Speed Channel is spicing up its six-day coverage of the 35th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction.
The Fox Cable Networks Group-owned service is teaming up with Internet-marketing company MindComet and interactive mobile-media provider MyThum Interactive Inc. on the “Fantasy Bid” interactive feature.
Hagerty Insurance Inc. is sponsoring Fantasy Bid, which allows viewers to place virtual bids and predict the eventual sale prices of 33 featured cars during the auction. Participants can pay 50 cents per call or bid free-of-charge via the Internet.
The winning Fantasy Bid for each of the 33 vehicles will win a Meguiar’s Inc. car-detailing kit, with the grand-prize winner receiving a wide-screen television.
“We introduced the Fantasy Bid feature during last year’s coverage of the auction on an experimental level, and the participation went far beyond our expectations,” Speed vice president of business development and operations Kevin Annison said in a prepared statement. “We had more than 20,000 unique participants, casting nearly 70,000 fantasy bids on 24 cars, and the only prize was Speed merchandise.”
Speed’s coverage of the 35th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction begins Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. (EST).
