Rochester, NY-based Frontier Communications is
"expected to announce Monday that it is becoming a major
sponsor" of the Winston Cup race at Watkins Glen in August,
according to Mark Reilly of the Rochester DEMOCRAT &
CHRONICLE. The race, which draws 170,000 fans "each year,"
has been sponsored by Budweiser since '86 and called the Bud
at the Glen. A-B has been the "major sponsor" of the race
and it will "continue to play a role," but event officials
"wouldn't give details." Terms of the Frontier deal were
not released, but analysts put the race's promotional value
to Frontier at "more than" $3M. The deal would mark
Frontier's "biggest sports-marketing effort" to date, as it
has been involved with "smaller deals," such as NCAA player
and coach awards (Rochester DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 11/12).
TARGET PRACTICE: In Chicago, Skip Myslenski writes,
"Look for the Chicago Motor Speedway to announce next week
that Target will be the title sponsor of the CART race that
will go off there" on August 22. Target is the primary
sponsor of the Chip Ganassi team and Ganassi is a "partner
in the new Speedway" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/13).
