May 28th, 2010 
Journo I know this seems like a weird question, but it’s a legitimate concern for many of the sport’s marketers.
Michael Smith, who among other things covers NASCAR at Sports Business Journal, wrote a piece this week looking at the changing face of the NASCAR sponsorship – namely the proliferation of fragmented sponsorship deals. He notes there are just 10 teams (he missed the #37 Extenze sponsored car, so 11) that carry the same sponsor for the entire season (of those, three are owned by the sponsor).
Through this, many in the sport and around the sport are questioning the effect it has on fans – many are even suggesting it drives fans away. The thinking is that it becomes hard to associate the driver, the team and their corporate partner – in other words they all look different every week. It certainly is a strange new world.
From the beginning of sponsorship in the sport one of the real values has been the ability to tie a sponsor to a driver, and vice versa. Think GM Goodwrench and Dale Earnhardt, STP and Richard Petty, Skoal and Harry Gant, and many, many others. This, so the thinking goes, builds fan loyalty.
Today it’s almost difficult to tell who sponsors whom, when. Carl Edwards has four? sponsors, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman have three, and Marcos Ambrose has six different products and/or companies adorning his car at various times throughout the season. It’s impossible to keep up with.
Now my question to you is, does this make any difference to your enjoyment of the sport? Does it change the way you see your favorite driver or team?
I don’t know if I necessarily believe it’s driving people away from the sport, but I can see how this might make it hard to follow for someone who is new to the sport. It would be like the Chicago Cubs calling themselves three different names during the season. You know the players play for the same team, and you know the Cubs are also the Pups and the Fawns, but you can’t keep your apparel straight and you’re not sure when you go into the stadium just what team you’re following.
As the article suggests this fragmentation and confusion dilutes the sponsorships and the brands. It’s hard to see how anyone is getting any value from these few race deals, or from ever changing paint schemes. And I can’t imagine fans are connecting all that well.
What do you think about all of this? Since this is likely the future of sponsorship in the sport, will that change how you feel about NASCAR? Do you find this frustrating? Is it a non-issue?
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I was an avid fan for nearly 50 years. It was nice when you could find your driver by the color of his car. Now, they change colors and schemes weekly so they can sell more diecasts and I have almost completely lost interest.
That was the start of the complete turnoff for me. Now all the marketing gimmicks and constant shilling by TV and drivers has made me quite ambivalent about the sport. I never missed a race on TV or in person for many years. Now, I usually just check the net to see who won.
I wonder how long I will bother to check the net.
hello nascar insiders,
from teams standpoint i can understand that they have multiple sponsors to back their finances.
but i really feel frustrated about things have gone in nascar.
it bothers me how munch money is spend in nascar wich was not spend some years ago.
i would like to ask some questions:
is it nessecary:
- to bring two seperate crews to a single race weekend
- to have pit box to big to fit in the team hauler that has to haul to the track by an external company
- to go to the west coast three times a season with attedance at ACS only at 70 000
- to have wind tunel test for these bulky stock cars
this is how money is spend and wich has to be back with multiple sponsors.
but you as a team member is it really nessecary to do all those things rather going back to the roots
have fun at memorialday weekend with indy 500 and coke 600
greets from germany
as a carl edwards fan it doesnt bother me how many sponsors he has. aflac, scotts, subway, and kelloggs/cheez-it all allow him to race every week and i am happy for that. but it doesnt bug me that almost every other week he’s running a different scheme. so? how do you think marcos ambrose fans feel! he literally has a different scheme everyweek! i dont know how little debbie can possibly be sponsoring him for 18-20 races this year. that’s half the season and so far he has only driven that car once! so having many sponsors doesnt bug me one way or another. i actually like it.
I’m a dedicated FAN, so no but it doesn’t mean that I like it. It’s getting old but you can’t place blame on anyone/anything but the economy.
WOW! Larry’s comment could have been written by me! I actually attended a race at Langhorne just to show how far back I go.
I have also lost interest without being able to pin down a cause for my malaise, even thinking about not renewing my season tickets to Bristol! Money and time are not factors so what is it? Boring races? Boring drivers? Bad TV coverage? All of the above?
I had not thought of the sponsorship issue, but I have thought about the multiple paint schemes being part of the reason since it becomes difficult to quickly recognize who is who on the track. No problem with my favorite drivers, but any one else – who is it #xx this week?
Used to be you could recognize the Tide car, the Texaco car, Goodwrench, Budweiser, Miller, etc. and know instantly who it was. Now you have to look for the number and try to figure out (and remember) what each guy looks like this week! Very good point Journo!
I think that it hurts the die-cast and other apparel sales the most. this hurts the bottom line, so they have to go to other new sponsers.
I agree. It’s getting out of hand, due to necessity within the sport and the economy. It was bound to happen… That’s been a problem in Formula 1 for years.
The last apparel I bought had the car number or team logo on it and no sponsor identification. The numbers are more recognizable than the sponsor anyway. If you see a 99 hat, you know it’s Carl Edwards. That’s not as apparent if you’re wearing a Scotts shirt, or something from any of the myriad sponsors.
I used to spend a lot of time, money and effort collecting the driver postcards/hero cards. It got so complicated trying to get ALL the cards for the multiple sponsors that it wasn’t worth it. OK, after 20 years I was losing interest in NASCAR too, for some of the reasons above and others.
Great column, Journo. That’s why I keep reading.
I agree as well. My wife used to watch about half the races, and we actually trekked all the way from Canada to Rockingham in 2000. Lately, her comment is “I can’t tell who’s who anymore”, and even I am finding it hard to keep track of who’s driving what.
Junior was the red 8 budweiser car, now he’s the green 88 unless it’s white or blue or ???? I don’t even know anymore.
For the fans, if you had two sponsors, it would probably be easier if you ran one paint scheme the first half of the season and the other the second half.
I to miss the old days when you could look at a race and know who was who. I love the occasional “special” paint scheme and I used to purchase those diecast cars. Now it is getting a bit crazy. I work in the NASCAR collectible buisness an even I get confused on where my driver is because of the color of the car. When we are out and I am talking to a “newbie” to NASCAR racing it does make it hard to explain who the primary sponsor is vs what the guy is driving that race. Brand loyalty is out the window, I can never keep it straight anymore either. I understand the need for teams to do what they are doing, but I think we might be confusing the new folks we need to capture as fans. Now this won’t solve everything wrong w/ NASCAR now, but it is a start.
It’s annoying, but I still watch. I don’t follow any one driver anymore. I basically back anyone who’s last name isn’t Busch. I no longer by any die cast or apparel. It’s a waste of money, as it will be out of date the following week when the sponsor changes. However, it hasn’t stopped me from watching any races. The sponsors don’t change the racing.
I don’t mind an occasional special look. But as a rule it was so much easier when each car was noticable at a quick glance. It’s nice to know the napa car or the miller car or lowe’s or home depot car and know who is driving it.
Unfortunately the way costs are rising it is probably a thing of the past.
I’ve been watching for 35 yrs and yeah, I liked it when you could spot your drivers’ car right away… but I’ve also been around long enough to understand about sponsor and economic shifts. I can roll with it, and I like all the different paint schemes, from an artist standpoint seeing a new one can be quite exciting
however, because of rapid shifting last few yrs, I no longer buy sponsor branded merch for my driver(s), just stuff with their name and/or number. As for brand loyalty, well, we still go to Hooters! LOL Wish they’d come back to sponsor a car!
The multiple sponsor trend may get worse before it gets better.
It will be interesting to see if Budwiser (InBev) stays with RPM, moves to another team, or leaves NASCAR. Remember that they recently dropped out of the NHRA and power boat racing.
If they leave NASCAR, this could set off a chain reaction among big sponsors questioning the (base) $20M to $30M annual tab to exclusively adorn a Sprint Cup car for the full, 38-race season.
Trolling Jayski, rumors are out there that UPS and Caterpillar (two other full-boat sponsors) are getting restless, too.
The real concern has to be for corporations. They are getting less of a return-on-investment because of the multiple sponsors. It makes it harder for future, new sponsors to see NASCAR as good an investment as it was 10-20 years ago.
Also, it has decimated the collectibles business, as too much product got created for too little demand.
The sugar-high of growth for NASCAR is over. The real work has just begun for teams, NASCAR, etc. to climb to the NFL level.
Yes.
In a way, I think it’s a sign of what’s wrong with the sport that a major team needs that many sponsors to fund itself. It’s costing 5x to 10x more, but the racing seems about 1/5 to 1/10 as good.
I understand the reasons behind it – its expensive and takes multiple sponsors these days to field the cars, but as a fan, yes, it is confusing with the “musical” paint schemes on the cars. some of the paint schemes are so similar to another car that I have to work way harder than I like to figure out which is which during the race.
I no longer buy diecast cars — when they switched to the ugly car that did it for me and I haven’t bought much apparel in the past 2 – 3 years, not since whoever in marketing made the decision that all the driver merchandise should look alike except for the number and sponsor name.
so the short answer is yes, it has affected my enjoyment as a fan.
Been watching off and on for many many years, avid for about the last 10 years. My driver currently only has two main sponsors(with a couple of one offs) which is absolutely amazing since he hasn’t been competitive for several years. I would prefer one and one only for all, but like others, totally understand the need. I too no longer buy sponsor related apparel, etc. Based on others comments, multiple sponsors might be necessary to run a team, but now we have one good reason why the race apparel industry is going belly up.
Are Rotating Sponsors Affecting Your Interest? Personally, “NO”! But like others have mentioned, it does make it a bit of a nuisance to spot drivers of interest. I would, however, like to ask a spotter how it affects them.
Many times, from a distance you cannot make heads or tails of some of the graphics used today. I just realized the yellow sides of Jeff Burton’s CAT car were bulldozer tracks. Being somewhat of a traditionalist and especially in light of the Hall of Fame buzz lately, I fancy the standard Petty Blue 43 and simple STP roundel or the white/red and blue David “Silver Fox” Pearson 21 w/ the basic Purolator script. IMHO too many graphics “clog” the appeal.
Oh, I wouldn’t say it drives anyone away. That’s going too far. Its just become annoying- especially since its hard to find out what color/design cars will have until the green flag.
So I’ll sit there searching for Tony Stewart for a few laps only to notice he’s in the white Burger King, for example.
But by the 25th lap or whatever, I can pick out all the drivers.
I see the sponsorship merry-go-round as symptomatic of a larger problem: the racing is not “must see” quality. It’s often good, but in most cases we can’t in my opinion call it “must see”.
When the quality of racing isn’t “must see”, the value of ad space on the lesser teams is disproportionately devalued. Meaning sponsors are are more prone to try to leave or cut back from non chase contenders, trying to get on a better car so they get better bang for their advertising buck, or they simply drop out in favor of another advertising media altogether.
I’m convinced that the problem can be fixed by creating “must see” quality racing, even if it means heats, segments, some sort of hybrid format or whatever. I have faith that “must see” quality racing (as opposed to crashes and temper tantrums) sells big time and that the sponsorship issues will sort themselves out when the format/quality is consistently right.
If the quality of racing is good enough so that the entire event is a “must see” spectacle every week, the ad space on the lesser teams becomes more valuable, because all sponsors will want ad space – any ad space – in a high quality “must see” series.
You end up with top cars having stable long term deals (thus the same look week after week), a more level playing field since lesser teams will get better funding, a happier fan base, a healthier set of race economics.
I believe multiple and increased sponsorship has created a lot of jobs in NASCAR and the Charlotte area – so the idea of reduced sponsors or sponsorship does have a human cost.
In the old days I guess I was lazy because for most cars I could recognize them by paint scheme and did not need to know the number. I followed Handsome Harry Gant, but can’t say I knew his number since I knew it was the Bandit car.
Time marches on and most of the time there are at least 2 sides to an issue. Multiple color schemes are not unique to NASCAR. For instance, the NFL and NHL often use throwback uniforms – and, as big a Steeler fan as I am, I cringe every time they wear their throwback uni’s, and when the Penguins wear Carolina blue I almost gag.
I understand the sponsorship problem in these hard economic times.
It really doesn’t bother me at all, and the races this year are as good as I have seen in many years. [Excluding Pocono--BORING]
The only NASCAR item that I have, and wear all of the time are my
#3 hats, which will never be outdated!!!
Eric
For me, it goes beyond the multiplicity of team sponsors, its the boring and repetitious paint schemes on the cars. With all of the car identical, there are only so many ways you can lay a stripe or line on a car before you realize that it has been done before. Back in the days of the Thunderbird, the Lumina, Grand Prix and the Monte Carlo, you could exploit the unique lines on the hood, or the C pillar or the rear deck. Standardizing the bodies has definitely “dumbed down” the ability of a team to customize a sponsors colors and logo for a “one of a kind” race car identity. Its a case of you can’t see the forest for the trees.
Personally, I blame Brian France.
For me it’s not really an issue. My driver never gets any TV time so spotting his car is never a problem……….
Couple things here:
For purposes like you exaplined, I would try to keep it to 2 sponors a year.
and…if I had more than one, the paint schemes should be the same style, with only a color change, i.e.Dale jr’ scheme.
Most fans recognize drivers by number, not sponsor. Unless of course they are a fan of a driver in particular, but if they are any more than a casual fan, they will have every single sponsor memorized, right down to those behind the front tires…
Oh, I wouldn’t say it drives anyone away. That’s going too far. Its just become annoying- especially since its hard to find out what color/design cars will have until the green flag.
So I’ll sit there searching for Tony Stewart for a few laps only to notice he’s in the white Burger King, for example.
But by the 25th lap or whatever, I can pick out all the drivers.