TAG Heuer Branding Disappears From Gran Turismo Sport

A lot of assumptions being spouted in this thread and elsewhere, so here's a few takes from someone who works around sponsorship as to what may have happened based on what I've typically seen happen in the last 5 or so years, in no particular order:

  • It could be a case of the contract being for 3years (a common length for a sponsor deal) and it simply expired. If you think of it: TAG's presence was announced in March 2017, so this was most likely a 3-year deal from March 2017 to March 2020 + a possible renegotiation period.

  • When a deal of this nature runs out, a mainstream brand like Gran Turismo might try to negotiate an extension or new deal with TAG, this is either currently in progress or has already been attempted.

  • Gran Turismo may have gone straight to the re-tender/pitching processes with other prospects to potentially try and get a better deal elsewhere. The demographic and user data for Gran Turismo suggest that it's definitely worth giving this a go because they are higher than a lot of competitors as a result of it being more accessible participation wise. (Who would you rather sponsor? The product which has sold effectively 10,000,000 copies or a product which has sold 160,000 copies? Will the casual player really play the more hardcore sims regularly and pay the EUR 150-2,000 at the least to purchase the equipment they require as opposed to a game that currently costs EUR 10-30?)

  • Gran Turismo may already found a new timing sponsor and are currently preparing to announce this in future.

  • There's also a small chance that TAG simply found a better deal elsewhere, this is actually quite plausible if you look at the other brands that have recently announced TAG as a sponsor and know who their sponsorship agents are or the sponsorship agents they have access to - 'gazumping' is quite common in sponsorship.

  • Lastly: it's not the end of the world or "death of the series" like a few people have (foolishly IMO) stated:
    Gran Turismo has had other timing sponsors before, such as Seiko and Rolex, some games have even had absolutely no timing sponsor whatsoever, so it's nowhere near as big a deal as some are making out.
 
Phaceless_Ph
A lot of assumptions being spouted in this thread and elsewhere, so here's a few takes from someone who works around sponsorship as to what may have happened based on what I've typically seen happen in the last 5 or so years, in no particular order:

  • It could be a case of the contract being for 3years (a common length for a sponsor deal) and it simply expired. If you think of it: TAG's presence was announced in March 2017, so this was most likely a 3-year deal from March 2017 to March 2020 + a possible renegotiation period.

  • When a deal of this nature runs out, a mainstream brand like Gran Turismo might try to negotiate an extension or new deal with TAG, this is either currently in progress or has already been attempted.

  • Gran Turismo may have gone straight to the re-tender/pitching processes with other prospects to potentially try and get a better deal elsewhere. The demographic and user data for Gran Turismo suggest that it's definitely worth giving this a go because they are higher than a lot of competitors as a result of it being more accessible participation wise. (Who would you rather sponsor? The product which has sold effectively 10,000,000 copies or a product which has sold 160,000 copies? Will the casual player really play the more hardcore sims regularly and pay the EUR 150-2,000 at the least to purchase the equipment they require as opposed to a game that currently costs EUR 10-30?)

  • Gran Turismo may already found a new timing sponsor and are currently preparing to announce this in future.

  • There's also a small chance that TAG simply found a better deal elsewhere, this is actually quite plausible if you look at the other brands that have recently announced TAG as a sponsor and know who their sponsorship agents are or the sponsorship agents they have access to - 'gazumping' is quite common in sponsorship.

  • Lastly: it's not the end of the world or "death of the series" like a few people have (foolishly IMO) stated:
    Gran Turismo has had other timing sponsors before, such as Seiko and Rolex, some games have even had absolutely no timing sponsor whatsoever, so it's nowhere near as big a deal as some are making out.
Click to expand...

To me, the tragedy is the fact that this is being analysed in such detail.

I get that this is gtplanet so naturally everything is hyper-analysed, but something must be going wrong for the series if stuff like this is noteworthy.

I agree that calling this "the death of the series" is hyperbolic, but I do think it's symbolic of the fact that the series has morphed into a corporate sponsorship love-in. It feels like Kazunori Yamauchi making friends in the world of motorsport, rather than making the best racing games.
 
So pretty much what has already been spouted.

Phaceless_Ph
A lot of assumptions being spouted in this thread and elsewhere, so here's a few takes from someone who works around sponsorship as to what may have happened based on what I've typically seen happen in the last 5 or so years, in no particular order:

  • It could be a case of the contract being for 3years (a common length for a sponsor deal) and it simply expired. If you think of it: TAG's presence was announced in March 2017, so this was most likely a 3-year deal from March 2017 to March 2020 + a possible renegotiation period.

  • When a deal of this nature runs out, a mainstream brand like Gran Turismo might try to negotiate an extension or new deal with TAG, this is either currently in progress or has already been attempted.

  • Gran Turismo may have gone straight to the re-tender/pitching processes with other prospects to potentially try and get a better deal elsewhere. The demographic and user data for Gran Turismo suggest that it's definitely worth giving this a go because they are higher than a lot of competitors as a result of it being more accessible participation wise. (Who would you rather sponsor? The product which has sold effectively 10,000,000 copies or a product which has sold 160,000 copies? Will the casual player really play the more hardcore sims regularly and pay the EUR 150-2,000 at the least to purchase the equipment they require as opposed to a game that currently costs EUR 10-30?)

  • Gran Turismo may already found a new timing sponsor and are currently preparing to announce this in future.

  • There's also a small chance that TAG simply found a better deal elsewhere, this is actually quite plausible if you look at the other brands that have recently announced TAG as a sponsor and know who their sponsorship agents are or the sponsorship agents they have access to - 'gazumping' is quite common in sponsorship.

  • Lastly: it's not the end of the world or "death of the series" like a few people have (foolishly IMO) stated:
    Gran Turismo has had other timing sponsors before, such as Seiko and Rolex, some games have even had absolutely no timing sponsor whatsoever, so it's nowhere near as big a deal as some are making out.
Click to expand...
 
hejustsits
To me, the tragedy is the fact that this is being analysed in such detail.

I get that this is gtplanet so naturally everything is hyper-analysed, but something must be going wrong for the series if stuff like this is noteworthy.

I agree that calling this "the death of the series" is hyperbolic, but I do think it's symbolic of the fact that the series has morphed into a corporate sponsorship love-in. It feels like Kazunori Yamauchi making friends in the world of motorsport, rather than making the best racing games.
Click to expand...

Yup, mostly by people who don't know what they're talking about. Also, to the last part, I think it's more of a case of creating something that's widely accessible to a wider audience without the difficulties of trying to get them to spend fairly large amounts on specialised peripherals to be competitive, even if an entry level wheel is "only" EUR 200-300. The larger the audience = the larger the numbers = the larger the sponsor value.

No brand is free from having to justify it's budget to it's parent company, and sponsorships help justify that budget because it bring money through the door.
 
I look it as... we should expect a GT7 announcement soon...
Think about it.. the deal ran out March 2020..Kaz said to expect modest updates going foward.
TAG probably wanted more money in renegotiation, every company is making less because of Covid unless their making some sort of emergency equipment. In any case.. Kaz didn't think it was worth renewing for Sport (on the assumption they'll find a new sponsor for a new game before they reveal that one)

All this makes me excited... changes are happening to Sport indicating a new game is on the horizon. I like TAG's association with the game.. but I would take any major watch brand, wouldn't mind Rolex or Seiko's return.

Would mind some cheap brand..Would hate if GT7 has some cheap knockoff brand association from a watch company in China or something.. that can pay great for sponsorship, but have zero heritage or quality associated with them.
 
hejustsits
To me, the tragedy is the fact that this is being analysed in such detail.

I get that this is gtplanet so naturally everything is hyper-analysed, but something must be going wrong for the series if stuff like this is noteworthy.

I agree that calling this "the death of the series" is hyperbolic, but I do think it's symbolic of the fact that the series has morphed into a corporate sponsorship love-in. It feels like Kazunori Yamauchi making friends in the world of motorsport, rather than making the best racing games.
Click to expand...
It's a small thing that ultimately makes no difference to the game whatsoever. Commercial deals such as this one don't make or break it, they're just there in the background having absolutely ZERO impact on how you play the game.
 
I said that would be the case on Stream. The Nurburgring was effectively 2 years ago so I think even at the world finals/world tour in Sydney that decision had already been made. I'm not sure whether a new contract prize wise would have been drawn up before that May, but I expect it in terms of the prizes.
 
There's still TAG Heuer logos in Driving School/Mission Challenge.
Gran_TurismoSPORT_20200526153102.jpg
 
As someone who mostly plays this game after imbibing heroic amounts of alcohol...I approve of this new loading screen..it’s trippy :cheers:
 

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