The single biggest problem facing NASCAR teams that want to continue being NASCAR teams is the search for, acquisition of, and retention of sponsors. Without them, we don’t get to go play on the weekends. But as the economy continues to struggle, this proposition has become much more difficult.
Just this year alone we’ve lost longtime sponsors like DeWalt Tools and Jack Daniels. With more companies pulling out and the case for investment in motorsports more difficult to make, teams must find new places to look for potential sponsors and new ways to keep them happy.
One tactic some teams have employed through the years is to lure sponsors away from their competition. An example of this is Discount Tire. The national tire store chain first appeared in the NNS Series on a Chip Ganassi Racing entry; they later moved to Roush Fenway Racing. Now for 2010, Discount Tire is moving from RFR to Penske Racing with Brad Keselowski.
When a deal like this happens, often times it’s because a team promises similar exposure for a smaller investment. But in other cases, it could be the opportunity to work with a specific driver or the hopes of better performance. Either way, it can be an ugly situation.
I’ve seen some discussion over the past few days about Miccosukee moving from Billy Ballew Motorsports to Kyle Busch’s new truck team. To say that KBM stole the sponsorship from BBM or to suggest that it is somehow not right or fair for this to happen is wrong. Racing is a business and teams must do what is necessary to survive. In this instance, obviously KBM did a better job selling their team to Miccosukee, and the Indian tribe made the conscious decision to move. On the flip side, Miccosukee found better value for their money at KBM. As I see it, no blood, no foul.
The successful sponsorship formula has never really stopped changing or evolving since racers first started asking businesses for money. As we progress and move forward, expect teams to continue being creative with their marketing and sales plans. As we’ve seen in recent years the multiple sponsor approach is becoming the new standard.
Right now is as difficult a time to find sponsorship as any in the sport’s history. It’s a cutthroat atmosphere for teams and the team who can offer the most for the least is likely to come out on top.
Related posts:
- “We’re Close on a Sponsorship Deal.” Yeah, Sure You Are
- The Cost of Doing Business
- What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger
- A Possible Miccosukee Exit and Finally Some Racing at Daytona
- Free Sponsorships!
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on Dec 14th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Excellent analysis of the sponsorship quandary, and I couldn’t agree more.
If there’s a solution, it’s that teams will need to be more creative than ever before in finding sponsors and negotiating contracts. More teams will make deals that last only a couple of races. We might even see cars or trucks that are split between two sponsors in the same race, as weird as that might look. For some organizations, the key to their survival will be just how good they are at hustling for sponsorship.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Sounds familiar… like when Cal Wells was accused of stealing McDonald’s and Tide for his new team back in 2000.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Robby Gordon had a cool looking split sponsor car at one of the road courses this year. One side of the car was Jim Beam, the other was Menards.
I’d guess that Kyle Busch could offer Miccosukee far more than Billy Ballew could. Especially if Johnny Benson finds his way into KBR & maybe have Miccosukee as an associate sponsor. Miccosukee could potentially have both Kyle & Johnny available for sponsor appearances with a little Ickler thrown in. Not too shabby.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Leads me to ask the question: How involved does NASCAR get in the approval process for a paint/decal scheme on the cars?
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Neon- NASCAR approves all paint schemes before teams are allowed on track. They don’t too get too involved in that process, but if there is something they don’t like you better believe it’s going to get changed before they allow you on track.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Hopefully Danica’s racing in Nationwide will attract more attention to the series and then hopefully interest more sponsors on getting involved in the series for other teams.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Thanks Journo!
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
what goes around comes around. geoff bodine brought micosukkee to james finch’s #09 cup car (who brought it to ballew), only to get tossed from the ride a year later.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
OK, here’s what gets me though – isn’t Ballew the one who Kyle was racing trucks for this season? The past couple seasons? Seems like a slap in the face to Ballew for Kyle to pretty much say “Thanks for giving me a ride this year, going to go start my own team and take your sponsor cuz I’m a bigger name, so good luck finding a new one in this economy.” Maybe I’m wrong about the Kyle/Ballew/Mikkowhatever relationship. Or maybe I am just biased because I think Kyle is a douche.
on Dec 14th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
The sponsorships are not going to improve until the TV coverage does. Even the back markers deserve a look sometime in the race. The chase fiasco was idiotic! If a sponsor can’t get TV time, they’re not throwing money at the sport. They can get better publicity elsewhere for the money it takes to sponsor a car…in all three series. If I was a sponsor, I go to the trucks because they, at least, show more of the field.
on Dec 15th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Mark- Kyle wasn’t getting paid for running the Billy Ballew truck. It was just something he did on the side. Does it suck for Billy Ballew? Sure. But Billy needed Kyle a lot more than Kyle needed Billy.
The Miccosukee tribe is running a business and at the end of the day Kyle could provide them with more than Billy Ballew could. As TC said it’s not personal, it’s business.
Mik- Remember NASCAR sponsorship is a lot more than just how much time you end up on TV. If the end goal was to just be seen during a broadcast companies would just buy commercial time. It’s certainly a lot cheaper.
on Dec 15th, 2009 at 9:19 am
The only thing Kyle got when he was running for Billy Ballew was the trophy if he won. All winnings went back to Ballew. Talk about a sweet deal.
on Dec 15th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
The sponsorship issue is symptomatic of a much bigger problem in my opinion. If you fix the bigger problem the sponsorship issue will take care of itself.
So what is the bigger problem? Simple. Boring races. 180mph parades.
We’ve blamed the tracks, the cars, the tires, the dominance of Jimmy Johnson, the format, and everything else under the sun.
In my opinion, the “format” is getting pretty close but it is merely a tool to fix the real problem.
So what is the real problem…drum roll please?
.
.
.
.
THE DRIVERS.
.
.
.
.
And the culture of “track etiquette” that they have created under the current format.
The drivers are the problem because most simply do not want to race until 20 (or so) to go.
Remember Stewart lighting up Reutiman and one of his crew on national TV during a rain break because Reutiman was being “too racey, too early”?
Remember Johnson moaning about Edwards being too aggressive too early at the last race of the season?
Gordon? Yeah he complains too when someone like Juan Pablo wants to actually race.
So here we have the three top names in the sport whining about people around them being “too aggressive”.
I’m sure one of them would have some flippant remark about how stupid anyone is who’d point the finger at them (and it wouldn’t be the drivers with the last initials G or J). But the bottom line is we have top drivers chewing out other drivers and in some cases even their crew on national TV, for…now get this folks…”racing too hard”…
Don’t get me wrong, I know all of the rationale behind this mentality and from purely the driver perspective I don’t totally disgree. But from the business perspective I do disagree completely.
So how to fix the problem of a three hour 180 mph parade?
Back to the future: heat races.
Make the heats short enough that the drivers actually race, make them long enough that pit performance matters. Keep the last chance qualifier and take more than one driver from it. Award meaningful numbers of points in the heats themselves. Make ‘conserving the car’ a vanishing concept.
Would heat races fundamentally change the mentality of the drivers so they actually want to race before 20 to go? Probably not. But at least the fans would get five or so “20 to go moments” in three hours instead of one…which gets the excitement per unit time more on par with a really good NFL game…which will bring the sponsors back because they know people will be watching.
Just my opinion of course…
on Dec 15th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Kyle got nothing? If that’s the case, I stand corrected.
on Dec 15th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
NS said…. “But the bottom line is we have top drivers chewing out other drivers and in some cases even their crew on national TV, for…now get this folks…”racing too hard”…”
My rebuttal?
When haven’t drivers done that? I’ve been in and around this sport since 1964 the major difference between now and decades ago isn’t timid complaining drivers versus the more “aggressive” drivers of yesteryear.
The difference is public access to the complaints and whining you hear now.
NASCAR drivers have always complained about “early in the race” aggression, they have always “just rode around” until the last 50 miles or so it’s just more publicized now.
WE know about it now, WE didn’t then at least not so much.
on Dec 15th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
MS-Where have you been all these months? I’ve been preaching the “heat” format far too long now. I totally agree, as what do you think fans would like more? 1 start and 1 finish after 4.5 hours w/ racing only the last 20 minutes…..or multiple starts, multiple finishes and get to the front early mentality? Not such a tough dilemma huh?
Now I’ll throw in the real wildcard. One of the races (could be a heat, or could be the feature) pays the lionshare to win. The kicker? No one knows until after the feature just which segment pays out the jackpot. You bet your splitter that drivers will go flat out every lap of every heat.
on Dec 15th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
One of my internal, unscientific barometers on how the sport is doing is based on stuff like this….how many NEW sponsors are there each year? And how many sponsors just played musical chairs? When there are very few (if any) new sponsors, we have problems.