NASCAR [continues] the process of replacing a title sponsor for just the third time since 1971, in an environment where the value of such partnerships are fluid based on the needs and goals of the company, and the perceived value of a sport where attendance and television ratings have trended tepid. There still is value in NASCAR sponsorship, Kim Meesters, general manager of the NASCAR Sprint Cup sponsorship, told USA TODAY Sports. ‘It all has to be at the right level and the right price. It all has to be customized. That’s why it takes so long to put this kind of deal together,’ she said. But the price has changed markedly.
CSM Sport & Entertainment CEO Zak Brown said the deal will not be as lucrative as the pact NASCAR is finishing with Sprint given the current market climate. Nextel signed a $750 million, 10-year deal to become title sponsor beginning in 2004, according to the Kansas City Star, and Sprint inked a three-year extension through the end of this season at a reduced rate of about $50 million in rights and activations fees, according to Sports Business Daily. Sprint announced in December 2014 that it would not renew. Brown said NASCAR has ‘a few real contenders,’ including ‘a couple’ companies his firm represents. Among CSM’s numerous clients with existing NASCAR lineage are Budweiser, Castrol, Crown Royal, Farmers Insurance and Hisense. Brown believes that NASCAR shouldn’t rush to complete a deal for 2017. ‘NASCAR is very profitable as a business,’ he told USA TODAY Sports. ‘It’s a very wealthy organization, so for them to rush into a bad long-term deal wouldn’t make any sense. So they’d be better off just continuing to look and if that means that this year they go without one and it costs them $40 (million)-$50 million, they can afford it.’ [NASCAR chief operating officer Brent] Dewar said securing one before the end of the season is ‘not an issue at all,’ but added that a company new to the sport would likely want or require more time to engage.
Brown said the new title sponsor should be a ‘big consumer product’ that doesn’t conflict with current series partners. Any company wishing to sign a deal of less than five years, he said, ‘is not thinking big and long-term enough.’ Though NASCAR officials won’t publicly discuss their potential terms, $1 billion over 10 years was an often-quoted starting point in the industry when the process began in 2014. Dewar said it is NASCAR’s ‘lead strategy’ to secure one sponsor, but Brown said he believes the series would consider splitting a sponsorship over various parts of the season, including one for the regular season and one for the Chase.(USA Today)
