Sam’s Club Bets On Experiential Retail Media With INDYCAR Sponsorship

Standing in the parking lot of a Sam’s Club store in Murfreesboro, TN last Friday, I watched something unusual unfold at what the company calls “Race to the Club”—one of several dozen local activations they’ve run this year. While a country band played nearby, a family was inside a mobile Vizio showroom, not just looking at TVs but actually buying them. Four units sold that afternoon alone. This wasn’t a pop-up store or a brand activation—it was Sam’s Club’s retail media network in action, orchestrating what might be the most radical reimagining of retail media I’ve seen.

But this event in the carlot was building toward something bigger. Two days later, Sam’s Club activated its sponsorship of Andretti Autosport at the INDYCAR season finale in Nashville—the company’s first retail media activation of this scale. While most retail media networks battle for digital shelf space and sponsored product placements, Sam’s Club is taking its advertising dollars to racetracks, country music concerts, and county fairs. Harvey Ma, who leads Sam’s Club’s Member Access Platform (MAP), calls it “experiential meets performance,” and he’s betting big on it.

The Retailer as Orchestrator

What makes Sam’s Club’s approach unique isn’t just that they’re at a racing event—plenty of brands activate at sports venues. The difference lies in the structure. Sam’s Club holds the master sponsorship with Andretti Autosport, then orchestrates activation opportunities for its supplier brands: Member’s Mark (Sam’s Club’s house brand), Vizio, Tyson, Fanttik, ePro Select, and Clearly Canadian all participated in ‘Race To The Club’.

This “retailer as orchestrator” model diverges sharply from traditional sponsorships. When Circle K partners with MLB for its Strikeout Rewards program, it’s a single-brand play—free Polar Pops when teams hit milestones. When brands like Celsius or Pacsun activate at F1, they negotiate their presence individually. Sam’s Club flips this model entirely: they secure the sponsorship centrally, then create a coordinated ecosystem where multiple brands can engage with members under the Sam’s Club umbrella.

“Retail media is just the underlying tech that powers the experience,” Ma explained as we toured the activation. “But really the experience then becomes very, very different.”

Beyond Passive Advertising

The localized activations showcased what Ma calls “purchasable moments”—opportunities where products aren’t just advertised but demonstrated, sampled, and sold on the spot. At the carlot event, a Vizio-wrapped RV showcased new screens. A prize wheel offered chances to win ePro vacuum cleaners, and Fanttik air pumps were used in live demonstrations. Racecar simulators drew in a crowd, with Sam’s Club members given fast-lane access.

“Outside of just driving brand awareness, when you ask what’s in it for a brand partner… we actually sell things on the floor,” Ma told me. He pointed to vacuum cleaner demonstrations as an example: “What better way to sell a vacuum cleaner? They actually spill things on the floor and actually vacuum things up.”

This represents a shift from passive advertising to active engagement. These aren’t just impressions—they’re experiences that drive immediate conversion while building brand affinity. The sophistication shows in the details: race car simulators for families, prize wheels with product giveaways, and Kyle Kirkwood, Sam’s Club’s IndyCar driver, served dual purposes: representing the brand in commercials for tire services and fresh pizza delivery while embodying what Ma calls the “public community” through local assortment decisions.

The Membership Multiplier

Unlike typical brand activations aimed at awareness, Sam’s Club connects every touchpoint to membership acquisition and retention. At the Wilson County Fair preceding the race, new Plus membership sign-ups included free race tickets—effectively making the ticket value double the membership cost.

This 360-degree integration extends from offsite (race village) to in-club (sampling stations, digital screens) to digital (dedicated landing pages, Scan & Go app integration). Every scan of a member ID—whether at the race village, in-club, or through the app—feeds longitudinal data that connects experiential moments to actual purchases over time. This closed-loop measurement allows brands to allocate spend not just from their brand-building bucket, but as a performance marketing channel too.

‘Advertising Exists To Sell More Things’

Ma’s ambitions extend far beyond racing. Having run a couple dozen of similar, localized events and now completing their first major sponsorship activation, he sees massive potential for growth. He told me he plans to 5X these large-scale events in 2026. But this isn’t just about more events—it’s about reimagining how retail media intersects with human experience.

“I would like [our Scan & Go app] to become more of a companion versus just a scan tool,” Ma shared, envisioning features like store routing, product pairing suggestions, and location finders that make the technology genuinely helpful rather than intrusive.

This philosophy permeates the entire MAP approach. In the Andretti hospitality tent, Clearly Canadian beverages sat alongside Member’s Mark products—subtle but strategic product placement that feels natural rather than forced.

The Business Case

Ma wouldn’t be pushing for such aggressive expansion without demonstrated results. While Sam’s Club doesn’t disclose financial results from its retail media business, Ma told me advertiser demand exceeded available partnership slots for the Race to the Club and INDYCAR events. For brands, the appeal is clear: access to engaged members in memorable settings, with sophisticated measurement proving ROI at the individual level.

This approach also addresses Ma’s broader mission—preventing retail media from becoming what he’s previously called a “tax” on brands. By creating genuine value through experiential engagement rather than just another required ad spend, MAP is positioning itself uniquely to other RMNs.

As AI-enabled shopping behaviors take hold and digital advertising becomes increasingly automated, in-person experiences will likely become more valuable, not less. Sam’s Club’s approach suggests that retail media’s future might not be about choosing between digital and physical, but orchestrating both into something entirely new. With Ma’s target to 5X the number of large event activations in 2026, we’re about to find out if this vision can scale.