NASCAR Sponsor Battles

As potential suitors line up to replace Anheuser-Busch as the title sponsor of NASCAR's second-tier series, Sprint Nextel has this warning: Buyer beware.

When Nextel paid $700 million to replace R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Winston brand as the title sponsor of NASCAR's premier series, it believed it was receiving a fertile platform to peddle its cell phones and service. Now its attention is divided between racing and the federal courts.

So, should a title sponsor that pays $70 million per year to help finance and promote the sport expect some protection against its rivals? NASCAR believes so, and it's willing to go to court to prove it.

"Exclusivity isn't new in sports. AT&T has done the same thing with American Idol. They have done the same thing with the NCAA Final Four. You pay a premium for that, and there are rights and privileges that go back to you."

Sponsor conflicts aren't new to NASCAR, but none has been at the $750 million level.
Two years ago, NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. had competing sponsorships from Gatorade and Powerade. Although NASCAR and ISC are owned by the same family, Gatorade was the official drink in Victory Lane at all ISC tracks, and Powerade was the official sports drink of NASCAR. That meant every car pulling into Victory Lane at half of the racetracks in the sport had to display Powerade bottles and Gatorade banners.

Jimmie Johnson, who represents Gatorade, once was fined $10,000 for knocking Powerade bottles off the top of his car in Victory Lane, and Jeff Gordon was warned for not driving to Victory Lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - presumably to avoid having any Powerade bottles placed on his car until television cameras were turned off. Powerade became tired of the controversy and dropped its deal with NASCAR last year. (Ouch, and that was nice piece of insight that, to the common, watch on weekends fan, did not know about.)

See the entire article at www.jacksonville.com

WEDNESDAY's NOTES

A quick poll at SI.com asked what folks thought of the COT debut at Bristol. I was surprised by the objectivity of this non-scientific poll:
54% said "It was too early to tell", while 31% "Didn't Like it."


AT&T is getting aggressive in trying to add it's logo to the 31 car, bringing a preliminary injunction against NASCAR to allow it to add it's logo to the 31 car now. It is no surprise that NASCAR / NEXTEL is saying no, just like it has from the very beginning, so this is nothing new. Yet with NEXTEL soon to become SPRINT or SPRINT NEXTEL, I'd think there might be some leniency and AT&T says there is no specific language in the contract about a company that has been bought by another. On another angle, it could just be a big media blitz for AT&T. (Hey, no media is bad media, right?) And I am also betting the 12 team is watching closely too.


In case you had not heard it, after Kyle Busch won the Bristol race, he got out and proclaimed that the new car design sucked.


In August of 1992, Bristol had it's first, all concrete NASCAR event. You can now have a piece of that history! Three versions of the collectible will be made available to fans. There is a piece of concrete in an acrylic case that will sell for $25, a 12”x14” framed piece that is $60 and the Concrete Showpiece, priced at $100. A portion of all sales of the concrete will benefit the Bristol chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.
Anyone wishing to order a piece of Bristol history can call the Speedway World souvenir store at BMS at (423) 989-6960 beginning July 1, order online at www.gospeedwayworld.com, or visit the BMS souvenir store or any Speedway souvenir stand Aug. 22-25 during race week.


When NASCAR rolls into Martinsville for this weekend's Goody's Cool Orange 500 — and for the rest of the season — the top 35 teams will be guaranteed starting positions based on points from the week before.


Here's the top 12 in points after Bristol:
1 JEFF GORDON - 791 pts,
2 JEFF BURTON - 788,
3 JIMMIE JOHNSON - 716,
4 MATT KENSETH - 697,
5 KEVIN HARVICK - 647,
6 KYLE BUSCH - 639,
7 MARK MARTIN - 629,
8 CLINT BOWYER - 621,
9 DENNY HAMLIN - 606,
10 CARL EDWARDS - 598,
11 DAVID STREMME - 587,
12 TONY STEWART - 575

SUNOCO BEING SILLY???

Sunoco is considering legal action against Shell to try and have Shell take down all their Kevin Harvick Banners at it's 15,000 gas stations. (Give it up Sunoco, anyone who's slapped money down on a car, can slap that driver on their product. OK, so Shell service stations might be a bit of a stretch, seeing as how the Shell lubricant is the technical sponsor. That's their gimme in this whole situation, the fuel division of Shell is not the sponsor.. funny huh, because that's all I see when I see that car...)

AT&T is mad at NASCAR and NEXTEL (Soon to be SPRINT) for not letting them change their brand name on the 31 car. (Come on people, it's a name change, not a new company... sort of. Show some security in your business model!)

This was just one in a few points made at the beginning of this article.