Interviews & Articles
Millsport's senior sports business executives are available for interviews, commentary, and analysis on a number of sports marketing and sponsorship topics. To arrange an interview, please contact Chris Anderson at (214) 259-3290.
NASCAR sponsor landscape somewhat greener
May 27, 2010
CUP: Sponsor Landscape Somewhat Greener
Mike Hembree | SPEED TV
The Sprint Cup Series is not quite halfway to determining the drivers who will participate in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, but already much of the garage-area talk is about 2011.
Will cars that are now blue be red next season? Will there be sparkling new sponsors decorating top-level cars? Will corporate money be more free-flowing?
To those involved in sponsor searches – team owners, marketing gurus and business development experts who always have calculators at the ready, it might as well be 2011 now. Over the next few months, the sponsorship lineup for next season will come into focus, and the financial and competitive health of numerous top teams will become better known.
Already, folks have been busy. Shell/Pennzoil, once a solid property of Richard Childress Racing, announced plans to move over to Penske Racing for next season, leaving RCR in search of one or more key sponsors for its No. 29 cars and driver Kevin Harvick. It’s worth pointing out that, even with a lame-duck sponsor and a 2011 that’s somewhat unknown, Harvick and RCR lead the Sprint Cup points and have renewed their partnership.
There remain questions about the level of commitment next season of DuPont, which has been Jeff Gordon’s primary sponsor since he debuted in Cup racing in 1992. DuPont’s latest deal with the No. 24 team ends at the conclusion of this season. No one expects DuPont to disappear completely, but its 2011 plans remain under wraps.
Proctor and Gamble’s Old Spice brand is leaving Tony Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the season, and perennial powerhouse sponsor Budweiser remains a question mark with Kasey Kahne’s decision to leave Richard Petty Motorsports.
And, while there exists concern among major teams about the short- and long-term future, the sponsorship status of mid-range and low-level teams is much more fragile. Some have been running with blank quarter-panels and could do so for some time to come – that is, if they’re able to stay afloat.
All things considered, however, things seem generally brighter in NASCAR garage areas these days when sponsors, potential sponsors and their dollars are being discussed. The dark clouds of the past two years appear to be parting.
Even Childress appears to be in something opposite of panic mode despite the loss of Shell/Pennzoil.
“Our marketing department has been talking to some new companies that are not in the sport right now that have a lot of interest,” Childress said. “Our sport, with the Hall of Fame opening, a lot of things with racing have been really great this year, and the country is still in an economy downturn a little bit, but it looks like it’s leveling and moving in the right direction.
“I think our sport is strong enough with all the people and the companies we have in it. And the companies that are looking to get into the sport today give us bright hope.”
Roush Fenway Racing, which has one of the sport’s most active business development departments, said its sales representatives noticed an uptick in potential sponsor interest early this year.
“We’re finding that more and more companies are not only taking meetings but they’re actually taking meetings, scheduling conference calls and doing more and more of second-round-type investigation,” said Robin Johnson, RFR vice president of business development. “Last year, we just didn’t see much of that.”
RFR recently has signed part-time deals with several sponsors, including Coupons.com, who have agreed to put their names on cars for a limited number of races, a pattern that has gained wide acceptance in NASCAR circles.
“We’re finding more and more companies who want to do evaluative sponsorships, to do a small dip-their-toe-in relationship, but that’s not uncommon,” Johnson said. “3M [sponsor of Greg Biffle’s cars] came in that way and did a few races in Truck and a few in Nationwide and then a bigger Nationwide presence, and then they became Cup sponsors.
“We’re not talking to any companies right now that want to figure a way to write an eight-figure check tomorrow, but all the companies we’re talking to have the potential to do that one day.”
The sport currently is a buyer’s market for sponsors. Some have been able to step into the NASCAR arena at bargain rates because teams aren’t able to demand the big numbers they might have attracted in past years.
“There are some really good deals out there now to expand partnerships and get involved,” said Mike Mooney, vice president of Millsport Motorsports, a sports marketing agency. “We’re looking at new blood that’s sort of sniffing around the sport. Companies are attuned to the power of this platform and hearing about the deals that are available.
“One brand, in particular, we’re talking with said there was no way they’d be playing in this sport two years ago. Now they think they have not only a chance to get in but at a level that can really have an impact. Buyers are able to say, ‘This is what we have. What can we get for it?’ ”
Brett Frood, executive vice president of Stewart-Haas Racing, said the sponsor climate has improved markedly after “a lot of apprehension and less inclination toward risk-taking the last 18 to 24 months.
“We’re seeing markets loosening up. Companies are looking at getting back in, and some are maybe looking for the first time. It’s definitely been loosening up.”
Frood said improving economic conditions and improving racing are making the sponsor search less of a strain.
“The NASCAR product is still there, and the fan base is still there,” he said. “It’s loyal. They’re avid. They’re buying the merchandise. They follow these drivers and teams for 38 weekends a year.
“Unemployment numbers are working their way down, and overall there is optimism.”
Gordon, whose accomplishments and public persona always have been attractive to potential sponsors, said NASCAR remains an inviting place for corporate connections.
“I think the health of NASCAR is actually good,” Gordon said. “The racing has been fantastic. What we have to offer sponsors is still fantastic. The problem is the costs have gotten extremely high for the teams to operate, as well as what we are asking out of the sponsors.
“It has gotten very expensive and with the economy the way the economy is, those two things – cost and economy – are the two things that are impacting sponsors in making their decisions to come in to the sport or stay in the sport or what they are willing to do to be with certain teams.
“I think from a fan loyalty and a demographic and what we are putting out there, I just don’t think it gets any better for sponsors than what we have right now.”
