What is Rolex’s role in Motorsports?

Rolex’s presence in motorsports has grown steadily since the 1930s, extending to the sport’s most esteemed figures, revered endurance championships and leading events. This relationship encompasses the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the contests that together form the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing – the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. For almost three decades, Rolex has also supported classic automotive events steeped in elegance, beauty and tradition, including The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Goodwood Revival.

The Challenge

As Rolex has deepened its investment in motorsports, particularly with the expanded involvement in endurance racing in 2025, it looked to Kahn Media to provide expertise and insight into how to maximize and expand its impact and messaging through public relations efforts. Our team has worked with Rolex on hosted media trips to Monterey Car Week and the Rolex 24 at Daytona since 2016. Rolex’s challenge has always been to highlight the nuances of the brand and its support of motorsports without focusing on watches or conducting direct interviews with Rolex executives.

To kick off the 2025 motorsports season, Rolex also utilized Kahn’s services to compile a research report that helped the brand understand how IMSA and WEC are positioned in the broader media and cultural landscapes, delivering clear, actionable recommendations on how Rolex can maximize its exposure and investment in these series.

After years of only hosting traditional media, Rolex also began to take KM’s guidance to include content creators (or key opinion leaders, in Rolex’s terminology) on hosted media trips. Rolex found that content creators are often able to bring its story to life in new and engaging ways and has begun prioritizing content creators for all of its hosted trips.

Our Strategy

Kahn Media collaborated with Rolex to bring its motorsports story to life through hosted media trips at premier events, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Monterey Car Week. These experiences were designed to immerse journalists and creators in Rolex’s world, blending tradition, innovation and motorsport excellence. Our team also produced a comprehensive research report analyzing the cultural impact of IMSA and WEC racing, delivering actionable insights to guide Rolex’s long-term PR strategy.

• Created hosted media groups that reflect the diversity of the event and the Rolex experience. 
• Blended traditional automotive journalists with content creators to create a cohesive approach to media coverage. 
• Focused on key sponsored events, such as the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Monterey Car Week, to maximize coverage
• Helped Rolex curate and create experiences at events that tell the Rolex story and provide compelling content for journalists. For example, in 2025, we allowed the media to visit timing and scoring during the Rolex 24 and preview the Pebble Beach Concours winner’s watch.

The Results

The coverage from the hosted media trips in 2025 was some of the strongest and most diverse in our history of working with the brand. 

For the Rolex 24 at Daytona, we hosted ABC News, Motorsport.com and Motor1 as traditional outlets, while welcoming content creators, including F1Elly and Toni Cowan-Brown, as well as the social media manager for Road & Track. The group for Monterey Car Week included journalists from CarBuzz, The DuPont Registry, The Drive, and Auberge, while the content creator contingent consisted of @alex.martini_ and the social media manager for Car and Driver.

Rolex was thrilled with the variety of coverage, particularly the immediacy and diversity of content created for social media.