The Benefits of the Current Sponsorship Climate
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02/17/2016 Jeremiah Thalheimer |
Over the past several years, much has been written about the sponsorship climate of our sport. Since there are only a few drivers with a single sponsor for all 36 races, people will frequently use this to write about how bad things are for our sport. However, I think the current climate is good for both our sponsors and the sport as a whole.
If you check out the teams page on Jayski, you'll see several sponsors with deals of less than five races. Some of them include: Credit One Bank (Jamie McMurray), TaxSlayer.com (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), and AutoTrader.com (Joey Logano). Ten years ago, if a sponsor wanted to be involved as a primary sponsor, generally the only way they could was to sponsor a car for all 36 races. A sponsor that couldn't afford this commitment was usually out of luck. Now, if a sponsor can't afford an entire season but still wants to be involved, they still have plenty of opportunities to be on the hood of a racecar and they can tailor their sponsorship to when it is most beneficial. Take TaxSlayer.com, for example. Since this time of the year is the busiest for tax professionals, the company can use NASCAR to advertise at this critical time without having to commit to an entire season.
This also helps sponsors that are new to the sport. Take Danica Patrick's new sponsor Nature's Bakery. The company is making a substantial commitment (28 races) without having to pay to sponsor an entire season. Since Nature's Bakery is still not a very large company, this savings probably helped sway their decision to get involved.
This climate is also beneficial for our sport because it allows more companies to get involved. Over time, more and more small companies will see that they can be involved in NASCAR without having to drop $20 million or more to sponsor an entire season. They can sponsor at a level that they are comfortable with and expand their commitment as they desire. As long as the teams are able to continue selling the hood space, this is good for our sport both in the short and long runs.
If you check out the teams page on Jayski, you'll see several sponsors with deals of less than five races. Some of them include: Credit One Bank (Jamie McMurray), TaxSlayer.com (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), and AutoTrader.com (Joey Logano). Ten years ago, if a sponsor wanted to be involved as a primary sponsor, generally the only way they could was to sponsor a car for all 36 races. A sponsor that couldn't afford this commitment was usually out of luck. Now, if a sponsor can't afford an entire season but still wants to be involved, they still have plenty of opportunities to be on the hood of a racecar and they can tailor their sponsorship to when it is most beneficial. Take TaxSlayer.com, for example. Since this time of the year is the busiest for tax professionals, the company can use NASCAR to advertise at this critical time without having to commit to an entire season.
This also helps sponsors that are new to the sport. Take Danica Patrick's new sponsor Nature's Bakery. The company is making a substantial commitment (28 races) without having to pay to sponsor an entire season. Since Nature's Bakery is still not a very large company, this savings probably helped sway their decision to get involved.
This climate is also beneficial for our sport because it allows more companies to get involved. Over time, more and more small companies will see that they can be involved in NASCAR without having to drop $20 million or more to sponsor an entire season. They can sponsor at a level that they are comfortable with and expand their commitment as they desire. As long as the teams are able to continue selling the hood space, this is good for our sport both in the short and long runs.