's Corporate Crew Chief Helps Boost Image, Attendance
By Dana Knight
Bob Reif leans on his desk -- relaxed with a headset on -- smiling that crooked quarterback grin.
The man on the other end of the phone is demanding and certainly not pleased. It's less than one week until the Indianapolis 500, and the final approval for his company's sponsorship hasn't come through.
Reif takes 20 minutes to douse the client with sweet talk. By the time the conversation is over, a deal has been cut. The client is happy.
Reif hangs up and saunters across the office, shaking his head.
"That was way too much time for $50,000," he says.
Reif has bigger deals and more intense demands to contend with.
He's Tony George's "guy" -- the man in charge of bolstering the image and attendance of the 5-year-old Indy Racing League.
The guy George turned to in December 1999 when he realized attendance and television ratings were suffering at IRL events; he was named senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Reif, a 34-year-old Princeton University graduate, seems less than overwhelmed by the task of running a business with an estimated annual revenue of more than $100 million.
The 6-foot-3-inch former college quarterback is laid-back in his demeanor but animated and passionate as he talks about the IRL.
The combination has resulted in a successful year for Reif -- a year in which he increased the 2001 IRL schedule to 13 races from 10, sold $300 million worth of sponsorships and set the league up to sell out four IRL races. Until this year, only the Indy 500 had sold out.
"Things are rolling our way," said George, president of IMS and founder of the IRL. "Bob's been a big factor in that. He's helped create a lot of value. That gives people confidence they're buying into a series that has a business plan."
It's the result of a chance George took when he hired Reif, then a 32-year-old marketing guru with minimal motorsports experience.
He had an impressive sports background, but George says it was Reif's charm, his "way," that won him over.
"I'm not sure what it was, but he asked me the right questions," George said. "He didn't really focus a lot on his own successes."
He didn't have to, George said. The resume spoke for itself.
A resume laced with names of business and sports luminaries such as Wayne Huizenga, Joe Montana and Arnold Palmer. All of them were people Reif had worked for or with in what was a relatively short but rapid ascension to the No. 2 spot in the IRL.
Reif was born in Port Jefferson, N.Y., a working-class community on Long Island, in 1967. His father was a safety engineer for the state of New York. His mom was a massage therapist.
Reif's high school resume gives an early indication of his ambition and charm: class president, prom king, football quarterback, baseball pitcher and basketball player.
"Bobby is a natural-born leader," says his father, Edward Reif.
He graduated 17th in his high school class of 364 and took a scholarship to Princeton, where he majored in religion and sociology and played football.
It was while working on his religion thesis that Reif hit upon a career path: marketing. The thesis was on Mormon missionaries. So Reif trekked to Utah for a stint in which he followed Mormon ministers door-to-door.
Instead of observing, he joined in, knocking on doors and schmoozing in an attempt to convert people. He wanted to experience the missionary work firsthand, not just watch. That chance to sell something -- even a religion that the Catholic-born Reif didn't believe in -- was exhilarating.
Reif's first marketing job in 1991 was less than glamorous. He made $250 a week at Mulcahy Sports Group, a firm in California.
But within eight weeks on the job, Reif had sold almost $300,000 in sponsorships.
By 24, his sales skills had landed him a job at International Management Group, the largest sports marketing firm in the country. Within his first few weeks, he'd signed a $1.5 million deal with Arnold Palmer to have the golfing icon endorse a back exercise machine.
When he later cut a deal with Miami businessman, Wayne Huizenga, who owned the Dolphins and Pro Player Stadium, Reif set himself up for the biggest move of his professional career, the one he credits for landing him the job with the IRL.
Huizenga liked Reif's style at IMG, and in 1996 offered the 29-year-old the post of senior vice president of sales and marketing. While there, Reif was successful in consolidating all of Huizenga's sports holdings into one sales organization.
Reif's performance caught the attention of Tony George, who was looking for a right-hand man.
Reif was offered the position, and he accepted, but racing was new territory for him, and he knew it would be a challenge.
He hired 30 people to concentrate on customer service -- employees responsible for selling sponsorships, serving fans and drivers.
Within a month, he had nabbed the league a new title sponsorship with Northern Light Technology, an Internet search engine.
"They've got this new marketing guy in there, and he's really making a difference," said Bill Chipps, senior editor of IEG Sponsorship Report, a biweekly newsletter following the sports marketing and entertainment industry.
Reif says he will step it up a notch. His goal for 2001 is to induce driver recognition not just among open-wheel racing's 10 million current fans, but among the 274 million the IRL is missing.
Reif is offering up drivers before every race for autograph signings, allowing fans time to meet their idols. "Our drivers are like astronauts or fighter pilots. They're heroic in what they do," he said. "If we can make them real to our fans, that will be big."
"Reif's strategy is right on the mark", said Bob Williams, president of Burns Sports and Celebrities, an Illinois-based sports marketing firm that represents companies that hire athletes for endorsements.
"Marketing your players can take your sport to otherwise unattainable heights," he said. "What it really does at the lowest level is put faces on the sport."
When that happens, fans will go out to watch, Williams said.
Reif's taking other unique approaches to gain the fan base, including passes to garages at the Speedway and deals such as a "four tickets, four programs, four hot dogs and four drinks for $79" package for some newer IRL races.
In addition, Hoosier John Mellencamp has recorded a catchy song to be the theme for the IRL.
"You have to take what drives you and make it real to other people," Reif said. "We need to be the premier racing series in the world. Better than F-1 or Winston Cup. It may not happen in two years. It might take seven. But it will happen."
ABOUT BOB REIF:
--Age: 34.
--Position: Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League.
--Duties: 85 percent of his time is spent marketing the IRL, trying to bolster attendance and television audiences, boosting driver recognition and selling sponsorships.
--Education: Graduated from Princeton University in 1989 with a degree in religion and sociology.
--Family: Wife, Sharon, and children Bree, 11, Chase, 9, and Bryce, 4.
--Goal for the IRL: "To be the premier racing series in the world. Better than F-1 or Winston Cup. It may not happen in two years. It might take seven. But it will happen."
--Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Miami Dolphins and Pro Player stadium. He consolidated owner, Wayne Huizenga's, sports holdings -- the Dolphins, Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers and other organizations -- into one sales organization.
--Director of Corporate Sales and Marketing for International Management Group's North American group in Detroit. Also served as director of IMG Direct in New York.
--Owner of sports marketing firm SportsGroup in Newport Beach, Calif., where he acquired properties for television and marketing rights representation.
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(c) 2001, The Indianapolis Star. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
Bob Reif Chief Marketing Officer Indianapolis Motor Speedway