Sponsors are the cash backbone of your team. Unlike suppliers, sponsors always pay you — there’s no client-tier where you pay them. Their cheque scales with their budget, their prominence, and the tier of contract you sign.
Sponsor vs. Supplier
| Sponsor | Supplier | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash flow | Always pays the team | Can go either way (Partnership pays you, Client costs you) |
| Performance impact | None directly | Real (engine power, tire grip, fuel rate) |
| Visual impact | Logo on car/suit | Logo on car (smaller area) |
| Contract decision | Income-driven | Performance-driven |
| Pool size at career start | 36–50 | 4–9 engine + 4–8 tire + 4–8 fuel |
You’ll typically sign 2 sponsors to a car: one Principal (large logo, big cheque) and several Secondary (small logos, smaller cheques).
How the Pool is Generated
At new-career creation, the game rolls 36–50 sponsors drawn from two sources:
1. Curated database (sponsors_db.txt)
The shipped sponsor list with hand-tuned budget_rating, prominence_rating, sector, and origin fields. About 65% of these are flagged “available at season start” via a random roll; the rest are hidden until a marketing event or pool refresh.
2. Random brand generator
Fills out the pool with procedurally-named brands across the 12 sectors (see below), weighted by country car-market.
About 17–20% of sponsors are flagged “Principal” at generation, the rest default to Secondary. The flag is a preferred tier — you can sign either type if you negotiate accordingly.
The 12 Sectors
| Sector | Examples (theme) |
|---|---|
| Automotive | Tyres, lubricants, parts |
| Technology | Computing, electronics, software |
| Energy | Oil & gas, power, batteries |
| Finance | Banks, brokerages, credit cards |
| Luxury | Watches, jewellery, premium goods |
| Fashion | Apparel, perfume, eyewear |
| Telecom | Phones, networks, broadcasting |
| Beverage | Soft drinks, beer, coffee |
| Insurance | Underwriting, brokerage |
| Aviation | Airlines, aircraft, charters |
| Industry | Heavy industry, chemicals |
| Retail | Stores, e-commerce |
Sector affects nothing mechanically — it’s flavour for the negotiation UI and the news feed.
Sponsor Profile — Key Fields
| Field | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
budget_rating | 1–10 | Brand’s marketing budget — primary money driver |
prominence_rating | 1–10 | Brand’s public profile — money multiplier + reputation gate |
preferred_tier | Principal / Secondary | What size of contract they want |
money_per_gp | computed | Per-GP cheque (formula below) |
signing_bonus | currently 0 | Reserved for future feature |
duration | 1–3 seasons | Contract length |
min_reputation | 5–95 | Your team rep must be ≥ this — Principal sponsors gate harder |
base_acceptance | 0.25–0.70 | Probability of accepting a stock offer |
wants_car_color | bool | ~25% of sponsors require the car body to be near their brand colour |
primary_objective | varies | Bonus trigger if you hit a target (podium, points, championship etc.) |
secondary_objective | optional | ~33% of sponsors have one |
drop_rate | 1.0+ | Marketing lottery weight — easier to find/unlock if higher |
The Payout Formula
money_per_gp = budget_rating × 11_700 × prominence_mult
prominence_mult = 1.0 + (prominence_rating − 5) × 0.1This gives you the base per-GP figure. The contract tier you sign multiplies it:
| Tier | Multiplier | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Principal | ×2 | Big logo, dominant brand exposure, top of the chassis |
| Secondary | ×1 | Smaller logos, more of them |
Worked examples (Principal contract = ×2)
| Budget | Prominence | Base per GP | Principal cheque | Per 16-GP season (Principal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | $7,020 | $14,040 | $224,640 |
| 5 | 5 | $58,500 | $117,000 | $1,872,000 |
| 10 | 10 | $175,500 | $351,000 | $5,616,000 |
Existing contracts keep the cheque they were signed at. New deals (and renewals) use the latest multiplier.
Reputation Gate
| Sponsor | min_reputation formula | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Principal | prominence × 7 + rand(0..10) | up to 95 |
| Secondary | prominence × 4 + rand(0..10) | up to 80 |
Your reputation comes from:
- Starting budget tier: Small=30, Medium=50, Large=70
- Marketing department level: +0 at lv1, up to +4 at lv10
- Race wins, podiums, championship results (pushes reputation over time)
A Small-budget team starts at rep 30 → they can sign roughly Secondary sponsors with prominence ≤ 6 from day one. A Large-budget team can immediately court mid-tier Principals.
Marketing Department & Hidden Sponsors
Higher Marketing levels unlock additional sponsor slots and surface hidden / premium sponsors (those flagged in the curated DB but not initially available).
sponsors_per_marketing_level(default 2 per level): the number of sponsors your marketing team can scout per level above 1- Marketing also bumps reputation, see above
The discovered-by tag on sponsors records who scouted them; in late career you might steal a sponsor from another team if their Marketing dept is weaker than yours.
Negotiation
Same UI as suppliers. You can adjust:
- Money per GP — slide up/down vs. stock offer
- Duration — 1, 2, or 3 seasons
- Tier — Principal or Secondary (subject to their
wants_car_colorrequirement for Principals) - Signing bonus — currently 0 in code, reserved for future use
Acceptance probability is shown live. Send → yes/no roll. Failed offers lock the sponsor out briefly.
Objectives & Bonuses
Each signed sponsor watches your performance against their primary_objective (e.g. “score points in 8 GPs”, “finish top 5 in constructors”). Hit it → end-of-season bonus payout. Miss it → happiness drops, mid-season patience tightens, walk risk rises.
Some sponsors require you to paint the car in their brand colour (the wants_car_color flag). Honouring this gives a small acceptance boost AND a happiness boost across the contract; ignoring it is fine but your livery freedom is constrained until the contract expires.
Discovery & Pool Refresh
- Annual refresh: at end of season, retired sponsors (1-season contracts that expired) may stay or leave the pool entirely. The pool top-up adds a few new brands each year.
- Marketing scouting: new hidden sponsors trickle in based on your Marketing level
- News feed: brand mergers / scandals / sector shifts may toggle sponsors’ availability mid-season (rare event)
In Practice — Building Your Roster
- Lock a Principal early — that’s the biggest single cheque. Match prominence to your reputation; don’t waste reputation gating on a 8-prominence Principal if you can’t hit it yet.
- Fill Secondaries to capacity — small cheques compound. Diversify sectors so a single sector downturn doesn’t crater happiness across half your roster.
- Watch the colour requirement — if a Principal wants Red, painting the car red AND signing them stacks acceptance. Cosmetic discipline pays here.
- Plan around objectives — a podium-objective sponsor fits a top-3 team; a points-finish sponsor fits the midfield. Don’t chase money you can’t deliver on.
- Marketing level pays for itself — every extra sponsor unlocked > the level upgrade cost in 3–4 GPs.
Quick Reference
| Pool size | 36–50 at career start (curated + random) |
| Sectors | 12 (cosmetic, no mechanical effect) |
| Tier flag at generation | ~17–20% Principal, rest Secondary |
| Base payout | budget × 11,700 × (1 + (prominence − 5) × 0.1) per GP |
| Principal multiplier | ×2 |
| Reputation gate (Principal) | up to 95 |
| Reputation gate (Secondary) | up to 80 |
| Contract length | 1–3 seasons |
| Walk risk | Driven by happiness vs. objectives |
| Hidden sponsors | Unlocked via Marketing dept |