After more than two decades, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick will hang his helmet at the end of the season, bringing to an end one of the most decorated careers in NASCAR. But retirement does not mean that the 2014 champion will remain free after this year. Back in 2002, Harvick started his own racing team, Kevin Harvick Inc., which was eventually merged with Richard Childress Racing.
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Despite not having a team, he still has the KHI brand name with him. The KHI Management has become a thing of its own over the years, managing top talents and athletes across a wide range of sports. Therefore, heading into retirement would not mean an end to a major source of sponsorship earnings.
Kevin Harvick talks about his post-retirement sponsorship earnings
Recently while speaking about his sponsorship earnings beyond retirement from the Cup Series, the $70 Million-worth SHR driver mentioned, “I don’t know that we will actually lose a sponsor. As you go forward, that will be different obviously.
He added, “I think the partnerships that we’ve managed and are part of, I don’t know that I still won’t have a relationship with every one of them. I think as you move forward that’s one of the more rewarding pieces that has come out of this whole puzzle are the relationships.”
“And then also being a part of the conversations and the management group and helping find them things that fit their new budgets and new ideas and who and where you place those sponsorship dollars has been interesting.
He concluded by mentioning that even though there would be several moving pieces, he would continue to have a good relationship with his sponsors. Therefore, they would continue to move forward together, despite his retirement from active racing.
What does Harvick’s KHI Management do?
As per their website, they are a “full-service sports and celebrity-marketing agency” that promotes athletes and individuals across the spheres of sport, media, and the music industry.
According to Forbes, the company manages several MMA fighters, PGA golf athletes, racers from the motocross area, and NASCAR drivers like Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Harrison Burton among several others. Interestingly, even Harvick’s son Keelan, who races in karts, focusing on the open-wheel scene, is also managed by KHI Management.
They cite several services under their expertise, some of them include – contract negotiations, career management, media relations, and several more. Therefore, come the end of the current NASCAR Cup Series season, Harvick would have a lot on his plate to work with.
The future of his son’s racing career and his management company would take up most of his time. If that wasn’t enough then his part ownership in the CARS Tour and plans to join the broadcasting team for Fox next year would keep him occupied.
