When NASCAR moved to the premier partner system for its top Cup Series, it asked around $15 million annually over three- to five-year terms for those positions, sources said at the time, but it was unclear how much incremental revenue NASCAR saw because the four brands that signed on were already official partners. On top of Xfinity, Geico and Coke, the fourth premier partner is Anheuser-Busch’s Busch Light brand.
NASCAR has looked into landing a fifth premier partner and doing so would ensure that the racing property would still have at least four if one of the original partners left.
Xfinity became title sponsor of NASCAR’s second-level series in 2015 as part of a corporate synergy strategy from Comcast, whose NBC Sports began broadcasting NASCAR races that year. Matt Lederer, Comcast’s vice president of branded partnerships and activation, has said Xfinity is in renewal talks with NASCAR. But the company wants to shake up the terms of its agreement, be more flexible with its spending and possibly redirect some of its league-level spending to other parts of the NASCAR industry, such as its team relationship with 23XI Racing.
Xfinity Mobile is a key product for Comcast and figures to be an important part of the next deal. Xfinity currently spends more than $10 million in the sport annually, all told, according to sources. The major question is whether Comcast will continue being both a premier partner of NASCAR and title sponsor of the Xfinity Series. Sources say it’s possible Xfinity could do a short-term renewal as title sponsor before shifting its relationship in the coming years to just being a premier partner.
Geico also is said to be in renewal discussions, and industry executives have waffled all year on whether the Berkshire Hathaway-owned insurer will renew. The company has had a multitude of executive and agency changes in recent years, which often equals change in sports marketing deals.
See much more at Sports Business Journal.